Up Front
Party in the park
Twenty-five years ago, the City of
Berkeley gave to its residents Peoples
Park. On the anniversary of the gift, the
folks at Wicked skateshop decided to
throw a party. The call went out far and
wide and was answered by the largest
collection of four wheelin' freaks ever to
converge on hippie ground zero. So, on a
broiling Saturday in May, Nor Cal's finest
took to the rickety ass ramps and rails
and had at it.
The course consisted of a bank ramp
adjacent to a quarter pipe, some little
launchers, a manual box, a low slider, a
nasty pair of wedges set up to form a mon
ster gap, and a mean handrail with
banked sides. Set up on a downhill street,
reminiscent of the old Capitola street con-
tests of yesteryore, the course lent itself to
some fast flyin', and, what, with the crowd
present, heads soon began to roll.
Techdog action was seen on the upper
and tamer part of the course, but things
got really interesting near the middle
where the gap and handrail were set up.
These were assaulted all day long and
were witness to some incredible skating.
The Paez brothers were killing it with
Richard serving up tailslides and 5-0's on
the rail. Jesse effortlessly launched huge
grabs over the gap. Jaya Banderov was
unstoppable dishing out trick after trick
on the rail, feebles, 5-0's, and nose grinds
Z
PLAY
77-FLEX
77-FISX
JAY "BOY" ADAMS
33" x 9"
nose: 6%"
toil: 7"
whlbs: 15¼"
After Work Milk.
Matt Dx Find.
Push Your Own Style.
Stay Basic.
It's Not What You Do, It's Where You Go.
EGO
TRIPS
Z-PRODUCTS-P.O. BOX 5397
SANTA MONICA, CA 90409
(310) 476-4857 - FAX (310) 471-1868
20 T
Lennie Kirk showed up to frontside boardslide the rail. Phil Shoo boosted some
mongo Japan airs. Steve Caballero came up from San Jose and showed just how
smooth skating can be. Justin Strubing broke his leg by putting his foot through one
of the ramps upon landing. Matt Pailes lipslid like a champ. Scott Johnston was as
clean as ever. Mike York kept the crowd rolling with his toll Texas plants and sweep
er variations. Other notable heads in the crowd and on the battlefield this beauti-
ful day were: EBU, Curtis, Team Pierre, Schax, TG, Ben Sanchez, Thiebaud, Karma,
Astorga, Morford, Ron Allen, and Greg Carroll. At the lower end of the course mad
men were hitting the quarter pipe to transfer to the bank till Andy Roy harnessed the
power of punk and collapsed the whole fucking rig. What a fuckin' dick.
As the day came to its close and the park was given back to the homeless, all
that was left of the course was a smoking pile of splinters. Never have so many skat
ed so hard in one place and put on such a kill demo. Thanks to all who showed and
a fat zurf wog to all who didn't.
Top: Big guns Jesse Paez gets a little bit fatter than the ramps.
Right: Lennie Kirk frontside slides far above the asphalt. Praise the Lord.
Mike Bailey
FLOKES
Sad-22