STORY AND PHOTOS BY MICHAEL BURNETT
PARADISE LOST
What do you want to read about in this Ventura Skatepark
contest article? My travel problems? The contest logistics?
Some off-in-space rambling melding New Age philosophy with
skateboard riding? How about some historical facts about
Ventura? No? I could
come up with a
quote or maybe a
definition to kick it
off with. It could be
some really clever,
obscure rock lyrics
or '80s pop-culture
shit. Nope? OK then,
you asked for it.
Numbers indicate
final placing.
Street
89.Al Garcia Got 10
points, winner got 80.
88.Adam McNatt Tried
nollie front flips over the
superkicker. 87.Fabian
Alomar Nice ledgework
in practice, and skated
with a hanky to keep
sweat down. 86.Lavar
McBride Has gotten
really tall. 85.Brent
Kronmueler Last year's
amateur champ!
84.Shiloh Greathouse
Noseblunt slides on the
little box. 83.Jason
Maxwell A person just
like you, but with better
things to do. 82.Josh
Kasper Got a haircut.
81.Dan Pageau Sorry
Dan, I don't remember
you. It's nothing person-
al. 80.Marc Johnson
Wrecked the ledges and
rail in practice.
79.Marcus McBride
Monster pop shove-it
down the big stage.
78.Daniel Cardone
Looks like Klinger from
TV's MASH. 77.Charlie
Wilkins Skated in an
arm cast. 76.Josh
Beagle Beaglerific!
75.Felix Arguelles Wore a matching
yellow hat and jumper. 74.Brian
Childress Wore one of those woven
hats. 73.Pat Duffy Backside Smiths
down the rail. 72. Chad Knight 360°
ollies off the ledge into the bank.
71.Max Dufour Vert crossover sensa-
tion! 70.Stacy Lowery Giant hardflips
setnies etnies etnie
stay for the tricks! 64.Cookie Jenkins 360° over the superkicker. 63.Jon
Comer Really doesn't ride Spitfires anymore. 62.Alfonso Rawls Once
did a big spin backside 360° ollie over a channel on vert. 61.Bob
Burnquist Goofed it. 60.Edward Devera Looked good on backside tail-
slide transfers over the
wall ledge. 59.Ron
Whaley I'm a Ron fan.
58.Mike Rafter No
backside 180°s. Rides for
The Rock. 57.Dave
Duren Flipped the chan-
nel. 56.Chany
Jeanguenin Tried the
trick from the Droors ad
on the little rail.
55.Choppy Omega Is
much better at Burnside.
54. Gershon Mosely
Can wreck a damn ban-
nister. 53.Kenny
Hughes Has shot pho-
tos with Pete Thompson
before. 52.Enrique
Lorenzo Entered as an
amateur. Got tricky on
the ledge. 51.Eddie
Nemeth Hit the wall
with speed and black
jeans of the appropriate
fit. 50.Chad Kramer
Frontside flips over the
pyramid hip. 49. Fabio
"Angel" Frugis
Brazilian ATV. 48.Joe
Pino Can ollie really
high. 47.Mark Partain
Over vert madness!
46.Adrian Lopez
Another amateur.
Started with helipops
into the bank. 45.Danny
Wainright Ollied over a
fence in practice.
44.Richard Angelides
Switch frontside 50/50s
down the rail. 43.Bam
Margera Third am.
Seen dropping in on
quarter-pipes Primo after
the event. 42.Bill
Pepper 41.Brad Staba
Wore a Huey Lewis shirt
three days in a row.
40.Pat Channita Blunt kickflips.
39.Lance Mountain Eggplants on the
vert wall. 38.Hanzy Driscoll Smashing
first run. 37.Kenny Anderson First pro
event. Spun big spins to frontside slide
fakie down the rail. 36.Jason
Rothmeyer Riding for Powell? Good
manual variations. Looks like a substi-
tute teacher, 35.Chet Thomas Hardflip to 50/50 on the ledge, 34.John
Reeves Could have placed top 10 with his qualifying run. 33.Donny
Barley Speedy 180° Barley grinds down the rail. 32. Tony Briseno Wore
kneepads with recaps for his kickflips to Indy on the super wall and beni-
BOB BURNQUIST
66Clear that Bob was
going to win this one"
to fakie on the roll-in. 69.Jason Corbett Quarter-pipe competence.
68.Dorian Tucker Changed his name, just like the kid in Paradise Lost.
67.George Zamora New newcomer. 66. Rick Jaramillo His friends call
him Rick J; he doesn't know why. 65.Joe Nemeth Come for the tattoo,
hand nosegrinds on the wave wall. 31.Oscar Jordan Frontside miracle
flip on the roll-in. 30.Chad Fernandez Ollies down the big four.
29.Justin Strubing Big airs and fast lines. 28.Jerry Fowler Worked
the little ledge with blunt variations. 27.Brian Patch Big and bald.
26.Kris Markovich Freight trained alley-oops on the roll-in hip and
backside 180° grinds over the small bump to ledge. 25.Omar Hassan
Heelflip frontside airs over the channel. 24.Ed Templeton Noseblunt
slides and impossibles. 23. Ron Creager Crooked grinds down the rail
ERIC DRESSEN
66Shot out of a cannon
99
are too easy for him. 22.Matt Beach Has the rosiest cheeks you ever
did see. 21.Israel Forbes He won his qualifying heat. 20. Frank
Hirata 19.Jason Ellis Dwarfed the street course and 360° flipped
from the low level of the hip to the upper. 18.Colby Carter Paid his
own way and half-Cabbed the vert wall. 17.Andy MacDonald Half-
Cab methods over the superkicker. 16.Billy Rohan The '97 amateur
champ, Billy resurrected his winning run that included Chet flips over
the hip and frontside flips on the roll-in. 15.Moses Itkonen 180° stale
fish over the channel. 14. Mike Vallely Made half the audience move
so he could kong drop off the deck of the vert ramp. 13.Jamie
Thomas Consistent flipping and no eight ball tripping. 12.Jaya
Bonderov Fly-out on the deck of the wave to ollie off to the bank.
11.Daewon Song Had the crowd cheering for lightning-quick crooked
grinds on the little ledge and 20-foot-long noseblunt slides on the big
one. 10.Richard Kirby Going fast and big can still get you far in this
game. Skated hard and looked like he was having fun. 9.Caine Gayle
Threw down all weekend long and had about six big tricks going at all
times. If practice was judged, he would have been in the top 2. 8.Sasha
Steinhorst Wrecked the ramps and himself in a flurry of wall-riding,
JAVIER
SARMIENTO
"Spanish super-flipper"
air-catching mayhem. 7.Mike
Santarossa Goes to Skate Street
every day, so it wasn't surprising
that he had more lines than any-
one else. Switch backside flips
into the bank, oop liens on the
roll-in hip, and nollie flips on the
roll-in added up to a mega-run
that was hard to beat. 6.Javier
Sarmiento Spanish super-flipper
more consistent than Grandpa's
bowel movements. Look for
Javier to take over sooner than
later. 5.Chris Senn He probably
should have won. Jumped the hip
to grind through the round wall,
kickflipped to wall ride, and
ollied from the lower ledge to
Smith grind down the handrail. I
even saw him drop in on a 6-foot
quarter-pipe while carrying a
small child. Skills unlimited.
4.Chad Vogt The master of the
mini-ramp used all his transition
skills and then some to dole out
consistently action-filled runs.
Frontside 5-0s to fakie over the
Bridge of Death™ certainly
didn't hurt, either. 3.Eric
Dressen Looked like he was shot