Digo Menezes Combinations like tailgrab 540 to heelflip Indy
disasters put Digo in the top five, and the 45 minute jam format
allowed the judges to see just how many tricks Digo is capable of
(about a thousand). Fourth place.
Mike Crum - Crum has a pretty solid repertoire he can draw on,
but the big transitions let him throw caution to the wind as he
unloaded some rarely seen beauties like the switch cab heelflip
Indys and the alley-oop switch Caballerial. Fingerflip inverts were
also thrown in for Losi flair and showmanship.
Mathias Ringstrom - The new, more easygoing Mathias showed
up and grappled with the big ramp. It was a close matchup, but in
the end Ringstrom came out on top with an impossible lien to tail
and a frontside noseblunt slide on the tooth.
Sam Hitz-The sole amateur in the mix, Hitz pumped out some
tall mutes, surly backside tailslides, backside 50-50 across the
tooth, and nollie Indys to fakie. Heelflip pop tarts were also pulled
for the sake of skateboarding's darker side.
Danny Way "He makes everyone else look like a twig!" was
how Peter Hewitt described Danny Way as he attacked his
home ramp. Though he's still recovering from some knee prob-
lems, Danny spun 540's up near the ceiling and kickflipped
mutes in the eight foot range. The new daddy also came ridicu-
lously close to some kickflip backside lipslides up the big
extension. Jesus Christ!
Lincoln Ueda Lincoln got just plain reckless-practically jug-
gling his board as he flew through the air. On one air he flipped
the board, grabbed it suitcase style, then flipped it again to make
it back in. Heelflip Indys, melon 540's and method body jars put
Lincoln in second place.
油
xyz
Xyz
XYZ
xyz
ROPXyz
xyz
Clockwise from top left:
Lincoln Ueda's recoil ability to pump
across the flatbottom and up the tran-
ny make it possible to check
for cobwebs on the ceiling.
Your basic ten-footer.
Jason Ellis clings to the rafters on a
gigundous slob air and pulls it in.
The Vista kid, Danny Way, tailslides off the
middle extension on his way into the history
books. Thanks, Danny, for a great time.
Giorgio, Giorgio, wherefore art
thou, Giorgio? Zattoni flip
(alley-oop stink flip
540) from the pride of
Savorna, Italy.
Giorgio Zattoni - "No, it's the Zattoni flip," Giorgio corrected
me when I asked about his new monster: the alley-oop Indy 540°
Whatever it is, it's a good friggin' trick. Giorgio probably did
about 150 540's on Sunday and polished off his performance by
learning 720's. Regardless of whether he should have won or not,
Giorgio is the most exciting vert skater to come on the scene since
Bob. Third place.
Bob Burnquist While riding up the wall to do his one-footed
backside Smith grinds, Bob has to jump his back foot from the tail
to over the bolts-not that knowing this will get you any closer to
doing one. Switch everything, ceiling-high crooked cops, 540's, a
million other tricks, a broken arm and uncompromising Bob Gnar
style put the Brazilian ambassador at the top of the heap once again.
He collapsed to the deck after every run.
After the finals, Danny handed out cigars to honor the birth of his
son and everyone was toasting, laughing and having a good time.
Everywhere you went, the conversations were about the skating, the
ramp and the insanity that had just gone down-the best skaters on
the best contest ramp ever. It was a great end to a great event.
Michael Burnett