For lovers of transition, things have improved a lot in the
past few years. There are some new parks in Oregon and
Washington that are pretty fun. They're mostly smaller
skateparks with lots of people riding and somewhat messed
up designs, but fun nonetheless. Burnside has become an
official city park and is thriving. Mark Scott continues to
rule the place. I've heard talk of resurfacing the big bowl
and/or, regrettably, the cinder block wall. More speed is
the need but it would be sad to see those old friends go.
The West Seattle crew is going strong. Jay Idings
recently purchased the house next door to the bowl and
the crew has been clearing ground for expansion; the
plans look very good. In another part of West Seattle,
Scott Eatons has recently inherited some property and is
planning to build a covered creation. I don't know what's in
the water up there, but those guys are upping the ante on
what being a skateboarder is about.
Speaking of upping the ante, Mike Sanders, Dan Murdey,
Bob Booya, Tim
Tolliver and the boys
in Bend have con-
structed a perfect
vertical halfpipe lay-
ered with steel. Plenty
high, mighty wide,
heaven on earth.
Mike Swim, Geth
Noble, and Eric
Dawkins have been working on three new parks in southern
Oregon. They should all be finished within the next year and
should offer some larger skate terrain if you like that sort
of thing. Jacksonville, Ashland, and Talent are the locations.
Things are looking good in this neck of the woods for
skateboarding, and I'd like to thank all the dedicated individ-
uals for making it happen. You all know who you are. Let's
keep it going.
80 THRASHER
Mark Hubbard flips his board into a Texas
Plant at home in West Seattle.
Josh Beaudry is anything but feeble on this
Smith grind up the handrail at the new
skatepark in Vancouver, WA.
81