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the Huntington Beach event. Therefore,
it seems stupid to not even try, espe-
cially if you've got some skatepark
training in your past. That, as well as
the gradual crumbling of the old
guard of chilling, has created a new
contest atmosphere-one where
people try and where your favorite
pro can actually win.
This year's streetstyle course was
toned down in the way of transitional
jumps and quarterpipes, and included
more banks and lower blocks, benches,
and rails. The only questionable fea-
tures of the course were the giant 45-
degree handrail down the bank and the
asphalt surface, which, I suppose, is
hard to get around.
Matt Beach won. He's really
excellent and flowed smoothly
around the course looking good
and snappily flowing through
tricks. Everyone was glad he won,
on account of him being such a
nice guy.
Clockwise from far left: Ron Creager
gets big and flicky before hiding out in the
Santa Ana hills. The French are known for
their noses, and Pierre-Luc Gagnon puts his
to use on a nollie heelflip Indy. Top gun
Diego Bucchieri sears the airspace on his
way to US domination. Chop chop!
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