Chris Hatin has an artificial limb (one of his legs), but it doesn't
stop him from blasting heelflips over barricades at Peace Park.
A previous ice storm cramped the city for a while.
let live, and conformity shall corrode. Isolation is destructive; but
on the other hand, interaction is constructive and the people
willing to do so are very mellow and friendly, which gives the city
an overall great vibe. All freaks aside, you can skate alone or with
friends all night long, knifing through the velvety darkness where
no one will bother you at all.
Skateboarding in Montreal has always had a strong presence.
There's even a 1966 documentary on local kids skating with metal
wheels, and they get chased by cops too-it's pretty vintage. If
you're curious like George, it's available from the National Film
Board of Canada. The architecture is similar to that of an old
European city, with rough ledges that are carefully groomed by all
of the hungry skate fiends... and there's an army of them! Many
modern buildings with slick marble ledges also take up much of our
space and time. Street skating is what Montreal is mostly about. In
the downtown core, everything is pitch black. Most of the spots are
between Peel Street and Berri-Uqam; McGill University and Street
are wicked, especially at night-and that leads you to PVM. The
Guy-Favreau complex also has lots to destroy. A number of skaters
meet at Peace Park where there's an abundance of ledges and
homeless, diseased crackpots. Twenty minutes is all the time you
need to comprise a couple stories about the trials and tribulations
of the urban zombies that creep in. Keep an eye out for the cops,
because they are watching you. Champ de Mars has angled ledges
and Old Montreal's City Hall is a bust most of the time, but you can
still sneak in a session-just get ready to run. If you haven't been
hit by a Quebec driver yet, consider yourself lucky. There are hills
everywhere, especially in Westmount. Another spot that stands out
from the rest is the infamous Big "O" pipe. It sits modestly on the
76 Olympic grounds, the city's money pit, and most of the bitter
taxpayers really want to blow up the stadium. On the other hand,
it's a slice of Heaven's cake for us. If you read this monthly skate
PLG. hucks a huge tailgrab 5.