coastal british columbia  

Alex Morrison - a long 5-0 grind to fakie

A couple of weeks back the forces of the universe felt it was time for Vancouverites to get stoked on skateboarding’s summer possibilities. With the patchy weather ever so present this season, rolling around was a one or two day a week activity at most. More often than not, a parking garage or moist skatepark was the terrain of (little) choice allotted to the masses.

Finally the weather decided to cooperate and provide a somewhat stable venue for Vancouver boys and girls to play. Not only were the skies free from inconsistency, there was also further stimulus to be found and seen. Two videos were set to be released; the first being Creature’s "Black Metal" and the second being Vox’s "Black & Blue". This being known; the stoke of the seasonal start got trumped only by the news that a select squad from both of the teams would be in town too.

The first premiere was held at the Hastings Skatepark with a barbeque hosted by Antisocial skate shop. The excitement was felt by all, whether it was through skating the large transitions, being spectators on the sidelines, and/or simple scarfing the hot dogs aplenty.

Once the cover of night fell, it was time to get the show on the road. The biggest bowl in the park offered a great location to blast our retinas with Creature’s onslaught of gnar put to tape. "Black Metal" is more of a montage compared to their last effort "Born Dead" and the running time is a bit longer so no doubt it was a visual feast to be had!

The second premiere was held at the Morrissey night club under the haze of drink and debauchery a few nights later. While minors were unable to "officially" take vie of Vox’s hard work, many an adult enjoyed the select viewing. With less of a transition based team then Creature, the Vox video proved itself to be versatile and powerful –watch out for Slash’s latest part!

Seeing as both videos are set to be freebees; no doubt you too will be able to take witness to the obstacle slaughter without any pain to your wallet.

Jimmy Miller

The day started off bright and windy as hell as I went at Hastings park at 8am to squeegee the bowl after a rainstorm pounded the city the night before. Hoping the wind would dry the rest of the park come skate time, everyone was excited and ready to rip. 10am comes around and another big black mother of a cloud hovers over the city and dumps another shitload of water and wet snow on us and what a PISS OFF! Unsure of the outcome and hoping the weatherman is right by forecasting sunshine for the rest of day, blue sky was due west and indeed heading our way.

Shortly after 12 noon, the weatherman was right-on as the sunny sky was upon us while perhaps 5 or 6 of us were busy drying the park with torches and squeegees. By 1:30 guys were ripping it up and the show began. Free dogs and beverages were provided and many great prizes were given away by the local supporters.

The cast of the day included the likes of Darth Vader, Pirates, Skeletons and even Santa Clause. There were also dudes that were indescribable, ugly and disgusting. Guys like Pragnel, Priest and Chalmers were tearing it up with BIG AIRS and little guys like Tyler and James "The Front Side Kid" were skating beyond their natural abilites, are just ripping it up and having a great time! And it was! In my opinion, the Bowl Series is a gathering of great local skaters doing their stuff in a great atmosphere and just having a good time where the battle of egos is non existent. This is the way it should be and this is the way it is. It is also way of life and the Halloween Bowl Series is the best one of all!

Thanks again to Seb, Chris Perry, all the supporters and organizers for this unorganized event! This was a fantastic season.

Cheers, Wee.