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Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

Lots going on for the Canada Day edition of the Ledge(r). Those 4 urethane wheels never stop rollin’… The first round of fan voting for X Games 17′s Real Street is on. It’s a video contest where 16 pros are invited to submit a 60-second video part. The most fan votes wins $10K. Judges will also select an overall winner, which gets an X Games 17 Gold and $50K. Amongst the stacked roster of pros is our very own Ryan Decenzo, who put out a sick part with the help of Transworld‘s Chris Ray. Watch it above and click here to see all the vids and to do some voting.

As for Canada Day skate events, head up to the Seylynn snake-run (Canada’s oldest existing concrete park), for the annual kick-off to the grassroots Bowl Series (starting at noon and going strong all day), which is in its 17th year (details here). In July 1st contest news, East Van’s Desmond Hoostie won the Vancouver Red Bull Manny Mania qualifier last weekend, and will be in Ottawa today to try and win a spot in the NYC World Final this August. The Vancouver Go Skateboarding Day videos continue to hit the web-waves; Supra Distribution released Part 1 and Part 2, which includes the amazing Lakai Flare ledge they brought to Strathcona park for people to skate at the end of the day.

Color Magazine shed some light on this year’s Olio Festival, during which they’ll host a skate contest and awards show at The Waldorf. Speaking of Color, photo editor Gordon Nicholas recently got the Lensman profile treatment on Push.ca. Cory Wilson was also recently interviewed about peripheral inspirations that fuel his high-calibre skateboarding. In tour news, Quiksilver Canada is hitting the road, and local fellas Jordan Hoffart, Bradley Sheppard, Cory Wilson and Magnus Hanson will start off with a Van Plaza demo at 7pm on July 4th.

As for videos, David-Wayne Stevens gave up his dated Sony VX-1000 and cut some of the remaining footage into a sweet Vancouver Homies Montage. Mike “Hashbrown” Schulze appears in the latest  Cariboo beer web vid (must be nice to have a coldie sponsor), which shows off some of the Vancouver Plaza’s recent upgrades. Since today is the Canada Day kick-off to the 17th Bowl Series at Seylynn in North Van, I’d like to end this week’s Ledge(r) proper with a nod to the late and great “Carver” Don Hartley. R.I.P., brother…

Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

As I pointed out in this public service announcement, there was a grip of events throughout the day on Tuesday, June 21st that celebrated Go Skateboarding Day, which is always a big deal in Vancouver. The above video (filmed by Brian Caissie for Push.ca) summarizes the main critical-mass-like event (as do these photos), and this here vid features Dan “Alien” Nelson and Deer Man Of Dark Woods handling GSD in Calgary as part of the Van Wilder Tour. Queensborough in New West got in on the action as well. Down in Cali, Jordan Hoffart took in GSD by skating Quiksilver’s Door 33.

In other news, Take Five Trading in Vancouver announced its HUF Canada team, which includes some sweet locals. Skull Skates/PD’s Hot Shop has opened a new location at 3734 West 10th (at Alma), and its near-18-year location on West 4th will temporarily remain open as well – details here. Mike Campbell got some clips, which might very well be one of the last edits from Plaza 1.0, since renovations/additions are now complete and it’s pretty much a new park. Kyutae Kim knows how to work a video camera and skate in front of it well, which landed him a spot (complete with a welcome video) on the Coastal Riders shop roster. To finish #43, Ian Twa and Robbie Pellack paid a visit to SkateNewSpot.com’s Ben Oleynik in NYC, and came back with some footy:

Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

I guess you could call this the Ledge(r) before the Ledge(r). My V.I.A. post normally appears on Fridays, but today is a special occasion. Not only is it the summer solstice, boasting the most daylight hours of the year, it’s also Go Skateboarding Day! GSD started down in Southern California back in ’03 and has since spread like wildfire internationally as the “official holiday of skateboarding”. Click the jump to find out what’s going on in Canada’s Skate Mecca today…

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Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

Back in March, North Van/San Fran’s Russ Milligan, Calgary’s Kevin Lowry and SF’s Josh Matthews jumped on a bird and landed in Portugal to take in some culture and skateboarding. “The Portugal Recollection” was born – an 8-page feature in the July 2011 issue of Concrete (out now) along with the above video supplement.

The C1RCA Canada In Texas webisodes have started up on the Color site, the first one being a visit to Dallas with the ‘Couv’s Magnus Hanson, Corey Klim, Will Blakley and Sheldon Meleshinski. REAL pros Justin Brock and Peter Ramondetta were grilled about Canadiana at the Loose Moose a few months back, and the feature recently web-surfaced. Fleetwood’s John Hanlon made an appearance in last week’s “Five Sequences” on the Thrasher site, and the fine work of local photographer Rich Odam was web-featured in The Skateboard Mag‘s “Fresh Crops”. In more photo news, our-town’s Brian Caissie shares some aged polaroids featuring an epic cast of characters.

Montreal’s Barry Walsh is well-known in Vancouver and fondly looks back at living here for a lengthy ’90s-span in his well-deserved Living Legends retrospective video. Richmond’s Chris Haslam was spotted having a good time amongst his Almost Skateboards brethren down at the Hollywood Park, and Jordan Hoffart poured it on at Quiksilver’s Door 33 in Cali. East Van’s Spencer Hamilton is on a European Tour with SUPRA Footwear’s elite list of teamsters (check out photos of Spenny and company in Edinburgh and Manchester). Beer sponsor? Billy Mitchell puts his footage on display for Cariboo brew (including some clips shot while the Vancouver Plaza has been getting renovated and upgraded):

Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

It’s about that time for a new mag release to jump-start the summer stoke. Richmond-based Concrete Skateboarding just released it’s 113th issue, which should be available for free in skateshops across Canada today. East Van resident Cory Wilson took care of his serious 360 flip to fakie cover shot while visiting Guangzhou, China (photo by Brian Caissie). Concrete also put together an animated version of the cover, which you can check out (along with previews of this issue’s features) right here.

Jef Choy sent over a link to what he refers to as “classic Vancouver glory day footage”, and he’s right; The Girl Skateboards fam dug into their Mini-DV tape-stacks and released some ’90s-era Vancouver footage of Eric Koston, Mike Carroll, Rick Howard, Tony Ferguson, Chico Brenes, Keenan Milton (RIP), and former Vancouverite/current Winnipegger, Mike McDermott. Also in the ’90s classics department, this re-edit of Rick McCrank’s part in the 20-20 video has been making the rounds.

In contest news, Coquitlam’s Micky Papa came in second at the Maloof Money Cup’s AM comp in NYC on June 5th, and in the pro event our very own Ryan Decenzo came in third (behind Dennis Busenitz and Greg Lutzka), taking home $15,000 (this post has more details). In kinda strange news, the Urban Culture Conference and Awards is happening on August 27-28, and you can vote for the “Best Vancouver Skateboarder” (and pretty much anything else) from their pre-selected list. Although “Best Skateboarder” is widely open to interpretation, they’ve compiled a solid list. But there could easily be more on there…

Finally, in this-dude-rips news, Micky Papa gets his second mention in this week’s Ledge(r) for a good reason. He just dropped an RDS video part for the online masses, and it’s all business:

Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

The Ledge(r) turns 40 today, and this week’s celebration of Metro Vancouver skateboarding starts off with an entertaining chap by the name of Jamie Maley. The above video is part of this here Push.ca interview, which is a must-read because Jamie delivers the goods. Also in the interview department, AJ McCallister was recently SkateNewSpotted…

The KR3W/Shake Junt Smash ‘N’ Grab cross-Canada tour wrapped up at the new Chuck Bailey park in Whalley last weekend, and I sat down with veteran pro Erik Ellington for a lil’ trip summary. Over on the Thrasher site, they posted a Colin McKay vert banger in their weekly “Five Sequences” feature. East Van anomaly Dan “Alien” Nelson is a big Canucks fan and he recently got his name on the bottom of a few Premium Skateboards. Ryan Decenzo is one of the 16 skaters invited to take part in Real Street, which is probably the coolest new X Games addition.

Concrete just released the online edition of its May 2011 issue along with the extras. Jordan Hoffart appears in this entertaining video, which supplements the comprehensive feature Sean Mortimer wrote, which traces the history of the kickflip, for the latest issue of SBC Skateboard. Keegan Sauder gets interviewed for ESPN in a car in West Oakland (he skates a DIY spot, too), and Kerupt Media has some random HD clips of Adam Hopkins, Tyler Gaucher and Travis Milkulin. As an outro, here’s an intro: Color mag’s second trailer for their upcoming “C1RCA Canada Does Texas” webisodes featuring some of Van’s finest:

Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

Part of V.I.A.’s esteemed “Most Awesome” category, Rob “Sluggo” Boyce was invited to skate in the 7th Annual Pro-Tec Pool Party contest at the world-famous (and gnarly) Combi-Bowl down at the Vans park in Orange, CA. Sluggo cracked the top 10 in the 40-and-older Masters division, which included such legends as Tony Hawk (his first contest in a decade), Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain, Duane Peters, and the list goes on. Click here for the official Masters/Pro results, and watch the Sluggo highlights above.

Events: Paul Rodriguez, Ryan Sheckler, Torey Pudwill and Colin McKay from Plan B Skateboards will be doing a signing at West 49 in the Park Royal Shopping Centre today at 4pm. The partially roof-covered Chuck Bailey skatepark in Whalley, Surrey is officially opening on Saturday, May 28th with an event at 11am (details here). The KR3W/Shake Junt Smash ‘N’ Grab Canadian tour features Erik Ellington, Lizard King, Figgy, Beagle, Kevin Romar, Bryan Herman, Neen Williams, Shane Heyl, MTL’s JS Lapierre and Vancouver’s Spencer Hamilton. The final stop of their trip happens in Vancouver on Sunday, May 29th – a 2pm demo/signing at the new Chuck Bailey park, with a 10pm afterparty at The Met (320 Abbott St., Gastown).

YouTubes: The possible closure of “The Barn”, a long-time DIY ramp haven in Brittania Beach, was the subject of a CTV News report earlier this week (watch it here). Micky Papa and Paul Trep check in with a few quick clips shot down in Beverly Hills, Nick Moore tests out the new Thunder Trucks, and Jordan Hoffart shows us what goes on behind the ad for Active Ride Shop. Corey Klim gets down at a couple parks for Cariboo Beer, and it’s officially official: Fleetwood, Surrey’s John Hanlon is the new AM on Darkstar Skateboards:

Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

As a ScanLife supplement to a feature from their latest issue, SBC Skateboard posted a video of Canadian board brand Red Star on a winter getaway to LA county, with a little Vegas in the mix. Vancouver’s Chad Dickson and Paul Machnau appear in this one.

You’ll find a little update on the renovations taking place at the Vancouver Plaza, as well as some construction photos from the state-of-the-art Chuck Bailey skatepark in Surrey by clicking here. On May 14th the Etnies x Sheckler Foundation’s Skate For A Cause contest went down in Lake Forest, CA, where Ryan Decenzo earned 4Gs and handed it over to charity. Find more info, photos and a video here. Might as well mention that Ryan (and John Hanlon) hold it down for Metro Van in this commercial by Darkstar Skateboards.

Color Magazine teamed up with REAL Skateboards for their Issue 9.2 commersh, which features REAL’s recreation of the intro to their very first video (The Real Video, ’93) that was used in 2011′s Since Day One. Fans of Chris Haslam will appreciate these buddy-cam videos (here and here). Photographer extraordinaire Scott Pommier has a solid video interview you should watch on camerabag.tv, and Coquitlam’s Micky Papa calls these clips “throwaways” (but I beg to differ). The other half of the Decenzo Bros, Scott, is featured in this CCS commercial: