Browsing “Skateboarding”

If you were watching the news or other blogs yesterday then you’re already aware that UBC has launched the very first skatepark located on a university campus in all of North America. Metro Vancouver has been known as a sort of mecca for skateparks since the late 90′s, with more than 50 free, public parks in the surrounding area, but never on campus, so today (ahem, yesterday) is a pretty momentous day.

I scoured Youtube for clips and found some awesomeness. First, a couple of students talking about the park, with a shirtless dude wearing a red ball cap skating in the background:

I dug a little further and found a video of THE SAME DUDE skating the park in a red hat, with no shirt. I can only assume it was the same day:

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An awesome new site launched last month that was designed and built here in Vancouver and encompasses what BC is often known for, extreme sports. Stoked.Com is a video and photo sharing platform for extreme sports that takes it one step further. On top of being able to link and share photos and videos through your personal login account one can add friends, send messages, and receive notifications regarding content they have posted, such as comments on photos and videos. The site also implements a point and ranking system that allows users to rack up points for their contributions, which then ranks them against other users. The points can later be redeemed in giveaways and contests.

Photo: Stoked.com

Stoked was created by UBC computer science alum Dave Lawton and is the rebranded, redesigned version of a previous site called SuperStoker.Com, also created and run by Lawton. Although Stoked is new, the popularity of SuperStoker.Com and its 4 years running previous to the Stoked launch, has created a huge fan base which in turn has created a ton of great content.

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Did you ever read THIS Most Awesome interview we did with PD, the owner of the iconic Vancouver-based brand, Skull Skates? He’s putting on an event at his new shop at 10th and Alma (which I told you about HERE) this coming Saturday essentially as a thank you to “Vancouver City Council, the Vancouver Parks Board, the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition and all of the individuals responsible for making Vancouver such a great skateboarding city”. All of the information is below. See you there!

PD of Skull Skates. Photo: Bob Kronbauer

Blueprint for Success – Public Skateboard Parks in Vancouver

Vancouver City Council has shown itself as a progressive leader in the support of skateboarding as a positive and healthy activity by providing public skateboard parks as early as 1979 when China Creek skatepark located at Broadway Ave and Clarke St was first built. The China Creek facility still stands and is heavily used to this day 32 years later, serving generations of skaters, acting as a community hub and allowing public participation in a challenging and rewarding discipline for a diverse and multi-cultural cross section of participants.

The Vancouver Parks Board has continued to develop public skateboard parks by constructing parks of various designs throughout the Metro Vancouver area including Hastings, the Downtown Plaza, Strathcona, Quilchena, Kensington, Mount Pleasant, and by officially recognizing the skater built Leeside skatepark as an authorized Metro Vancouver Parks Board location in 2010.

Formed by concerned skaters, the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition has been instrumental in rallying Vancouver’s skate community towards fund raising and skateboard advocacy. Their tireless efforts have resulted in the materialization of many public skateparks and better understanding of skateboarding culture by Metro Vancouver’s non-skating residents.

Canada’s oldest skateboard shop, PD’s Hot Shop has been a member of Vancouver’s skateboard community since 1976 and is taking the initiative to show gratitude to Vancouver City Council, the Vancouver Parks Board, the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition and all of the individuals responsible for making Vancouver such a great skateboarding city.

On Saturday, August 18, 2012 from 5 pm until 9 pm Skull Skates and PD’s Hot Shop at 3734 W. 10th Ave at Alma St. in Vancouver will be hosting a commemoration of Vancouver skateparks which will include a display of skatepark blueprints and the sale of a special China Creek Blueprint T-shirt with profits to go towards the building of more public skateparks. The event will also feature live entertainment and is free to all ages. For more information call 604-739-7796 or email pd@skullskates.com.

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Former V.I.A. contributor Jef Choy sent in this crazy photo of what used to be PD’s Hot Shop at 2864 West 4th Avenue (at Macdonald) today. The new PD’s Hot Shop is alive and well at 3734 West 10th Avenue (at Alma St) on the west side of Vancouver and this photo of the ghost of the one is a reminder to me of how things are constantly changing in this city.

For many years PD (a friend and mentor of mine, whom we once featured HERE) had headquartered his international skateboard brand, Skull Skates, in one of the suites that used to be located at the top of this staircase. To the right of it – at ground level – was his store, the aforementioned PD’s Hot Shop. In the 1990′s I was a neighbour of theirs, taking up residence in a large one bedroom suite (for $685 a month!) that was accessed by climbing these stairs and hanging a left. He managed the building so PD was essentially my landlord as well as a client of mine as I was making a go at designing web sites and he had me doing updates and tweaks to SkullSkates.com.

If I look back on my early career as an online publisher I have PD to thank for giving me enough work to keep food on the table while as a passion project I pursued publishing the first online skateboarding magazine, which then went on to be bought up by a large dot com and kickstart my career. Fastforward 13 lucky years and here I am doing Vancouver Is Awesome, a free resource keeping you up to speed on many of the things that make your city great… so essentially you have him to thank for being the spark that lit the fuse that got this thing going.

Pay the new PD’s Hot Shop a visit at 3734 West 10th Avenue (at Alma St), and tell them Bob sent you!

The Canadian premiere of the skateboarding documentary, Hicks On Sticks, is happening tonight at the Rio Theatre as part of the Olio Festival (info HERE). Leading up to the release they’ve been sharing some shorts to introduce the film, my favourite being this one below entitled Grown Up Skateboarding all about growing up with skateboarding and really being a grown up who rides a skateboard. They interview a few locals who have been in the industry for years and will, as one of them says, still be looking for spots to skate when they’re 80 years old. This rules. You should go tonight.