Article by Eddie Hadvina
Photos by Cory Minderhout and Eddie Hadvina

It was a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon on March 10th, and the much anticipated King of the Pit contest went down at Pedlow skatepark. Located in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, this was the first official event held at the park since it’s major renovation and re-opening last year. The all day event was organized not only to accommodate skateboarding enthusiasts with competitions and entertainment, but to promote city funded skate-parks, such as the city of Los Angeles and Pedlow.

This contest generated a huge buzz in the skating community, and aside of the expected large turn-out, the park was filled with an array of skate related booths, including food, gear, and clothing. In addition to the madness, a stage was set up near the shallow end of the bowl, and 3 bands rocked the Pedlow stage. Speed Buggy, Titanosaur, and Dave Ruel’s Skatetanic Rednecks got the Pedlow crowd pumped up and ready to rock and skate.

Speedbuggy jamming, with our friend Pat on the drums.

The masters group, for ages 30 on up, turned into a 2 hour practice session. Many pro’s were on hand to take part in the action. Tony Alva, Marty Grimes, Don Hamilton, Dave Ruel, Bennett Harada, Tuma, Mark Jones, and Rich Sanchez were taking part in the festivities and hanging out to give moral support to the skaters. This practice session erupted into a full scale skate jam, while the music was roaring throughout the park. The spectators went wild, as did the skaters. A horde of photogs and videogs were all jockeying for position to capture the action deckside at the big Pedlow bowl. Prior to it’s renovation, Pedlow was primarily a street skaters haven, but with the addition of the bowl and snakerun, the vert-dogs came out of the woodwork and Pedlow has turned into a much needed and happening valley skate spot.

Rich Sanchez was all over it.

Naka got into the action big time.

Following the practice jam, 25 challengers ranging from ages 30 to 46 entered into the Masters Comp. During these qualifying and final heats, the Skatetanic Rednecks unleashed a blitzkrieg of sound that pumped up the crowd and set the tone at the bowl. Nothing like killer music on a sunny day to enhance a skater’s lines.

Hank Rueler and the Skatetanic Rednecks.

The skating in this event was off the hook and very competitive due to the age groups represented. Speaking from experience at age 45, I was skating against dudes in their early 30s, which was a challenge to say the least.

Eddie Hadvina Getting Some

Tino with a 2nd place win & including a best trick award,
a new Inter City Bank Plank skateboard, courtesy of Marty Grimes.

Mike Buckley aka ComusGuy won the masters event.
He ripped it hard! Congratulations!

The King of the Pit was a well organized event for all ages, catering to both the vert and street scenes. The street events were mostly comprised of the groms; some of who really ripped. The bowl competitions showcased talent from all different age groups and skill levels.

Cory had flawless runs; hence, a first place
winner of the 13-17 division. Congratulations!

SMA Team Rider Riley Harper won the

ages 18 through 29 bowl comp…Congrats!

Squirt with the right attitude and
3rd place winner of the Masters comp.

The girls really had a lot of fun in the bowl.
Allysha adapting well to the big bowl at Pedlow.

The success of this event can be directly attributed to the Pedlow skatepark staff, including supervisor Chris, Steve Wright, a dedicated and well managed Pedlow staff. They all rose to an enormous challenge and pulled it off for the win. A big thanks goes out to all of the sponsors who contributed flow and swag for the contest, such as SoCalSkateparks.com/SoCalSkateShop.com, Black Label, DVS Shoes, Zsportsdist, Concrete Disciples, Santa Monica Airlines, RockinRon’s Skate Technology, Inter City Bank Plank Skates, V Skates, Hosoi Skates, Cohort, and Pocket Pistols just to name a few. And major props goes out to the City of Los Angeles, Parks and Recreation Department for signing off on this event.

Masters Bowl Comp highlighted results:
1. Mike Buckley
2. Tino
3. Squirt
4. Eddie Hadvina
5. James Rodriguez

Related Links
Encino Pedlow Skatepark
Event Photo Gallery

The Clash At Clairemont

Tony Hawk Getting the Crowd Pumped Up..
Words: Chris Stupp
Photos: Jay Smiledge
Video: Chris Stupp/Mike Hirsch
Living in southern California we are so very fortunate. So often the weather is so great that it allows us to create such awesome experiences that can really make the difference for a lot of people. What do you get when you have one passionate person who has over come a challenge that takes so many lives each year? You get somebody like Mike Rogers, skater and creator of the Grind For Life foundation.
GrindForLife.OrgThe foundation helps cancer patients and their families with financial assistance when traveling long distances to doctors and hospitals. It was created in 2003 after Mike ended his second battle with cancer which ultimately cost him his eye and much more. So you put the intention of helping many other people out and add skateboarding and you get a once in lifetime event called “The Clash at Clairemont”.Standing on the huge Pacsun extreme vert ramp I thought to myself, what year is it? Is this 1988 or 2007? I am of course referring to all the older pros who made it out to support the cause. A lot of old friends got reunite today through doing exactly what they were doing 20 years ago. It was insane to see Kevin Stabb sporting his purple hair while taking as many runs as he can snake; Lester and his bionic energy throwing it down for the crowd; Tony making the spectators restless; Bucky bluntsliding the loveseat because he can and Andy Mac showing us the reason why we all enjoy skating, because it’s fun.The vert demo was exactly the way a demo should be, an awesomely huge ramp, great skaters, to die for weather, killer skating and a great cause to support.Once the vert demo was over and “Tony Hawk left the building” there was a scheduled autograph signing on the old vert ramp with a lot of the old pro’s doing a little PR work.

View Photo GalleryRelated Links
GrindForLife Foundation
Clairemont Skatepark
Event Photo Gallery
Vert Ramp Demo Video (Right Click Save as Target)
Pool Demo Video (Coming Soon)While that was going on you had a couple guys from the Gravity team, Jesse Parker and Brad Edwards as well as SCSP’s Nolan Johnson warming up the pool for the next heated session.What can I really say when you have Agent Orange performing live by the pool while you have skaters like Nolan who has an endless bag of tricks or Andy Mac nose wheeling the deck to roll in. Huge transfers, big airs, styley grinds and Bob’s everyday playful antics added to this event jam packed with one great experience after another. Everybody ripped it up including Mike Roger’s who probably took more runs than anybody.In my opinion I feel “The Clash at Clairemont” truly displayed the the true spirit of skateboarding to the fullest. It created as space for the young and the old to come together and share their own creative styles so that we can gain further evidence of the impact that skateboarding makes in the world today.I would like to thank Mike Rogers for his continuous commitment to help others; Andy Mac for helping to get this event off the ground; Tony Hawk for showing up and exciting the crowd; Lazlo and the crew at the Clairemont Skatepark; and to all the other skaters who came out today and helped create an excellent experience for so many people.

 2007 Concrete Wave Buyers’ Guide

The 2007 Concrete Wave Buyers’ Guide is now available. 111 pages and over 1200 products makes this the largest Buyers Guide to date. As soon as we receive the guides, SoCalSkateShop.com will be including the 2007 buyers’ guide in all of our orders. Check out our ad on page 68. The ad features our team riders Andrew Miller and Daniel Vargas showing us the future is here……

You can download the guide directly from our site - Download Concrete Wave 2007 Buyers’ Guide

we need product, prizes, help, etc, if your interested, hit me an email at ngates@ci.lake-forest.ca.us. this is a flow course only contest, no street or bowls. 1st place all ages sponsored wins an xbox 360

Please join the City of La Mesa
Community Services Commission and Youth Advisory Commission
for a community meeting to receive input on
SKATE MESA
City of La Mesa skate park operated by the
John A. Davis Family YMCA

Wednesday, March 14, 2007
7:00 p.m.
Parkway Middle School Auditorium
9009 Park Plaza Drive, La Mesa

At the direction of the La Mesa City Council, the Community Services and Youth Advisory Commissions will hear community input on SKATE MESA, the City of La Mesa skate park operated by the Davis Family YMCA. The skate park is currently closed for repairs and will require new ramps in order to reopen. Due to limited attendance at the skate park, the City Council has requested public input to determine whether to replace the ramps and reopen the skate park or consider renovating the area for other recreational use.

The skate park is located in La Mesita Park, 8855 Dallas Street, at the southwest end of the park. It is a supervised park that has been operated by the YMCA for the past 5 years.

Please join us for the community input meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting you can use one of these other methods to give us your input: pickup a survey at the La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive, La Mesa; call our skate park survey line at 619-667-1331; or logon to www.cityoflamesa.com and complete an online survey. For more information or for special accommodations contact the City of La Mesa Community Services Department at 619-667-1300.