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August 11th, 2003... I remember because it was the day after my brother's birthday and it was the epic end to a road trip across the country from the state known as "America's High Five". I started working at ZJ Boarding House in Santa Monica the next day.
Skateboarding in L.A. has changed a lot since then.
I remember when the closest skatepark was in Hawthorn, a 20 minute drive on the freeway into "the Dirty" as we called it.
Shit was pretty sketchy. There were lights until 9pm, so after we closed the shop at 7:00 we would pile as many groms as possible into the White Chevy Blazer and skate the Dirty Thorn until the lights shut off.
Other than that we were skating the streets. We would talk about it all week.
We would watch the newest skate video and figure out where each spot was and map our route for the weekend.
We were jumping fences, skating school playgrounds, abandoned warehouses, getting kicked out by security, dealing with cops, shooting photos, and making edits for fun.
Since then 5 or more parks and plazas have opened in the area and it has really made it too easy to skate.
"The Cove" in Santa Monica, The Venice Skatepark, Stoner Plaza, Westchester Berrics Plaza, Rancho, etc.
In this post I wanted to highlight the fact that skateboarders these days need to make more of an effort than ever to get back to the streets and get sparked like we used to... Even if it is just for fun.
Andrew Elliot: Feeble to Backlip
Guffey - 50-50
Adam Bertolet - Kickflip Backtail
Peter McClelland - Nollie Flip Crooks
