SPoT Life: The Road to Damn Am Select Series Atlanta Article at Skatepark of Tampa

SPoT Life: The Road to Damn Am Select Series Atlanta

Posted on Friday, May 29, 2015 by Chris

Keep on truckin’;That’s been the SPoT Team’s motto on the road for the last few weeks, and with another Damn Am approaching in ATL, another road trip was a no-brainer.

You know how we do it; the crew loaded up the SPoT van bright and early to get a head start. This go around we stuffed SPoT Team riders Robby Kirkland, Markus Jalaber, Alejandro Burnell and Uncle Sam Bellipanni into the van along with Tampa locals and friends Jean-Luc Vida and Cameron Hunt. Needless to say, we set ourselves up for quite the weekend of fun.

Upon our arrival at Hazard County Skatepark in Atlanta we checked the scene, unloaded at the hotel, and headed straight for Downtown to get some skating in. We managed to meet up with local Atlanta ripper and good homie, Travis Glover, for a rather epic first day session filled with skating & shenanigans; You’ll see the photos below. Throughout the next couple of days the crew skated the contest, hung around with the locals, and kept the good times rollin’ in good ol’ McDonough. The SPoT Team held Tampa down with Uncle Sam making the finals, and Markus taking first place in the Independent Best Trick contest- peep the contest & SPoT Life edit for all the ripping.

After the contest winded down and came to an end, we packed up our belongings and began to make our way back to Tampa. It’s always a little more brutal of a ride on the way home, and with 12 dudes packed into a van for 5 days, the crew was definitely feeling it. In light of that, we made a quick pitstop in Gainesville to let the guys get and skate a little bit to loosen up and stretch. Even with everyone beat-up and exhausted, the session still managed to get pretty heavy. Afterwards we loaded back up, and the rest is history!

Thanks to everyone who was a part of the weekend, you all made it a wild success. Another enormous thanks goes out to Jona Owings and the Hazard County Skatepark crew for all the help and unrivaled hospitality; you guys never fall short! And huge thanks to our sponsors: C1RCA, Independent, Santa Cruz, Bones Wheels, Bones Bearings, Transworld, Dakine, Ride Channel, and Streetleague. Cheers, and until next time.

Eric McKenney
Words and photos by Marino Nicastro.
Video by Frank Branca.
Frank
Frank was already filming in the morning, hustling you can say, boosting these edits out. You can check all his SPoT Life edits on YouTube or on our home page.
Eric
Mandatory Squad photo. Time to go!
Markus
Smiles are a great thing to see, especially when the van is packed and we have an 8 hour drive ahead of us.
Jona
First stop, Hazard County Skatepark. We were here from 9am-4pm everyday running the contest. Thanks for your hospitality!
Uncle Sam
This crazy rail was in front of our hotel. Its practically untouched for those who want a taste!
Matt
First stop in Downtown Atlanta and the boys showed up. Didn’t hassle us too much.
Alejandro
Alejandro Gapping out to FS Wallride, with a death drop on the opposite side.
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam FS Blunt. #OFFTHATWET
Classic OG spot in Downtown. This place is harder to skate than it looks, and that says a lot.
Travis
Classic OG spot in Downtown. This place is harder to skate than it looks, and that says a lot.
Robby
Last stop in our Atlanta skate spot tour. Black Box.
Frank
We met some locals...
Why does everyone want to ride one of these things?
Alejandro
Alejandro BS Barley.
Robby
Pee Wee Kirks - BS Tail.
Giancarlo
Giancarlo back at the park dodging boards to land this BS Tail.
Alejandro
They’ve still got the vert ramp at Hazard County. 50-50 Pull In by Alejandro.
Alex
Definitely my favorite part of the contest was the Bowl Jam, which of course turned into a Texas Death Match style jam.
Kinser
Kinser Cathey from Black Sheep Skateshop. This FS Nose Blunt was unbelievable and note worthy to say the least.
Alejandro
Alejandro - Gap out FS Smith.
Wesley
Hazard has a sick little DIY outside. Wesley testing the waters with a BS Disaster.
Cameron
Cameron Hunt enjoying chicken wings cooked to perfection by Jona at Hazard.
Bart
The contest ran really smooth this year, you can check out the coverage including photos from Bart Jones and videos from Frank Branca on our site.
Alejandro
The locals made a DIY wallride spot across the way. Alejandro taking advantage and gets up there frontside.
Giancarlo
A homie should never let another homie Noseblunt Pull In by himself.
Cameron
One final mission downtown. These cholos had our back.
Wesley
Wesley Box Fast Plant.
Wesley
Alejandro Wallie Nollie.
Possum Creek Skatepark in Gainesville, FL. Our final stop before heading home.
Alejandro
Alejandro - boosted FS Air.
Chris
Chris was our DJ for the weekend at the contest which sets you up for not much skating. That all ended here. DJ Cub - Ollie over Flatbar.
Eric
Eric McKenney also worked all weekend long and let out all that stress here. This line was insane, Nose Manual.
Markus
Markus - Half Cab Flip to Fakie.
Robby
Long exposure photo from the ride home. Photo credits to Frank Branca.

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