4th Annual Pro Tec Pool Party
Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 by Ryan
Words by Ryan Clements
Photos and Captions by Rob Meronek
Next, thanks to that great legendary traffic in SoCal, we spent about three hours on the highway trekking south to Newport Beach, specifically Professor Schmitt’s estate. We made it just in time to get a nice private bowl session in just before dark. Not a bad first day of vacation. See, it wasn’t just Rob and I on this trip…we brought our friend Mark to watch the Pool Party with us, so it was cool to be able to show him around.
“Please arrive early due to limited capacity. Ticket does not guarantee admission. Ticket holder voluntarily assumes all risks and danger incidental to the event.”
Then to top it off:
“No skateboards. No alcohol. No pets.”
So let me get this straight. I flew all the way across the United States and I might not get in? And to top it off there is no alcohol? What type of bowl/pool session doesn’t have beers?
Despite the threat on the tickets, we got in just fine, but Rob wasn’t on the Media List. I actually sent an email request two, possibly three, times to get Rob the proper credentials. I never received an email back. I thought, “Maybe our wish was granted and they just didn’t reply.” But nope. No such luck. Rob shot all of his photos from the stands.
But then again, Tony from FTK was up in the stands, too, so go figure. But the place was hella' packed and truly had a great vibe. There was free food and soda with Steve Van Doren up on the grill and every cement and coping-loving skateboarder that I know was there to witness the upcoming mayhem.
When I finally got a choice spot in the stands I realized that we missed the Women’s. Oops. I don’t know how that happened. But Masters Practice was up next with Pro following, a $90,000 purse was being distributed, and there was a micro-brewery next door. Hell yeah!
The format for both the Masters and Pro was the same. For the Semi-Finals they had timed Jams with a few guys in each one. At first it was an organized Jam, giving each skater about three runs in order, but then the rest of the Jam was no rules, anything goes. The winners of each Jam would then advance to the Finals.
All I remember from the Semis are the slams. Jake Piasecki was falling all over the place and then Dagger Dave Duncan slammed really, really hard on a roll-in on the hip. Honestly, I can’t believe that the dude even got up after that. His slam was the equivalent of jumping off the hip and landing on his side and shoulder on the flat bottom. He’s a true champ though, because he was back announcing in a matter of minutes. Hat’s off to that trooper. Here’s who took home the cheddar:
In fact, Morgan Burgess is quite gnar, but in a different, less experienced way than some of the older cats. He held his own to the best of his ability, but when things start to get ultra-gnar, someone is bound to over-amp it. The victim this time around happened to be young Morgan himself. He was trying really, really hard to hang onto a 540 (I think that’s what he was trying, but I neglected to write it down) and ended up with a severely broken wrist. I heard that he broke his other wrist, too, but I hope that was just a rumor. Heal well, Morgan.
As big as that bowl is, the pros make it look way too easy. Neal Hendrix agreed and simply claimed, “I’m a pussy,” when we talked about him possibly skating in the event. Enough said.
Speaking of pussies, Tim Johnson was NOT a pussy. He barely missed the cut, but did an absolutely huge fs stalefish drifting about 12’ and going around the corner in the square pool. The crowd erupted for that one and that was a personal highlight for me, too.
In addition to watching Tim, I was stoked to see Cookiehead Jenkins out there in the mix. That dude is still flying nearly 8’ on airs…that is no joke in that pool. I once again didn’t envy the judges because top four was damn close. By the way, is Steve Olson as crazy as he comes off?
We missed the beginning of the After- Party to make a pit stop at the Anaheim Ruth’s Chris courtesy of Mark. After some proper-ass grub we made our way back to Alcatraz for some free micro-brews and conversations with others dudes that are into Pro-Design pads and frontside slashers.
Mark had rock-gut due to one too many Rockstar Energy Drinks, so he was the DD. We awoke the next morning and skated Paul’s bowl until our legs couldn’t take it anymore. The rest of the day was spent being full-on tourists in LA. I’m not going to bore you with any details because I could go on forever about the sites we saw…it really was a great day though. Rob’s pics will hopefully do it justice and tell the story.
Thanks to Vans for the tickets and the Schmitt Family for the amazing hospitality. We’re making this a yearly trip.
Ryan
Photos and Captions by Rob Meronek
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Mad Tourists!
I’ve never felt more like a tourist in my life. Right off the plane we hit Venice to check out the sites and skate what they call their “skate park.” From there we headed north through Malibu, into Malibu Canyon, and up to Thousand Oaks to their slightly better park. The temperature went from almost cold in Venice to freakin’ hot in Thousand Oaks!
Next, thanks to that great legendary traffic in SoCal, we spent about three hours on the highway trekking south to Newport Beach, specifically Professor Schmitt’s estate. We made it just in time to get a nice private bowl session in just before dark. Not a bad first day of vacation. See, it wasn’t just Rob and I on this trip…we brought our friend Mark to watch the Pool Party with us, so it was cool to be able to show him around.
The Pool Party
Early Saturday morning we headed down to a beautiful spot on the Pacific, Crystal Cove, for some breakfast. The Professor then gave us an amazing tour of Laguna, Newport, Balboa Island, and so on from the back of his 1962 Mercedes convertible. It was a great way to start day two. Finally…it was time to gear up to get down for the Pool Party. Before heading over there we had to refer to our Barney Checklist to make sure we had proper attire.
Official Barney Checklist
- Full helmet (kind that goes over the ears)
- Knee and elbow pads
- Square tail deck
- Rails
- Sleeveless shirt
- Black socks (already had those of course)
- Swing by the barber shop for a mullet
“Please arrive early due to limited capacity. Ticket does not guarantee admission. Ticket holder voluntarily assumes all risks and danger incidental to the event.”
Then to top it off:
“No skateboards. No alcohol. No pets.”
So let me get this straight. I flew all the way across the United States and I might not get in? And to top it off there is no alcohol? What type of bowl/pool session doesn’t have beers?
Despite the threat on the tickets, we got in just fine, but Rob wasn’t on the Media List. I actually sent an email request two, possibly three, times to get Rob the proper credentials. I never received an email back. I thought, “Maybe our wish was granted and they just didn’t reply.” But nope. No such luck. Rob shot all of his photos from the stands.
But then again, Tony from FTK was up in the stands, too, so go figure. But the place was hella' packed and truly had a great vibe. There was free food and soda with Steve Van Doren up on the grill and every cement and coping-loving skateboarder that I know was there to witness the upcoming mayhem.
When I finally got a choice spot in the stands I realized that we missed the Women’s. Oops. I don’t know how that happened. But Masters Practice was up next with Pro following, a $90,000 purse was being distributed, and there was a micro-brewery next door. Hell yeah!
Masters
Although I was excited to watch the entire event, seeing the Masters seemed to be the biggest deal. Unfortunately Lance Mountain, Jeff Grosso, and Duane Peters were all hurt. It was cool to see them hanging around and cheering on their peers, but it would have been so much better to see them skate.
The format for both the Masters and Pro was the same. For the Semi-Finals they had timed Jams with a few guys in each one. At first it was an organized Jam, giving each skater about three runs in order, but then the rest of the Jam was no rules, anything goes. The winners of each Jam would then advance to the Finals.
All I remember from the Semis are the slams. Jake Piasecki was falling all over the place and then Dagger Dave Duncan slammed really, really hard on a roll-in on the hip. Honestly, I can’t believe that the dude even got up after that. His slam was the equivalent of jumping off the hip and landing on his side and shoulder on the flat bottom. He’s a true champ though, because he was back announcing in a matter of minutes. Hat’s off to that trooper. Here’s who took home the cheddar:
- 1st – Chris Miller – $10,000 – at age 40, Miller is absolutely amazing. He has the best style of all time, he’s the coolest dude out, a great businessman, and is as good as any pro out there in that thing. He shouldn’t even be in Masters to be honest with you…he’s just too damn good
- 2nd – Steve Caballero – $6,000 – Cabbie is just getting better with age
- 3rd – Nicky Guerrero – $3,000 – he made it all the way from Copenhagen and we’ll see him back in Denmark for the 2nd Annual CPH PRO at the end of June
- 4th – Eric Nash – $1,000 – I remember the name, but I can’t say that I recall too much of Nash from when I was a kid. Dude was solid and smooth though
- 5th – Lester Kasai – $500 – still ripping with huge airs and long lipslides
- 6th – Pat Ngoho – $200 – straight out of Venice with ill, smooth Hawaiian style
- 7th – Steve Steadham – $200 – I don’t know him personally, but Steadham comes off as one serious dude
- 8th – Tony Magnusson – $200 – I straight up forgot how good T-Mag was and now I’ve got a new respect for him because he knocked his shoulder out of socket, got it pulled back in, and then came back to skate and knocked it right out again. Gnar
- 9th – Buck Smith – $200 – I’ve had mad respect for Buck since I first saw him do a backside boneless on 6’ of vert at Kona when I was 14. That was 20 years ago! Holy $h!t!
- 10th – Ben Schroeder – $200 – hands down Schroeder is the most exciting dude of all time to watch. You don’t know if this giant is going to make it or kill himself each time he tries a trick. He backs up the gnar-factor by being one of the nicest dudes you could ever talk to. I’m a big fan
Badass Barney Boardslides
It was time for intermission and Thrasher stepped up with a pretty cool concept for a side event. I don’t recall the catchy name they slated for it, but it was basically a longest boardslide contest and each block you slid earned you a hundo, winner take all. After 30 minutes of rail-to-pool coping madness, Cab was on top with 18, which equals $1800. Sweet, but lucky for him that Grosso was hurt because rumor has it that ol’ Mothra slid 27 earlier in the week. Damn.
Pro
In the Semis I was thinking, “Who are these kids?” Actually, since I know who they are it was more like, “What are these kids doing skating with Bucky and Bob?” Are they really pro? I personally wouldn’t say that Morgan Burgess and Nolan Munroe are pro. I’m not saying that they don’t rip, because they certainly do for little dudes. But I’m just stating the fact that there is an inherent difference watching a veteran destroyer like Omar who has put his time in for two decades skate against a kid that is using the bowl like a half pipe. And this is by no means a diss on those little guys’ abilities…I’m just saying that it’s a weird mix, that’s all.
In fact, Morgan Burgess is quite gnar, but in a different, less experienced way than some of the older cats. He held his own to the best of his ability, but when things start to get ultra-gnar, someone is bound to over-amp it. The victim this time around happened to be young Morgan himself. He was trying really, really hard to hang onto a 540 (I think that’s what he was trying, but I neglected to write it down) and ended up with a severely broken wrist. I heard that he broke his other wrist, too, but I hope that was just a rumor. Heal well, Morgan.
As big as that bowl is, the pros make it look way too easy. Neal Hendrix agreed and simply claimed, “I’m a pussy,” when we talked about him possibly skating in the event. Enough said.
Speaking of pussies, Tim Johnson was NOT a pussy. He barely missed the cut, but did an absolutely huge fs stalefish drifting about 12’ and going around the corner in the square pool. The crowd erupted for that one and that was a personal highlight for me, too.
In addition to watching Tim, I was stoked to see Cookiehead Jenkins out there in the mix. That dude is still flying nearly 8’ on airs…that is no joke in that pool. I once again didn’t envy the judges because top four was damn close. By the way, is Steve Olson as crazy as he comes off?
- 1st – Rune Glifberg – $25,000 – that’s a lot of scrilla’, but not quite as many Danish Kroners when you convert it. Rune’s bsts shove-it around the corner in square side was sick! Are you kidding me?!?!
- 2nd – Omar Hassan – $15,000 – Omar had the longest runs of all time and lines that no one else could touch
- 3rd – Bucky Lasek – $7,500 – what’s amazing about Bucky is that he skates this thing like it’s a regular old vert ramp
- 4th – Bob Burnquist – $3,000 – Bob holds onto anything and everything…he refuses to bail. I personally loved the switch backside roll in. Also, did he get lasik surgery or something? Where were the trademark glasses?
- 5th – Benji Galloway – $2,000 – switch blunt in the square side? That is one small example of the gnarlitude that Benji possesses
- 6th – Sergie Ventura – $1,500 – before the Finals started Sergie landed a mute air over the hip that no one has ever done prior
- 7th – Bruno Passos – $1,000 – you might not know who he is, but Bruno is from Brazil and has a huge bag of tricks
- 8th – Josh Borden – $700 – Josh must skate that thing all of the time because he’s got some great lines and topped it off with a 540 in the square side and bs kickflip in the round
- 9th – Nolan Munroe – $500 – I can’t remember what he did, but he must have been doing something right to make it into top 10
- 10th – Adam Taylor – $300 – look who done grow’d up and learned how to rip a pool
Party Time
On the way out to the After Party I ran into Lee from Plus. I asked, “Did Vans fly you out here?” He said, “Yeah, when you spend $XXX with them they fly you places.” I was bitchin’ up a storm, so the next morning I checked the books and realized that we spent about ½ of that with Vans in 2007. Damn. That shut me up.
We missed the beginning of the After- Party to make a pit stop at the Anaheim Ruth’s Chris courtesy of Mark. After some proper-ass grub we made our way back to Alcatraz for some free micro-brews and conversations with others dudes that are into Pro-Design pads and frontside slashers.
Mark had rock-gut due to one too many Rockstar Energy Drinks, so he was the DD. We awoke the next morning and skated Paul’s bowl until our legs couldn’t take it anymore. The rest of the day was spent being full-on tourists in LA. I’m not going to bore you with any details because I could go on forever about the sites we saw…it really was a great day though. Rob’s pics will hopefully do it justice and tell the story.
Thanks to Vans for the tickets and the Schmitt Family for the amazing hospitality. We’re making this a yearly trip.
Ryan
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