New Places to Skate in 2010
The Way Skatepark
The skatepark that used to sit at the Grove City Nazarene Church is no longer there for 2010, but that doesn’t mean that the ramps are gone. A Church in Ashville OH, which is just south of Columbus, recently acquired the ramps for use in a new skatepark. The new park called “The Way” is on the west side of Ashville at 269 W. Main Street, and the previously used ramps will be combined with new ramps for a larger, indoor park. The park is now open. www.thewayskatepark.org
The Spot Skatepark
This new park, which is first intended for the youth at Vineyard Church of Columbus, is under construction on the second floor of the east end of the Church building. This indoor park has several three to four foot quarterpipes, rails and launch boxes. The Church has yet to determine how the park will ultimately be used, but if there is enough support, there may be the option of opening the park for events during the week. Many of the ramps and materials were obtained from The Cellar skatepark in Dayton, who’s operators were generous enough to donate them. This park is still under construction, but should be finished sometime early in 2010.
Bakerized Skate Shop
Sam Baker recently opened up shop near the flow skatepark on the city’s east side. The shop carries everything you could need to skate, including rollerblade and skateboard items. There is also a practice area set up in the back of the shop. Check with someone at the shop to see if the area is available to skate, and for pricing. Bakerized
Dayton Flavor
I got a chance this weekend to roll around with the guys behind the “Savor the Flavor” video that took the Dayton scene to another level. Ryan Benner, Aaron Pyle, and Andrew Thompson are all really nice guys and great skaters. Their style is original (flavorful?), and their humor unique. So get out your salt and pepper shakers, here’s what they had to say:
How long have you guys been skating together?
Ryan: Aaron Pyle and I have been skating together since we were about 15. We’ve been skating with Andrew for five or six years. He’s a little younger than us; I’m 24 and Aaron is 23.
What makes the Dayton scene special?
Ryan: Well I think it’s because we’re ridiculously dedicated here, ha. I mean, in rollerblading years we’re pretty old but we still manage to skate 3 to 4 times a week. I would not say our scene is strong as far as numbers, but we are not small at the same time. “Savor the Flavor” seemed to help a terrific amount in getting younger kids into the sport, which was one of the main focuses of the dvd. We have a nice little group of kids that come and go, and then there’s us older guys that are very close knit as many scenes are.
I realize Dayton’s not in Columbus…or is it?
Ryan: Ha, I kind of see Columbus and Cincinnati and us all as one scene I guess. We are keeping closer with Columbus now more than ever since Sam Baker opened his shop. Also Sam Baker has the best top soul I have ever freaking seen. And I have seen some dang good ones to. His is just a work of art.
Aaron Pyle / Andrew Thompson - 09 Section from 2 Much Flavor on Vimeo.
On to your new video, the sequel to “Savor the Flavor” entitled “2 Much Flavor” what have you guys learned from the first one and what are you doing different?
Ryan: I think our whole outlook has changed really. I know mine has. Mainly the way we actually skate and what tricks we are doing.
How so?
Ryan: Were really looking at how rollerblading appears in the public eye as it currently stands. Also, what strides people have made to present it in the “right” light and their attempts to make a true difference (We’re obviously very interested in this as our first video focused on it heavily). Looking at this we have made a huge change in how we skate (this is the biggest change by far). I feel the biggest untapped “WOW” factor to people outside of rollerblading is to incorporate more of our whole body into tricks. I don’t want to say combining parkour and rollerblading but that’s the only way I can describe it. We need to make rollerblading look so drastically different from other action sports that its instantly recognized as such because as of now, well…it’s not. We need to make some really big changes in the way we are skating and what we are skating and calling “spots.” I think in a way we have really underestimated the ignorance of people because for whatever reason doing 540 into grinds just isn’t doing it for people. We have a track record to show this as well because we have been skating very safe and conventional for years and it has not appealed to people enough to make a significant difference. We’re doing the same things over and expecting different results.
How will the format be in this video will it still have a story running through it? What do you think of current rollerblading media that tries to branch out and reach people?
Well, now were in 2009 and we have some pretty dang good rollerblading documentaries over the years that try to connect people to rollerblading. In fact, we probably have too many. To make an overly serious and dramatic rollerblading documentary has kind of become the new T-shirt company thing in rollerblading; everyone wants to do it. The bottom line is yah… there are some awesome ones but like the way we’re actually skating…its just not clicking with people for whatever reason. In my experience I have found comedy attracts and relates people to a subject matter rather than being serious, that’s just my take. So we are going to continue taking that path.
Who has sections?
Three very full fleshed out sections. We really want to focus on these riders. Chynna Weierstall, Aaron Pyle and Andrew Thompson.
Anything else?
Thanks for talking with me and taking your time to take pictures. I really appreciate it. I really enjoy your site and it looks great. Aaron would like to thank every rollerblader in the world and Bakerized Skate Shop as well as his mom. Andrew would like to thank Mix Theorem. I would like to thank my girlfriend Tessa for putting up with me blading all the time.
Bustown Throwdown 2009
The Bustown Throwdown was a huge success! Skaters from all over the country made the journey to our corner of the U.S. which made for a great turnout. Congrats to all the winners…here are the results:
Best Trick:
1st: Richie Velasquez
2nd: Thumper Nagasako
16 and up Advanced:
1st: Travis Rhodes
2nd: Matthew Hoodhood
3rd: Gabriel Talamantes
4th: Jimmy Spetz
5th: Daniel Powell
6th: Mark Walker
7th: Andrew Conners
8th: Aaron Pile
9th: Vince Zywczak
10th: Jon Nguyen
10-15 Intermediate:
1st: Howie Curd
2nd: Liam Campbell
3rd: Brandon Nguyen
10-15 Advanced:
1st: Reed Huston
2nd: Matt Lyon
3rd: Josh Russo
16 and up Intermediate:
1st: James Porter
2nd: Kenny Shevuz
3rd: James Stradford
More photos coming soon!
Nick Uhas on the Bustown Throwdown
Nick Uhas answers some questions about the Bustown Throwdown contest.
Q: How did the Bustown Throwdown get started?
Nick: The Bustown Throwdown started as a community event/outreach from WWHOTV the CW here in Columbus. After talking with the station manager and creative service director we came to the conclusion that a skate contest would be the best way to get people together and have a great time…a couple weeks later BAM!!! We have the Bustown Throwdown.
Q: Has the process of organizing this competition taught you anything?
Nick: Hahaha yes, a lot of things. The first would be when organizing anything, take initiative and make sure to follow up. The second would be to never make assumptions…never! Another thing I have learned in this process is that people generally like helping other people. Especially if your excited about what your doing, people respond in a very positive manner.
Q: How are these kind of events supporting the growth of inline skating?
Nick: These kind of events are the seeds of growth for inline skating. They get the younger generations exposed to the true professional athletes and create an energy from competition that will resonate and allow self progression even when the event is over. Also, these kind of events allow kids the route to accomplish their dreams, big or small. When I was just learning to skate the organization for armatures was called ASA or Aggressive Skating Association. This particular circuit was the only real way to turn “pro” and it gave a solid pathway and structure to obtain this feat. Now the ASA has been replaced with AIL (Amateur Inline League). This new circuit gives the same structure and pathway to the professional level contests, but has much more organized and systematic way of achieving this goal. With all that being said I will mention that The Bustown Throwdown is a sanctioned AIL event, and will provide this opportunity to all of its competitors!!!
Q: What does Columbus and The Flow skatepark have to offer inline skaters?
Nick: Columbus has a lot to offer inline skaters. We have close to 10 skateparks in the surrounding area of which all have unique skate architecture and can cater to all skaters, regardless of talent level. Also, The Flow Skatepark is like the mother of them all. This particular park has just about everything a skater could imagine to rol on. It even has a foam pit!!! The park is laid out with smaller ramps in the front (with very good flow) and a larger back portion with ramps of greater amplitude. Spending the day at The Flow is pretty easy because there is just so much good stuff to skate!
Thanks Nick
Shannon Turner interview
Shannon Turner is the co-owner, along with Craig Billingsly, of The Flow skatepark in Columbus OH. I had the chance to talk to Shannon during their camp this summer, and he was kind enough to share his insights into skatepark ownership, the state of the inline skating industry, and lots more.
Skate Columbus: So how did you guys start?
Shannon Turner: We (Shannon and Craig Billingsly) used to work together, ride together, snowboard together, and he was like “I want to do a park” cause he used to ride up at Chenga all the time, and I was like “well, I got some dough, let’s do a park”, and of course, the expense superceded the thought of having a park so, you just start slamming stuff together and got with a couple other friends and found a building that would allow us to have it in it. They gave us a six month lease with options for renewals because they didn’t think we’d make it. So instead of measuring out the square footage, they were like “you know what, you can have from these poles over”, but it wasn’t bad. Then we just started building and decided what we wanted and how everything worked out and we went through a bunch of different names for stuff, like for the park, one of the names was Rampa Room, just like the old Romper Room, stuff like that. It was just one of those things where now its…everything has a flow to it, so that’s how we came up with the name The Flow. We had about a quarter of the park built when we first opened it, and the first day we had about 135 people, and 15,000 square feet to skater or ride, and big open spaces, and you’re still trying to build just to keep it rolling. But we had to open to keep the money rolling to keep building more.
SC: So you guys did all the building yourselves?
ST: Yeah
SC: And you still do?
ST: Yeah, and that’s why we’re able to change stuff and keep it fresh. Our park’s still never done. We’ve been here (current location) almost five years, and there’s still ledges missing, there’s hits here, hits there, we’re still out there masoniting, getting metal on the bottom, our expense here is probably almost twice the amount of the old place. With that it takes twice the amount of kids. You want to keep the price low enough to keep kids in, but your costs are always going up, so you want to try to alleviate the stress of what’s on you. Craig and I just do it out of the love for doing it, so you have to try to come up with other incomes.
SC: You guys have been recognized nationally for your ramp designs haven’t you?
ST: We were like, the number one park in the country for probably 7 or 8 years for bmx, and I think we’re ranked number 4 now. A lot of that ranking is done by the pros, and it’s how much stuff changes, and if your park constantly moves and stuff like that. It’s all done by the industry, and that’s how you get rated. You get pros in a lot and nobody knows. We had one filming in here last night and nobody knew.
SC: Any big future plans?
ST: We hope to get a contract renewal (laughs)…there’s some pyramids and stuff we want to put in and some things we want to pull out. We’re going to pull that 5 foot quarter out that’s in there and break that spine apart, and change that whole area up a little bit and make it more skate friendly in general, with a hip in there, with a rail going up each side, it’ll flow a little better. Like I said, you’re constantly making changes, like the old place, you had poles that were 60 feet apart and you only had so many rows and you could build stuff in between them, and here they’re a little bit tighter poles in between, so you don’t get as good of transfer lines as you used to be able to at the old place where you could go in and out. That’s one of the things with this place where we came in, where we had the rhythm section at the old place, and you have parents who want to walk across the floor and get nailed, but that’s when they had the old video cameras without the side cams, so they’d be zoned out and get run into. A lot of thought went into putting the foam pit in the back to keep it out of the park because we had it in the park before, and you had a lot of issues with that. And having the skate area up front, because it’s mostly younger kids that come in that do the skateboarding, so the parents are closer to them and can see them all the time, for the parents that stick around, cause you don’t have a lot of that either. But the ones that do, they want to be able to check it out, and you want to try to keep them off the floor because they’re hard for everybody. I always try to tell them, “if you’re going to be on the floor, stay close to the poles” because everybody stays away from the poles. You don’t want to walk out on the field in the middle of a football game; the same goes for here. They’re moving much faster here. It’s hard because you don’t want to out-build your clientele. Right now we’re in a new group, I think we’re on our third group of 9 to 13 year olds, they’re coming into the sport, and the older ones start to move out, get responsibilities, jobs, college, and street is what they can afford instead of coming to parks, and you see them on rainy days. You come up with all the creative things to make money during the summer, contests, giveaways, lock ins, cookouts, rhythm contests, stuff like that.
SC: You guys have lasted a lot longer than most places.
ST: We want to make it to the ten year. We’re on our ninth now. It’ll be nine next July (2010), so hopefully we can make it to 2011. July 6, 2011 will be the ten-year. We would like to see a twenty year for sure, you just don’t know if things will last that long. Outdoor parks get beat up and we take care of ours, we can rebuild, where theirs is made of concrete.
SC: And it’s indoor, so you can skate in the snow and the rain…
ST: Yeah, you keep the patchwork going and…summers are hard, but you just try to make as much money as you can during the winter and stash it and try to rebuild what you can in your off season to make it fresh for the next year. Try to keep people involved and people want to have contests here, it’s like the inline contest, as long as people are still wanting to have contests here…we built certain stuff for inliners because they are out there, round copings and stuff that they like to skate so this works out great for a contest. Plus they like to hit the big boxes and stuff like that.
SC: I saw the Bittercold Showdown in 08 was really big, was that one of your bigger events?
ST: Yeah, the Dirty East is really big, It’s like a two day thing. That (Bittercold) was really good, it’s just with them trying to run a tradeshow at the same time, it’s tough cause you need a park and space, and that’s why they went to Modern this year for that reason but it wasn’t as fun for the skaters as this place was.
SC: Cause there was a bigger tradeshow space?
ST: Well, they had a tradeshow space that was available, It was in his shop before he puts a shop in. But, his ramps aren’t as big as ours, skate oriented, they don’t have as many bmx kids, so there’s a lot more wedges and stuff versus transitions and boxes and stuff that people like to fly over and transfer lines and stuff like that. If you can stimulate life back into the inline industry…cause it got kind of smoked because the skating industry, the people that owned the shops and the companies that provide for the shops were just not following up on what they needed to do and now its online. When you’re not selling it and making a profit…it’s like those brothers that skated vert, you don’t even hear from them now. Then the x-games dropped it. For the Bittercold, it was all fifty states. It was huge, but it was everybody. If they can stimulate the growth and get more people into it, it would be awesome. It’s almost like the whole scooter scene right now. There’s a bunch of those out there that are not able to get into parks and they’re killing it. Now they have all the aftermarket bars and stuff. Our insurance wouldn’t allow us to have it. We’re going to do a trial basis on it with our insurance company on Thursdays I think, to start allowing them in. Bars used to break, and you’re bent over so it used to impale you. So for us, you don’t want to take that risk for twelve dollars. At the same time, I’m probably getting 5 to 10 emails a week about it for the past four months.
SC: Can you regulate it?
ST: Well, that’s the thing, we’re going to try to do Thursdays. The problem is, a kid that skateboards that’s not very good, he can’t go everywhere, so you don’t have to worry about him injuring a lot of other people. But a kid on a scooter can go everywhere. It’s like young kids on bikes that roll over everything and run circuit tracks where they go around and around and don’t touch anything but the floor…they’re ones that are likely to get hit. You can’t see them, they’re small, you’re in the air, you come over, there they are. Or your flying over a ramp as a skater, and right there is a kid sitting on the floor having a picnic. So we’re going to try to do it on a trial basis, I think I talked my insurance into it so if that happens, it would be wonderful. It won’t be that great during the winter, but it will be awesome during the summer. As a park owner, you don’t really want to do it, but for the financial part of your business, you want to do it because it will make your business grow, and be able to build more stuff and better stuff, and be able to tear stuff down and rebuild stuff. So, for us, being that it’s just Craig and I, your finances are so tight that you want to try to make everything happen as much as possible. You’re not building all this for yourself, you’re building it for yourself and everybody else and you have to accommodate. So you hear a lot of people like “dude, I hate the Flow for this reason”, well I hate the Flow for a reason too. It’s not everything that I want to skate. And for Craig, it’s not everything that he wants to ride out there. Everything would be built differently if we even owned it individually, if we built it for ourselves. I don’t skate everything that Craig builds, he wouldn’t want to ride everything that I’d build. So you try to do it for the group, but it’s hard cause there’s so many things that people want to skate and ride and on top of that there’s things within that riding that people want to do. You just try to accommodate as many people as you can, and hopefully everybody has a great time.
SC: You have a lot of variety…
ST: There’s a lot of stuff that we could do differently, but the most fun stuff is wedges, boxes, pyramids, your basic stuff is where everybody has the most fun. You build some stuff out there that you have to be creative on or have to be really good to hit, it’ll sit there. We had that at the old park, we had that six foot mini with the spine, and its 15,000 dollars sitting over there that was getting ridden maybe twice a month, and taking up that amount of space and nobody really riding it, cause people were terrified at that time because it was beyond the level of the people that were attending. We’re going through that phase of the kids that are younger are better than the kids that were the same age five years ago because they’re growing up in these parks so they’re able to handle a little bit different stuff and a little bit more. And with they young age group, they’re like “I can’t drop into that”, but, yes you can, and in three months you’ll be killing it. I know a bunch of bmx riders when we first opened up that are from this Columbus area that are in videos and stuff…I remember those guys when they couldn’t even get up quarters, they would crash just turning around, and now they just kill it.
SC: So do you do a lot to get new kids coming in?
ST: Not really, it’s mostly word of mouth. Our park is so recognized, and being the only indoor…and even if there was another indoor in town, it would probably be tough for both of us, but we’d probably still win out just because of all the connections and the tours and accommodations. I rep for a few snow lines, and you know more reps and you know more people, because its all in the same end of it so, once you make those friendships and just trying to help our tours that come through…you just want people to keep coming.
SC: Well, thanks for letting me come up and hang out.
ST: Yeah, no problem.
New Wallpapers Page
Check out the Wallpapers page for the downloads.
The Flow skatepark added
Check out the skateparks section of the site for info on The Flow skatepark.
Skatepark ramps move to Columbus
Aaron Kilby, who has helped run The Cellar teen hangout and skatepark in Dayton OH for the last several years, says it’s sad to see the skatepark’s run come to an end, but is glad that some of the ramps will be put to use. Having been run by a Church ministry in Dayton, The Cellar attracted crowds of youth into it’s large skatepark several days a week. Many of the ramps and materials have been donated to the Vineyard Church of Columbus here in town, and Kilby says he’s happy to see them going back to the ministry.
Disassembling the ramps was no easy task for volunteers from Columbus, but the result of a little hard work will eventually produce a great place to skate for the high schoolers at one of Ohio’s larges Church facilities. There was even a little fun to be had with the giant U-Haul while moving the ramps.
Located on the second floor (that’s right, a second floor skatepark!), the new skate area at Vineyard Columbus will be a great place to skate before and after Church once completed. For now though, many of the ramps are ready to skate, but several ramps are still waiting to be reassembled. This indeed is one of Central Ohio’s most unique places to skate, and for the youth at Vineyard Columbus, a welcome addition to the grounds.
Kyle Wood Interview
Skate Columbus: How old are you?
Kyle Wood: 20
SC: How long have you been skating?
KW: Probably about 7 years or so.
SC: How did you start skating?
KW: My mom took me to a skatepark one day, and I had a cheap Walmart skateboard and some fitness skates. After seeing some guy do a misty flip and grind a handrail, I thought it looked cooler, so I stuck with the fitness skates. The rest was history.
SC: Did you grow up in central Ohio?
KW: No, I grew up all over the place switching from school to school because my dad was in the military. Originally, I was born in North Carolina baby!
SC: What do you like about skating here?
KW: I like skating in Columbus mainly because of my friends, not because of the weather. Global warming, if it is even real, is definitely affecting Columbus, Ohio the most! We get negative 15 during the winter, and 100 in the summer, but i guess the huge fluctuation in weather has given all of us tough skin. We also have some great skateparks in the Ohio area, but a lot of our street spots have been ruined over the past few years. It’s my personal goal to fix old and new street spots before this summer is over.
SC: What’s your favorite place to skate?
KW: This is a tough question… but I’d have to say either Modern Skatepark in Michigan, or Woodward skate camp in Pennsylvania. Other than those, my favorite place I have ever skated street is Philly. That city is literally like a Tony Hawk level, where everything you think can be skated, has already been grinded or gapped at some point in time. Not to mention the downtown area is amazing, with a lot of architecture and history.
SC: What type of music do you listen to?
KW: I listen to all sorts of music, depending on what type of rollerblading I am doing will depend on what I listen to. Usually the harder the trick, the more intense the music hahah
SC: What’s your advice for anyone just starting out?
KW: Just do not give up! If you actually give rollerblading a chance, there is no way you can turn your back on it. Rollerblading is without doubt one of the coolest things you can do. There are going to be some low points where you may get hurt or discouraged, but there is nothing in this world that can compare to the highs and success of landing a new trick.
SC: Where does rollerblading stand right now?
KW: Well after getting kicked out of the X games, we’ve really lost all major corporate sponsorship. Which is great in a way that our sport is run by the people who rollerblade and NO one else, however, when the best pros are risking life and limb without health care to try and win a contest that will barely pay for their rent, there is definitely a problem. Its only a matter of time until rollerblading is rediscovered and better than ever before! And I plan to be there when this happens.
SC: What are your other plans?
KW: Well I already put in 2 years at Community College, so now I am headed to The Ohio State University to study Financing through their business program. Not exactly sure what to do with that, but I think I’m going to become an entrepreneur of sorts. It isn’t until this year I realized that I wanted to go somewhere with skating, because I always used to skate for fun, due to a lack of money in rollerblading. However, this fall, Nick Uhas, Nate Szana and myself have been offered to do a show on the CW about rollerblading. So I guess we’ll see where that takes us.
SC: Any last thoughts?
KW: Like shoutouts? Okay… I want to thank my mommy and poppy for their support. I also want to say thank you to all of my friends, without you I wouldn’t be where I am today! Thanks to Blue Wallace Skateshop for their support of rollerblading. I also want to thank Brad Anthony because he has had faith in me from day one, and is one of the nicest dudes I know. I also want to thank Hawke Trackler for going on adventures, and always being down to hold a camera with great filming. Everyone else, keep skating… if you’re not skating then you should! And represent Columbus, Ohio ya dig!!!!
Skate Columbus tee-shirts now available!
Check out the Skate Columbus online store at http://skreened.com/skatecolumbus for custom tee designs. More custom designs should be added regularly, so check back for the latest apparel.
