A.N.T.I.S.L.A.M. a Grand Success

Matt Froese liens to tail over the hip at Hastings. Photo: Jeff Chan.

Perry Mylnowski and Bryan Ball's A.N.T.I.S.L.A.M. contest went off at Hastings Skatepark on Saturday the 26th and, as predicted, it was a faceful of fun for everyone involved.

I showed up around 1:00 and the first thing I noticed was the bowl's brand spankin' new paintjob. The whole place had been repainted and the blank slate covered with new graffiti pieces. I'm not sure who all got in on the action, but Vancouver locals Milan Basic and Keen were definitely involved. In addition to looking nice, the lack of bare concrete means that when you slam and slide down the wall you don't lose all of your skin. Hurray. I benefitted from that feature at least a dozen times. The second thing I noticed was that the large concentration of clueless dorks who had no idea how to conduct themselves in a busy session meant that you really had to have your head up and elbows out. That's pretty much business as usual these days though, now that skateboarding is so big with the kids and whatnot. It keeps you awake if nothing else.

The contest itself basically followed the shape of the Renee Renee Cash Bash that would go on at Hastings during Slam City, meaning that the MC would pick a wall and offer up a prize for whoever did the best trick on that wall, then move on to the next. That sort of thing tends to encourage one-trick-wonder type skating rather than actual good lines though, so after watching for a while it was time to take a break from the sun and head over to the Fifth Ave Cinema to catch the premiere of Skate Fast Fall Hard. Before leaving though, I did see some good shit happening... Johnny B's fakie bigspin hurricane revert... that curly-haired guy's kickflip rock... Steve Denham almost landing a cab to backside disaster... Chris McCallum stomping a blunt fakie...

After the movie, we got back to Hastings in time to get in on the barbecue and watch the final event... the Last Man Standing contest, where king slug Seb handily dispatched with the competition on his way to winning a brand new complete. Then it was open session until sundown.

So thanks to: Perry and Bryan for putting in their time to organize the event, all the artists involved in bowl beautification, all the sponsors who donated prizes, and everyone who showed up and wasn't an idiot.