Just the actual construction of this Minnesota-made berg block is post-worthy, but then the so-icey boys are kickflip frontside blunting the thing and whatnot. Fuck. They should’ve probably saved this for one of TWS’s “Skate and Create” things, but you know how they get into the season up there. Actually this post can serve double-duty as a request for Police Informer or Chrome Ball or Vert’s Dead to go on a scavenger hunt for a pic that popped up in the “Somethin’ Else”/equivalent sometime in the early (very early) 90s, featuring a dude performing an ollie on a board outfitted with ice-skate blades. Anybody else remember this one? I wonder if you’d have to skate such a thing with cleats.
Bloodbath at the 2008 Top Shop contest a few weeks ago at Third Lair skatepark in Minneapolis. While it doesn’t really approach the highly entertaining, free-for-all rapid-fire bail-a-thon that so many best trick contests devolve into, this clip does feature a seriously mind-melting array of tricks dished out on the mini-rail, including a couple I personally have never seen before. Here’s a possibly accurate rundown of which dudes did what:
Mike Munzenrider, Skateboard Mag writer, Twin Cities luminary and a fan of nollie inward heelflips himself, described this as the craziest best trick contest he’s ever seen, which I might be inclined to agree with. But I think TSM internet commenter “Squaters” best captured the spirit of the thing: “if u were a witnessed im pretty sure u would have to change into that extra pair of drawes u brought!!” No doubt.
The Skateboard Mag has its own clip up that’s better quality but a shittier angle on a lot of the tricks, although it does include Nate Compher’s run–switch b/s 5-0 the hubba, switch f/s tailslide bigspin the other hubba. Maybe switch b/s smith grinds were getting boring. Is his hairline receding? Get ready for the dirty 30s Jr Mint…
Addendum: Here’s a Skateboard.com clip that has a switch f/s bigspin noseslide from Ian Sherman, I believe, as well as a lot of the other tricks. Between the music in this clip and TSM’s I think I gotta ride with Juelz/Just Blaze over the French robots.
