The last Free Flow skate contest of the '07 season was a lot of fun.
Everyone who came out to the Ogio warehouse skated hard and had a great
time doing it. Big thanks to Ogio for opening up the park to the public
for the Free Flow Contest.

I have good news and bad news for all
of the skate ams in the SLC region. First the good news; you can now
breathe a sigh of relief that Bryant Chapo is 18 and will not be
competing in the Free Flow contest next year. Now the bad news; Tyson
Bowerbank is only 12 and will be competing in Free Flow for years to
come. Bryant won this year's SLC regional contest for the third
straight year, Tyson Bowerbank who won the Phoenix stop last year came
in second. Taking third in the Free Flow division was Christian
Sereika. Nate Starke, Shea Cooper, and Kevin Fedderson took 4th-6th
respectively. Dillion Guenther won the 12 and under Junior Jam.

Big Up to Eric from Ogio and Mike who shot the event. We have some issues with our deck but no worries the video will be up next week.

It doesn’t matter how high up you go in the elevated Colorado, the state puts out some fantastic talent!  The mile high city was no exception, as Woodward Denver pulled in some of the best skaters from the city, nearby towns, and far off places.  With nearly fifty skaters entered, the crowd of friends, family, a television news team, and photographers were in for a show as the skaters brought their A-game.  Starting things off was the junior jam with nineteen competitors.  Local Bobby Rodriguez, 12 years old of Denver, CO., took the crown combining his final run with a nose stall reverse and an ollie gap.

The Skate Vert competition though small was rich in talent as eight competitors vied for the coveted all-expense paid trip to Orlando.  Dylan Taylor, 13, of San Diego, CA took the win mixing huge grabs with 360 indys.  

The Free Flow division was tight, technical, and…top-notch.   Rachael Reinhard, 17 of Colorado Springs, CO., the contest’s only female finished a respectable fourth-place pulling a kickflip to frontside board slide in her final run.  Phil Hanson, 10 of Centennial, CO., finished third combining 50/50 down the double rail, a 360 over the man-gap, and varial double flip.  The judges had a difficult time in deciding the Free Flow winner as both competitors each had different styles and tricks of their own.  But in the end, one had to come out on top and it was Ryan Thompson, 11 from Katy, TX, who took the crown and an all-expense-paid trip to the Finals in Orlando.  Thompson put together a solid final run pulling combing huge 360 flips over rail to flat, kickflip over the pyramid, and an ollie one-foot boardslide. Jullian Christianson, 18, of Denver, finished a respectable second place combining nollie bigspin to flat, nollie melon-grabbed over the man-gap, and nollie back tail to smith grind.  

Big ups and thanks to the Nick and the crew at Woodward-Denver for putting on a great contest.

Yesterday, I entitled my article "I'm proud to be French" and today France needs YOU. DC shoes have a comp going on between their different team in Spain, France and the UK. My country is leading but I still need your vote. Paco Raban did a great job editing the French piece. Stephane Larrance, French team manager, has some rippers in his team. Check them out and vote for France of course. Go to www.dceurope.com

I was in Aspen this year when Candide won the X Games. This guy is insane. We've all seen footage of the Candide Invitational... if not, search BNQT and you'll find it. Enjoy studios killed it with the teaser. I can't wait to watch the full movie.



BIG UP skipass.com