Sadly, our summer skate jam series has come to an end. We were warmly welcomed out at Rolleston skatepark on Saturday to a whole park of skateboarders for a change! It was a pleasant surprise for us here at the Skate Skool and we were amped to round out the 2011/2012 summer series with solid skateboarding event.

Things got pretty heavy all of a sudden when Kingston, Josh Bamford and Jordan Kidd stepped up to the garden gap. Props to Josh for stomping a kicky first pop with Kingston super close to landing a Tre, one more attempt we reckon he would of had it. James stepped up in the comp with a drop in off the railing behind the big quarter taking 1st — no surprises there.

The comp was sick right through all divisions, the young guns are definitely getting better by the day and we’re amped to wait and see what tricks these kids are pulling next when the next series rolls around. It’s been a great summer for Christchurch skateboarding and it’s been a priviledge to help pump the local scene along with over 30 skate events!

Cheers to those who have supported us over the last year, we’re stoked that you have enjoyed our events and hope that you all keep shredding over winter.

We will be back again next summer with a whole heap more events, more prizes, free BBQs and good times! Keep an eye out over winter though as we will continue to run our BroFile feature, online giveaways and we may just have a couple more lil’ events that might pop up!

Chur!

BEST TRICK COMP RESULTS:

10 & Under
1st — Tristan Logchies
2nd — Jeremy Eaton
3rd — Dion Schweikl

13 & Under
1st — Liam Currie
2nd — Daniel CG
3rd — Bradley Fast

14 & Over
1st — James Kingston
2nd — Joesass
3rd — Josh Stewart

Girls
1st — Lauren Scott
2nd — Georgia
3rd — Mareta Ielua

Scroll on to check out more photos by Levi Woolf.

Brad Fast » Kickflip

Josh Stewart » Hardflip

Daniel Clarkson-Gardiner » Boardslide

Liam Currie » Varial Heelflip

James Kingston » Rail pop to the quarter

Josh Bamford » Kickflip

For Brofile #9 we lined up local ripper Alex Baker and put him in the spotlight. We shot these photos over two sessions — a little park and a little street, challenged Alex a little and he more than nailed it. A purveyor of colourful shirts and hand-crafted griptape art, we caught up with Alex to give his two cents for our quick fire questions. Here’s what he had to say…

Name: Alex Baker

Age? 17.

Reg­u­lar or goofy? Regular.

Fav local spot/skatepark: The bean hive.

Fav trick? Nollie-flip.

Street/Park/Bowl? Street, always something new to try.

Who hooks you up? No-one.

Fav all time skate­boarder? Harry (main) Warburton.

Fav skate vid/ last one you watched? Ritchie Jackson part two.

Lis­ten­ing to music while skat­ing? Yea, Wu-Tang/the xx.

Tight or loose trucks? Loose.

Worst skat­ing injury? Nothing to worry about (rolled ankle).

Cur­rent setup? Nelson Creek board, Venture trucks, Spitfire wheels, Bones bearings and Lucky hardware.

A good skateboarder’s diet should always include? Teza iced tea and mango, gotta stay healthy.

What are you going to be doing in 5 years? Living.

Any final words? Peace, out.

Check out more sick photos by Andy Brown below…

Alex Baker » Ollie over the rail

Alex Baker » Nollie flip

Alex Baker » Nollie front 180

Alex Baker » Switch Backside 180

Alex Baker » Back tail shuv out

As the days get shorter and weather turns wilder we count down our last couple of events of the 2011/2012 summer series. Saturday’s Jellie Skate Jam was a good day for all and lucky for us the weather stayed on our side.

Over the summer we have noticed some incredible talent coming through in the younger divisions with the likes of the 9 y/o Schweikl twins (Jacob and Dion) who have been turning heads over the last few comps, meaning a bright future ahead for NZ skateboarding. It’s cool to see more girls getting down to our events too!

Thanks to all that came down and all the sponsors who helped make it happen — The Christchurch City Council — Fendalton/Waimairi Community Board, Cheapskates, Sport Canterbury, Sport New Zealand and Skullcandy.

Best Trick Competition:

10 & Under
1st — Dion Schweikl
2nd — Kurtis O’Sullivan
3rd — Tristan Logchies

13 & Under
1st — Tane October
2nd — Conner Hren
3rd — Shaun Malloch

14 & Over
1st — (Unofficial) — James Kingston
1st — Brad Christensen
2nd — Josh Bamford
3rd — Tom Galligan

Girls
1st equal — Lauren Scott & Mareta Ielua

Check out some more photos below by Andy Brown.

Pheonix » Dropping in

Noah (5) » Rolling in

Luke Hren » Mute

Connor Hren » Kickflip

Jacob Schweikl » Boardslide

Lauren Scott » Shredding

Jordan McStay » Front feeble

Josh Bamford » Switch ollie to the flat

James Kingston » Bluntslide transfer

Troy Newton (Big Red) » Bike track run…

…Troy Newton » Made it!

Tom Gallaghan » Crooks to noseslide

Noah & Kurtis looking on

BBQ time!

Decision time

Finalists 10 & U » Tristan, Kurtis, & Dion

Finalists 13 & U » Connor, Shawn, & Tane

Finalists Girls » Mareta & Lauren

Finalists 14 & O » Josh, Brad (starring as Jordan), and Tom

Prize-hungry crowd

James, Luke and Tom

Post-comp bonus shots!

Tane October » Bennihana

Shawn Malloch » Ollie to the flat

As the days are getting shorter and cooler, the 2011/2012 season is slowly drawing to a close for the Cheapskates Skate Skool — not to mention we’re going to be back with an even bigger season of events in the upcoming 2012/13 Summer.

To sign things off (aside form the Big Chill in July), we’re heading out to Rolleston Skatepark this Saturday from 12-3pm. Best trick comp, learn to skate with the Skate Skool team, and free gear hire is available.

Updates on Facebook for this event are here.

See you all there!

The Thomson Bowl Jam has become the biggest bowl skating competition of the South Island and definitely the highlight of our Summer skate jam series.

Last Saturday’s event certainly lived up to expectations — the whole place was buzzing with activity with a crowd of over 500! It wasn’t without your typical Christchurch Easterly wind, so we were constantly cleaning sand and dust out of the bowl, but besides that the weather was great.

The young guns weren’t holding back with the likes of 12 y/o Vincent Bolt setting the level and taking 1st in the 13 & under division. The 16 and under division was next level and if it wasn’t for poster boy, Dan Kelcher’s winning run it would of been one hell of a task to judge. At only 14 years old, Dan was going bigger than anyone out of the 10ft that day.

The Dunedin crew came up to skate and hang out with Josh Wilson taking 1st in the open with a solid array of tricks and 14 y/o Niwa Warner taking 2nd in the 16’s and giving the locals a run for their money. Local legend Ned Simpson had the crowd amping during his runs with his famous airwalk (including one to a front tail!) on the 7ft end amongst many other slick tricks.

The day of skating was given a small break when our special surprise guests arrived — Common Ground dance crew — who put on a very impressive show.

Thanks to Richard from the Thomson Park Users Group (TPUG) for helping clean out the bowl which was under a foot of water earlier in the week, without your efforts this event would have become a swimming comp.

Fortunately if you missed the action, Andy Brown was there to capture it all so scroll down and check out some great shots from the day.

This event was made possible by Cheapskates, The Christchurch City Council — Hagley/Ferrymead Community Board, Sport Canterbury and Sport New Zealand. Thanks also to all the contributing sponsors — Skullcandy, Vans Shoes,
Mystery Skateboards, Thunder Trucks, Bones wheels and bearings, Traffick clothing, The Youth Alive Trust, Neff and Hellers for the free sausages!

RESULTS

13 & Under
1st » Vincent Bolt
2nd » Liam Currie
3rd »Flynn Allen

16 & Under
1st » Dan Kelcher
2nd » Niwa Warner
3rd » Jordan Kidd

Open
1st » Josh Wilson
2nd » Lindsey Bae (aka Luke Watson)
3rd » Francis Sandys

Girls
1st » Elizabeth Webb
2nd » Makioa Patterson

Best Trick Competition » Lindsay Bae: Footplant on the vert
Best Grom » Curtis O’Sullivan (8 years old)

Flynn Allen » Big carve

Liam Currie » Frontside air over the hip

Daniel Clarkson-Gardiner » Big carve

Flynn Allen » Frontside air

Jacob Houghton » Iceplant

Dan getting ready to drop

Chillin’

Ariki Kingi » Nollie heel to lip

Dan Kelcher » 5–0

Dan Kelcher » 5–0 revert

Jordan Kidd » Backside melon over the hip

Josh Bamford » 5–0

Ryan DeSouza » Frontside air

Jordan Kidd » Benihanna

Dan Kelcher » Frontside air

Richard banishing dust from the bowl

Makioa Patterson » Shredding

Elizabeth Webb » Dropping the 7ft

Common Ground putting on a surprise show

Common Ground with plenty of bounce

Common Ground showing the crowd how to fly

Common Ground

Common Ground

The judging panel

Matt leading some scooter kids away from the dark side

Keeping the Summery tunes pumping

Lindsay lacing up

Dishing out the sausages

Matt keeping Kev happy with his hands behind his back

Skate train time!

Lindsay Bae » Smith grind over the love seat

Josh Wilson » 5–0

Francis Sandys » Frontside air

Beaudine Besant » 5–0 fakie

Danny » Veterans carve

Francis Sandys » 5–0 (Photo by Nik Warren)

Ned Simpson » Pivot to fakie

Jack Woodrow » Iceplant

James Kingston » 360 flip to fakie

Josh Wilson » Backside disaster revert

Nathan Smith » Rock n roll

Ned-Simpson » Airwalk

Finalists 13 & U » Liam, Vincent and Flynn

Finalists 16 & U » Jordan, Niwa and Dan

Finalists girls » Makioa and Elizabeth

Finalists Open » Francis, Josh and Lindsay

Finalist best grom » Curtis

Finalist best trick » Lindsay Bae

Kev throwing away a pair of Vans

Alex teasing the shorter kids

Linwood park was humming last Saturday with an event that has been in hiding for a while, but the sun came out and the people swarmed welcoming LYFE (Linwood Youth Festival Experience) back into the scene. There were bouncy castles, BBQs and food stalls, a decent freedrop into huge airbag which the BMXers were also hucking into, live music, and most of all, a great atmosphere.

We put on our skate comp offering some of the riders to display their local knowledge of Linwood’s unique, rolling skate park. Participants young and not so young got amongst it. Up and coming local legend Ariki Kingi ruled the 13 and unders, while David Bo Yue Chen took out the open with his stylish array of tricks.

An awesome display was on for the best trick comp over the table top, trick attempts (and some landed) included Benihannas, Backside 360s, Airwalks and Judo airs, but the trick everyone wanted to see landed was Josh Araipu’s Christ Air. It was pretty close, and we know he can stomp it.

Thanks to the Christchurch City Council, Mai FM and all the people in behind creating such a rad event, we look forward to next year!

Photos by Andy Brown below… more photos of the event can be found at the LYFE website.

RESULTS

13 & Under
1st — Ariki Kingi
2nd — Jan Buchel
3rd — Denzel

14 & Over
1st — Jerry Hsu (David)
2nd — Josh Bamford
3rd — Jordan Kidd

Girls
1st — Georgia
2nd — Jazz

Best Trick — Josh Araipu

Ariki Kingi » Ollie over the rail

Jacob Schweikl » 50–50

Josh Bamford » Frontside smith

David Bo Yue Chen » Tuck knee indy

Jordan Kidd » Backside feeble

Josh Araipu » Bennihana

David Bo Yue Chen » Kickflip fakie

Jordan Kidd » Backside 180

Zach Williams » Frontside air transfer

Josh Araipu » Christ air (DNL)

Jordan Kidd » Tweaked melon

Finalists 13 & U » Jan, Ariki and Denzel

Finalists Girls » Jazz and Georgia

Finalists 14 & O » Josh, David and Jordan

Josh Araipu » Finalist » Best trick comp

A return trek down to the infamous Ashburton Skatepark took place last weekend, where skaters flocked from around Canterbury to attend. The sun came out and tricks went down — in front of a decent sized crowd too! During the free skate time before the comp there were a number of young skaters geared up and having a go with the Skate Skool team lending a hand where needed. The best trick comp started with young rippers Hamish and Jeremy hitting up some big tricks for people of such small stature.

The hammers came out in the older divisions with Ariki’s smooth backside feeble on the rail, Vincent’s signature backside disaster on the quarterpipe, local legend Sean Burgess’ ballsy kicky frontboard on the rail and Ben McConnell’s insane ability to switch 360 flip pretty much anything in the park.

The feature to end the event stopped most spectators from leaving — the best trick comp down the 7 stair with the grand prize being a Traffick deck. At this time James Kingston, Jack Woodrow and Jordan McStay arrived on the way back from Duds and joined in, putting on an awesome show. After most skaters retired it came down to a endance battle between Sean Burgess going for a kicky back lip on the rail and Jordan McStay going for a backside 360 ollie down the stairs. In the end, both tricks where stomped but unfortunately not ridden away from — and they both snapped their boards (check the sequences below). We called it to be a draw, giving away two decks which were both well-deserved.

A huge thank you to Cheapskates, Skullcandy, Sport Canterbury, Sport New Zealand and the Ashburton District Council for helping this event happen.

Check out the results below as well as some photos from Andy Brown and Nick CP.

Results

10 & Under
1st — Hamish Kerr — Nose Stall on the 1/4
2nd — Jeremy Eaton — FS 180 over the pyramid

13 & Under
1st — Ariki Kingi — Feeble of the rail
2nd — Vincent Bolt — BS Disaster
3rd — Hamish Eden — Kickflip to fakie

14 & Over
1st — Ben McConnell — Switch 360 flip over the gap
2nd — Sean Burgess — Kicky Front board on the rail
3rd — Zak McLean — Hardflip the stairs

Girls
1st — Georgia
2nd — Libby

Jordan Kidd » 360 Flip…

…Stomped

Matt Johnston » Frontside Lipslide

Getting involved

Mikalya giving a helping hand

Mikalya giving a helping hand (Photo by Nick CP)

Will Hobbs » Back tail (Photo by Nick CP)

The crew

Matt, Alex & Mikayla on the judging panel

Hamish Kerr » Ollie over the gap (stomped but didn’t ride away)

Vincent Bolt » Boardslide

Ariki Kingi » Backside Feeble

Matt Johnston » Frontside Smith

Tyler Powell » Boardslide

Jordan Kidd » Melon

Josh Bamford » Front board

Sean Burgess » Kickflip to frontboard

Zak Mclean » Hardflip

Tane Campbell » Backside Feeble

Josh Bamford » Crooked Grind

Ben styling out of a switch 360 flip over the gap

Sequences / Best trick comp

Ben McConnell » Switch 360 Flip

James Kingston » Indy to boardslide

Sean Burgess » Kickflip to backside lipslide to boardsnap

Jordan McStay » Backside 360 to boardsnap

One more!

Jordan Kidd » Frontside Feeble

James Kingston » Ollie over the ledge

Jack Woodrow » Firecracker

Finalists 10 & Under » Hamish & Jeremy

Finalists 13 & Under » Hamish, Ariki & Vincent

Finalist Girls » Georgia & Libby (absent)

Finalists 14 & Over » Sean, Ben & Zak

Best Trick Comp Winners » Sean & Jordan

After LYFE 2011 was cancelled due to the Feb 22nd earthquake, the team are back and ready for an even bigger event this year! It’s all happening down at Linwood Park from 12-4pm, Sat 17th March. Not just our regular skate comp, but also heaps of other stuff going on like live sounds from Reality Chant with MC Silva, Merchants of Flow, freedrop onto a huge airbag and urban art demos.

For more info, check out the official LYFE website. See you down there!

The other day I headed down to the notorious Thomson Park to get a few photos of local legend Ned Simpson. The one thing I noticed instantly about Ned is he’s happy, loving life. Day to day tasks include working at the New Brighton DC outlet store, skating the mini ramp there, them heading to TP to skate some more, pretty sweet. He put on a good show with some tricks that don’t come around that often like some pretty stylish airwalks, judo airs, and rocket airs to name a few. Although some of these didn’t get stomped for the photos, I’m sure with a little more time they would have been. Over to Ned…

Name: Ned Simpson.

Age? 19.

Reg­u­lar or goofy? Regular.

Fav local spot/skatepark: Thomson park.

Fav trick? Airwalk/fingerflips.

Street/Park/Bowl? Bowl and Park. — Why? It’s fast and scary.

Who hooks you up? DC New Brighton.

Fav all time skate­boarder? Rob Dyrdek.

Fav skate vid/ last one you watched? South in your mouth.

Lis­ten­ing to music while skat­ing? Sometimes. — What tunes? Good beats and dubstep.

Tight or loose trucks? Loose.

Worst skat­ing injury? Faceplant, 11.5 feet onto my eye.

Cur­rent setup? Slave deck, Venture trucks, Pig wheels, Pig Speedstars bearings.

A good skateboarder’s diet should always include? Chicken burgers.

What are you going to be doing in 5 years? Hopefully traveling around skating hard.

Any final words? Grab a skateboard and come skate!

Ned Simpson » Airwalk (angle two)

Ned Simpson » Frontside Air Transfer to the 3

Ned Simpson » Switch Rock Fakie

Ned Simpson » Frontside Air Transfer to the 5

Ned Simpson » Fakie Frontside Feeble Stall 270 out

Ned Simpson » Fakie Frontside 270 Pivot on the loveseat

The second ever Hornby Skate Jam went down last Friday evening at a random old-skool speed skating rink on Main South Road. Over 100 people cruised down to check us out. The sun was out and the vibe was good as young and old took to the track or the mobile skatepark for a late afternoon jam.

The banked track meant we could mix it up and run a few races including a tick tack race as well as the usual best trick comp.

The 9 y/o Schweikl twins were ripping but it was Dion that took 1st followed very closely by Jacob. James Kingston took it away in the open and the groms were on form too. Andy was there to capture some of the event, check out the pics below!

Results:

10 & Under
1st — Dion Schweikl
2nd — Jacob Schweikl

13 & Under
1st — Jayden Jenkin
2nd — Jacob Houghton
3rd — Tyler Ashmore

14 & Over
1st — James Kingston
2nd — Josh Bamford
3rd — Louis Judd

Girls — Georgia

James Kingston » Back tail

Ben McConnell » Front tail

John Van Citters » Ollie North

Jordan Kidd » Hardflip

Josh and Jordan exploring the other side

Josh Bamford » About to come second

Jordan McStay » Struggling

Scotty starting them young

Jacob Schweikl » Frontside 180

Brad Fast » Kickflip

Jacob Houghton » Kickflip

Zak Mclean » Hardflip

James Kingston » Tailpop over the fence

Decision time

Scotty getting his mini donut fix

10 & Under » Dion & Jacob

13 & Under Finalist » Jacob (Jayden & Tyler absent)

Girls Finalist » Georgia

14 & Over Finalists » James, Louis (played by Ben), and Josh

Cleaning up the last of the mini donuts