The 2016 World Round-Up

May 28,2016 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

The 5th year of The World Round-Up Freestyle Skateboarding Championships, hosted in Surrey, BC Canada by legends Kevin Harris and Monty Little, has come to a close. It was an amazing milestone to make it to year 5 and it was great to see so many of the faces of people who have been there every single year.

The Freestyle World is pretty tight considering how small it really is and how spread out around the globe everyone is, competitors came from 11 different countries, including Marius Constantin from Romania making his first trip to this Canadian contest. There were a bunch of new faces this year, everyone was stoked to be there and all competitors brought huge bags of flow and tech tricks to showcase all weekend long to keep each other, and all the crowds of spectators pumped up.

In the Amateur division local boy Andy Anderson was looking to repeat his win from last year, and with smooth style and perfectly executed choreographed to the music runs, he managed to pull through and somehow defeat the 2 young Brazilians Diego Pires and Kaue Araujo. Both of them came out with a vengeance to take the title and it was a close call between all 3. These guys are really good.

In the Pro division there was serious competition and a bunch of guys that hadn’t been to the round-up before which definitely makes it more interesting for those of us who have been to all 5 years and know the top guys and where they usually place. Young 13 year old Isamu Yamamoto from Japan was fresh off a 1st place finish in Pro at Big Rio and wanted to take his first 1st in Canada. He fearlessly led the competition all weekend and blew minds with all 3 of his runs in the semi-finals, but he slipped up a tiny bit in the finals which means a lot with the calibur of competitors that were skating. Dudes from Spain, England, Brazil, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Germany and more flying into Canada to win this thing and it was anyone’s game. The usual guys that are tough to beat were on their game like usual. Guenter Mokulys, Mike Osterman, Per Canguru, Stefan “Lillis” Akesson…. All legends of Freestyle, but this year belonged to American newcomer Connor Burke as he came out with his 2nd run in the finals and laid down a fast, furious and flawless performance beating out Isamu by 2 points. It was awesome!

The World Round-Up isn’t just about who wins the competition though, it’s really more about having fun and putting smiles on kid’s faces and this year it did just that. A new feature was added to the event called “Pro for a Day” where a kid under 10 gets to be included in the contest by hanging out with all the pros all weekend and even performing demos for the crowds 2-3 times a day. This year the little dude was 6 year old Kaelen Faux from Sunshine Valley, British Columbia. He shredded for the crowd every time and totally progressed each day to the next. It was great to see him smiling and having fun living the life of a pro, watch for a video coming soon recapping Kaelen’s awesome experience being Pro for a Day. And be ready to promote it for anyone you think should try and be the Pro for a Day next year.

As the weekend wound down and the bones of all the competitors began to ache it was time to call it a day for the 5th annual World Round-Up. Once again everyone came out to have fun and that’s what they did. It’s a great family. Enjoy this recap video and feel like you were there!

See you in 2017

World Round Up

2016 Winners at The World Round-Up Freestyle Skateboard Championship

May 23,2016 / By Hippie Mike / 1 Comment

Another amazing event at the 5^th annual World Round-Up where Freestyle skateboarders from all around the globe show up in Canada to try to earn the title of “Best in the World” in either Amateur or Pro Division. 14 countries were represented and it looked like the competitors were all trying to take the title home with them. The Amateur division was super tight with 3 Brazilians and 2 Canadians in the Top 5 positions. Andy Anderson was defending his title from last year while Kaue Araujo was determined not to place 2^nd for the 3^rd straight year. All 5 of these guys laid down at least 1 flawless run in the finals but it came down to that hypnotic choreography that Andy puts in his runs along with some technical awesomeness and he luckily pulled through in first place for the second straight year.

In the Pro division the nerves were extra high this year, there were a few slip-ups but everyone was still amazing to watch and Mike Osterman really wanted to repeat his win from 2015. All eyes were on 13 year old Isamu Yamamoto who had owned the contest the first 2 days but stamina can be an issue in those young legs. The top 5 were all pretty even to judge but newcomer to this event Connor Burke from USA threw down a perfect, flawless and fast paced final run which overtook young Isamu for the win. Everyone was stoked!

Top 3 in each category were as follows:

Amateur Pro

1. Andy Anderson 1. Connor Burke

2. Diego Pires Afonso 2. Isamu Yamamoto

3. Kaue Araujo 3. Mike Osterman

Check out these winning runs from this year’s champions Andy Anderson and Connor Burke.

World Round Up

Who will be the champ?

May 23,2016 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

The 2016 World Round-Up Freestyle Skateboarding Championships are well underway and being the 5^th year for this annual competition there is more desire for people to get onto the podium. But super-phenom 13 year old Isamu Yamamoto from Japan is definitely the one to beat in the Pro division. With 3 completely flawless and mind-blowing runs in the semi-finals the crowd went crazy for young Isamu, but the test will be: can he hold his position in the Finals? So much talent to compete with and multiple people had amazing and flawless runs in the semi’s, but it could be anyone’s game in the Finals on Sunday.

Whether Professional or Amateur this is a competition, and it’s always a roll of the dice in Freestyle. The judges are looking for technical tricks landed solid and with style, creative routines that go well to the music, and of course constant flow on the board during and between tricks.

Who will be this year’s Champs? Nobody knows. I’ve said it before and I’m not afraid to repeat myself – it all comes down to the Finals…

So Sunday will be judgement day, but until then enjoy these flawless, mind-blowing runs that young Isamu finished off the semi’s with.

Hippie Mike’s Super Tour 2015 – Queensborough

Jul 23,2015 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Another sweet summer day in British Columbia, Canada, and a perfect day to run a skateboard competition. Hippie Mike came out strong for this one handing out about 100 free t-shirts while Wee Wong from Auto Repairs ‘R Wee gave out a bunch of chip bags and water bottles. Queensborough Skate Park the new park in New Westminster and has a solid design with a bank style bowl surrounded by street obstacles so anyone could participate but in order to win you would need to be good at everything.

Getting started right on time with the Minis, the contest was awesome right from the start. 8 minis 10 years old or less and they were all giving it everything they had. Aidan Eastman came out with skills in his final year as a mini and took home 1^st place on this one but don’t think it was a runaway. The Beginner category was a bit tougher with 10 kids that all knew how to shred. Top 5 made it into a Finals Jam where they had to skate for 5 minutes together and land as much as they could. Sydney Chalmers tossed himself over the quarter pipe time after time trying to hit the biggest gap while Cody Mo and Jack Blain utilized the whole park. But no one could catch up to Fletcher Chan as he skated every obstacle with ease and landed pretty much everything he tried. By the look of the Beginner category the rest of this contest was going to amazing.

Intermediates was a lot busier with over 20 people with ages ranging from 10 to over 30 years old, and all of them were good. Only6 competitors moved into the Finals and through all the ledge and rail thrashing from JR Barron, Austin Doquiatan and the others, little Rylee Wong destroyed to bowl with confidence, style and skill to beat out everyone and take 1^st place.

The Advanced category got even more intense, and the sun was shining super hot. Over 20 people in this one too, and once again all of them were shredders. A lot of top name locals were trying to make finals but it only came down to 5 guys – Kyler Hale, Noah Eastwood, Allen Handley, Dylan Lundgren and Penny Board skater Hugo Bedard. The Finals were intense and only lasted 6 minutes but everybody was killin’ it. Allen was destroying the bowl and Hugo was lighting up every obstacle on his Penny board, but Noah Eastwood took home the gold by skating everything and displaying how good he is all around. Everybody skated really solid all day.

After all prizes were handed out it was time for a best trick contest off the big hip launcher for a wall hanger Almost deck which Hugo Bedard somehow stomped down an overturn backside 360 on his penny to win.

Great contest, thanks to all who came out.

Results

Mini – 1. Aidan Eastman; 2. Dave McGough; 3. Presley Huska; 4. Elijah Williamson; 5. Kaelen Faux

Beginner – 1. Fletcher Chan; Jack Blain; 3. Cody Mo; 4. Sydney Chalmers; 5. Braeden Nerpio

Girls – 1. Katie Wojtan; 2. Erica Hardy

Intermediate – 1. Rylee Wong; 2. Austin Doquiatan; 3. JR Barron; 4. Yoshe Durston; 5. Rory White; 6. Stefan Bakker

Advanced – 1. Noah Eastwood; 2. Hugo Bedard; 3. Dylan Lundgren; 4. Allen Handley; 5. Kyler Hale

Best Trick – Hugo Bedard

Next stop – Tsawwassen Skate Park – August 2^nd (Sunday)

The Van Doren Invitational – What a Blast!

Jul 12,2015 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

It’s crazy how someone cracking their head open and knocking themself out over the biggest gap in the bowl gets the crowd more stoked…. That’s the Vancouver Skate Scene for ya. Nice try Raney Beres!

This was the first big Pro contest in many years since the infamous Slam City Jam competitions shut down and the excitement was in the air. Bleachers and grand stands were set up to surround one side of Hastings Bowl and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house for the Finals. Guys from all over North America came out to show their skills, Tom Schaar, Omar Hassan, Mason Merlino, Brad McClain and many others came to try to beat out the local talents of Adam Hopkins, James Clarke and the legend Rob Sluggo Boyce. All 3 of these guys skated well in prelims on Friday and all made the Semi-finals, but only Hopkins got into the Top 6 for the final Finals. He ended in 6^th place and that was definitely respectable.

The highlights of both days were focused on Sluggo doing backflips to fakie in the deepend both days which amazingly are the only ones he ever landed on concrete. The crowd will remember those forever. A great guy to watch was Riley Stevens, he came out to have fun and that is what he did, best trick had to be popping out of the 9 foot to smith pick on the fence and back into disaster for the ride out. Dude had a smile on his face the whole weekend and the feeling spread. Tom Schaar killed it vert style tossing a couple different 540’s around the bowl and a few kickflip indy’s but he didn’t quite make Top 3. Brad McClain reminded the crowd who skates the fastest, Raven Tershy showed who could hang in the air the longest of every hit and Alex Sorgente just plain laid it down all over the bowl to take 1^st place.

The contest was great, it was well set up, well managed, and the weather was amazing. Thanks to Vans and Kevin Kelly for working together to make it happen. I’m sure that we will be seeing more of these types of events in the near future, but until then the Vancouver crowd has lots to reminisce…

Langford Best Trick on Go Skate Day 2015 – Recap Save Westshore Skate Park!

Jun 25,2015 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

What a gorgeous day on June 21^st 2015 – International Go Skateboard Day, combined with Father’s Day!! It was beautiful outside and Protest Skateboards was part of something very special this year as Hippie Mike joined forces with Kristen O’Keefe of DC Shoes and Ryan McGlashan of Heritage BoardShop to bring a long overdue event to The Westshore Skate Park in Langford BC. This park has been around since the early 2000’s and has produced some awesome skateboarders in it’s time, but it is all coming to an end soon as the land was recently sold to Sobey’s so they can put another Thrifty’s Grocery Store in the area and the park is supposed to be removed in September. Skate Park deconstruction is always a sad thing and no one likes it, but what’s worse in this situation is there is still no plan for a replacement park anywhere. There are issues with the surrounding areas not showing the support they should be in today’s world to keep the kids off the streets and in a positive place. So the idea was to get out there to Langford and give these people something to talk about. As you will see in the video tons of kids and skateboarders of all ages came out to have a fun time together, and lots of parents were present as well showing their support. Everyone had a great time, they skated, they ate free hot dogs, they jammed out to awesome tunes, and they proved that there is a large skateboard community in there town that needs a place to go. This is the second event we have hosted in Langford in the last 2 months and there has been over 100 people present at both. It is very important that everyone around sees the how much this type of facility is needed. There is a big meeting this Saturday night June 27^th at The Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre around 6pm. Please show up, show them photos, show them videos, make them aware of what you need and why…

Big thanks to Ty Williamson for coming out to Langford on Go Skate Day and filming this video of the event we put on in collaboration with DC Shoes, Heritage Boardshop, Vulcan Bolts, Burn Bros and Fury Trucks. The Westshore skate park is on the cutting block to be removed after summer and there is no replacement plan so this video really helps to show how many people in the community utilize this facility, how many of them are young kids and are supported by their parents, and how a little support can go a long long way. Please share this video far and wide to get lots of recognition that can be used to promote the fact that this community needs to step up and help these skaters and their peers to have a place to spend their time positively expanding their minds in the future.

Hippie Mike’s Super Tour 2015 – Chuck Bailey

Jun 22,2015 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

What a beautiful way to kick off the summer, on the first day of summer, but with an awesome style skateboard competition. This is only the 2^nd year for this annual series, but you can already tell Hippie Mike’s Super Tour is here to stay for a long long time. Tons of shredders showed up at Chuck Bailey Skate Park in Surrey for the first stop on the tour and each category was great to watch.

In the Mini division there was only 6 kids but that’s okay since it’s all about kids 10 years old or younger, and 2 of them travelled long distance to be part of it. Little Presley from Squamish tore it up with style, and Ryder from Saltspring Island put it all on the line as both of the attacked the biggest obstacles in the park. And those obstacles seem even bigger when you’re a Mini.

The Beginners were going off, and watching them made everybody realize what was to come in the higher categories because these kids had serious talent, and they were the “Beginners”. Jericho, Alex and Ryan were the ones to overcome above the rest by utilizing the ledges, quarterpipes and gaps the best they knew how and really use their determination to not give up and git ‘r done.

Intermediates set a whole new level for the contest, getting down on the rails and ledges. There was a serious mixture of talent and age in the finals from Emmanneul who is only 11 but rips it up to Stefan and Nathan who are much older and still rip it up. JR got the crowd going, but somehow Nathan came through in the end with some serious business to take what might have been his first ever contest win. Frontside crooks over the fireplace channel to fakie and to regular? Yeah this guy was lighting the place up….

The ladies category was pretty mellow but all the girls did their best and it’s always great to see the whole park sitting back and cheering for the girls. Monique overcame the other 3 to take home 1^st place.

When Advanced started everybody knew it was not going to be easy to judge since there was 25 guys that were all going to go off, and that’s exactly what happened. Every single person in Advanced threw down but only 10 moved up to the finals, and only 5 of them were taking home prizes. It got pretty heated and chaotic out there with 10 guys skating at once but that’s how you separate the mice from the men. East Van Caleb blew away the crowd and the judges and went home with the victory.

Thank to everyone for coming out. It was great to see so many people at the first stop of the tour. Eve Feaver destroyed in the advanced category at 43 years old. Joe Buffalo hung out all day giving continuous props over the mic and even tried to skate in Advanced. Ryan Barron got out there and landed some awesome tricks that no one else could do. DJ Cuz-O kept the vibe hot all day long with sweet tunes that never stopped. The City of Surrey threw down a Free BBQ. And Hippie Mike lit up the mic steady and solid all day as usual.

Stop #2 is July 18^th at Queenborough All Wheel Park in New Westminster

Don’t miss it!

Results

Mini – 1. Ryder; 2. Presley Huska; 3. Kaelen Faux

Beginner – 1. Jericho; 2. Ryan; 3. Alex Pasqua

Intermediate – 1. Nathan Gladue; 2. Tate Roulette; 3. Emmanneul; 4. Stefan Bakker; 5. JR Barron

Girls – 1. Monique; 2. Stephanie; 3. Alysha; 4. CiCi

Advanced – 1. East Van Caleb; 2. Calvin Dignard; 3. Travis Emerson; 4. Giet Rolan; 5. Eve Feaver

Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Langford gets Hippie Mike for Go Sk8 Day

Jun 18,2015 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

With the Westshore Skate Park at risk of being removed sometime this summer, Hippie Mike figured it was a good time to head over to Langford and do something special at the park. Join him this Sunday on Go Sk8 Day as he works alongside Heritage Boardshop and DC Shoes to host a Best Trick Contest and Free BBQ for all the islanders in Langford, BC.

June 21st, 3-6pm

Sponsored by DC Shoes, Heritage Boardshop, Protest Skateboards, Vulcan Bolts, Burn Bros, and Fury Trucks

Hippie Mike’s Super Tour 2015

Jun 15,2015 / By Hippie Mike / 1 Comment

Hippie Mike’s Super Tour is back for the second year and the dates are set along with the 4 locations being locked down. This year is going to be amazing as Mike is preparing to hold contests at 4 of the best made skate parks in the Lower Mainland / Fraser Valley.

Starting off near the skytrain route at Chuck Bailey Skate Park in Surrey you know the hype is going to be big and the tricks are gonna get wild; heading over to Queensboro Park in New Westminster the creative lines are going to flowing in every direction; joining into The Tsawwassen Sun Festival next to get busy at one of the most sunniest and funnest places Tsawwassen Skate Park in South Delta you know the lines will be awesome as it is one of the best contest parks of all time; and then finishing it off back on the skytrain route downtown Vancouver at the Vancouver Skate Plaza. This place hasn’t seen a contest like the one Mike is going to bring in a long long time.

With the help of all the sponsors, and of course Mike’s trusty sidekick DJ Cuz-O this year is going to be a great one for Hippie Mike’s Super Tour, it’s going to help grow the skate community by bringing more kids together and once again branch out to different cities to help build a stronger bond between the skate community and regular old society.

Get your food donations ready, learn some fresh lines, and show with a smile at all 4 of these amazing events

June 20^th – Chuck Bailey Skate Park in Surrey

July 18^th – Queensboro All Wheels Park in New Westminster

August 2^nd (Sunday) – Tsawwassen Skate Park in South Delta

August 29^th – Vancouver Skate Plaza in Vancouver

New Protest Decks – Summer Line Up 2015

Jun 9,2015 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

The latest run of boards has arrived at the Protest Warehouse, from the Bob Marley and Malcolm X decks to the crazy coloured Lion Head and of course a memorable look at the unforgettable Vancouver Riots, the 2015 Summer Series is about finding your freedom, making a statement, and doing what you believe is right in every situation of life while shredding the parks and streets on your board. And stay tuned for the latest edition of our Protest Cruiser Decks coming soon with an awesome new graphic designed by the one and only Andy Anderson.

These decks are distributed exclusively in Canada by Platform Distribution http://platformdist.com/ so ask your local stores to order you one in if they don’t already have stock. For all other sales enquiries contact Hippie Mike by email through the Contact section on the website…

Protest Skateboards – We do what we do because we know what needs to be done and refuse to sit around waiting for someone else to do it for us

Author Archives: Hippie Mike