Protest Skateboard Original Team Video – Never Give Up!

Apr 30,2020 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

In tribute to my Dad who passed away on this day 8 years ago (April 29th, 2012) I have released the Original Protest Skateboards Video – Never Give Up – on YouTube. My Dad always taught me to believe in myself in everything you do and that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to, as long as I was committed to never giving up. I’ve lived with this mentality for as long as I can remember and can definitely think of some awesome success stories that came from it. That’s probably why I’m over 40 years old and still skateboarding.

Filmed for between 2003 and 2005, The Original Protest Skateboards Full Length Video – “Never Give Up!” contains Street Footage, Park Footage, and YES, riding on 2×4’s. This video stars some of the original Protest Skateboards Team Riders such as Cisco Gooding, Jon Irvine, Jeff Cole, Carrie Williams, and myself Hippie Mike, as well as a full part from Brad Danyluk and the original Hippie Mike 2×4 Part. Previously unavailable online, check out the roots of Protest Skateboards, and why we will Never Give Up… Edited by Hippie Mike – 2006

Here is the full length video released on YouTube for the first time
Filmed by: Justin James & Hippie Mike
Starring: Cisco Gooding, Jon Irvine, Jeff Cole, Brad Danyluk, Carrie Williams, Hippie Mike, and more…

Protest Movement Full Video – Diversity

Apr 30,2020 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Protest Skateboards full length video “Diversity” was filmed in over the year of 2017, and edited while I was unable to skateboard. I filmed my own part about 6 weeks before going under the knife for ACL replacement and High Tibial Osteomety in which I didn’t skateboard again until June of 2018. We premiered the video at SBC (Smiling Buddha Cafe) in downtown Vancouver in January of 2018 during a Protest Best Trick Contest on the ramp, the place was packed and everyone had a blast. The video was made to showcase the newest team of Protest Riders, how diverse they all are from one another yet still so similar in what they love – skateboarding. With an age range of 7 years old up to 45 years old, this video is what skateboarding is all about, being yourself, doing what you love, and sharing your passion with others. Each rider (except for young Kaelen) only had 1 day to film their part…

Starring: Big Rip Kaelen Faux, Ryan Brynelson, Jay Mykyte, Eve Feaver, and Hippie Mike
Filmed and Edited by: Hippie Mike

Hippie Mike’s Super Tour 2015 – Vancouver Skate Plaza

Sep 4,2015 / By Protest Skateboards / No Comment

Waking up to a torrential rain storm the competition was initially cancelled and postponed until the next day, but the sun popped out around 9:30am and Hippie Mike changed his mind and decided to run the event and risk the weather issues coming back. Ironically there ended up being a massive wind storm throughout the Lower Mainland knocking down trees and poles and leaving tons of people without power for days. But down at The Vancouver Skate Plaza the crowd of eager skateboarders were somehow protected by all the surrounding buildings and the Finale of Hippie Mike’s Super Tour 2015 began and finished in style….

Starting about an hour behind schedule the contest got underway with a small group of Mini’s that all wanted to win a special Plaque. Little 7 year old Presley Huska stepped up the game right away as he tried to ollie the big 7 stair over and over landing it every time and just slipping out. He rode away in the finals jam and the crowd was pumped up for the day. 5 year old Kaelen Faux shredded the whole park in Mini with style and skill, and 10 year old Aidan Eastman took advantage of his final time competing in Mini by throwing down everything he had on the table and taking home another 1^st place plaque for his collection.

The Beginners had to skate hard after seeing the Minis. Everybody came out flying but the first runs were owned by Olek Khrystoyev as he kickflipped and varial flipped everything in site but in the Finals Fletcher Chan took it to another level with huge gaps and solid landings. No one could keep up with the Park Local though who even had a shirt saying PLAZA across the chest – Joey Livingston as he destroyed the park and lit up the crowd. At the end of the finals he gapped over the big 3 block and all the loc’s went wild – 1^st place all the way Joe!

Intermediates came out next and had a small rain delay between runs 1 & 2, but that just created a little extra warm up time for them. Soren Terra, James Graham, Adam McPhee, Josh Lewis all made it into the finals and all made it tough on the judges to do their jobs. But JR Barron owned 1^st place all the way. JR has been localizing Hippie Mike contests since he was 5 years old and has a collection of plaques and prizes from over the years, he played it safe and landed everything he tried in both runs, and then kept the consistency alive in the finals. Great job everyone, Intermediate was solid!

Finally getting into Advanced there was a strong list of shredders and it could have been anyone’s game. Run 1 was intense as every competitor showed how good they were, then 4 guys into the 2^nd run it started raining again. After a 10 minute wait Hippie Mike called it over knowing the rain was here to stay and told the judges to figure it out just off run1. The winner was pretty obvious but every position down from there was a serious decision to make. 4^th place tied with Gabe DiNorscio and Jacob Drescher so you know the top 3 threw down. Local boy Trevor Greig aka DGK Trev wasn’t even going to enter but Hippie Mike put him in the contest anyway and he ended up taking 3^rd place, finishing his run in style with a hat transfer through the legs while he ollied the 7 stair. Everyday Local Ty Koeller laid it down like he always does with huge frontside flips, 180 nosegrinds, perfect noseslide bigspins and more and took 2^nd place earning his first ever Hippie Mike Plaque. Along with that he won $30 in a 50/50 draw! But the winner of the day was definitely Noah Eastwood. He came out flying with a vengeance, aired over the big pyramid to flat, hit every square inch of the park with speed and finished his run with some rocket madonna trick down the 7 stair that no one should ever attempt. Killed it buddy!
To top it all off Noah Eastwood was also named the 2015 Hippie Mike’s Super King and was even more stoked. 1^st place at Plaza, 1^st place at Queensborough and 6^th at Chuck Bailey Noah put his body on the line at every contest and showed all competitors, judges and spectators that he has no fear. This kid could go far in life.

Another great summer of events, Great job to all who came out to the 2^nd year of Hippie Mike’s Super Tour, next year we will be hitting 4 different parks so be ready, go out and practice, and remember to have fun – that is what skateboarding is really all about….

Results:

Mini: 1. Aidan Eastman; 2. Presley Huska; 3. Kaelen Faux; 4. Tyrus Manlig

Beginner: 1. Joey Livingston; 2. Fletcher Chan; 3. Olek Khrystoyev; 4. Austin MacBeth; 5. Sean Loney & Isaiah

Intermediate: 1. JR Barron; 2. Adam McPhee; 3. Soren Terra; 4. James Graham; 5. Josh Lewis

Advanced: 1. Noah Eastwood; 2. Ty Koeller; 3. Trevor Greig; 4. Gabe Di Norscio & Jacob Drescher; other competitors: Travis Davie, Chadd Sinclair, Kalib Morin, Grant Faithful, Doogie Lester, Riley Antonicic, Jordan Repin

Best New Competitor: Fletcher Chan

Most Improved Skater: Kaelen Faux

2015 Super King: Noah Eastwood

Thanks to all sponsors:

Protest Skateboards

Authentic Board Supply

Skate Centric

Vulcan Bolts

DC Shoes

Burn Bros. Wax

Fury Trucks

Mobile Bandit

Emerica

Altamont

Grizzly Grip

Bones Wheels

Diamond Supply Co.

Chance Skateboards

Kitsch Skateboards

HUF

Youth Unlimited

Kr3W

Spitfire Wheels

Cliche

Almost Skateboards

Lakai

Happy Hour Shades

Shake Junt

The Hundreds

Monke Skateboards

RDS

Independent Trucks

Girl Skateboards

Baker Skateboards

Toy Machine

InStance Socks

Supra Footwear

Deathwish Skateboards

Folk Skateboards

Vans Off the Wall

Fallen Footwear

New Line Skate Parks

Spectrum Skate Parks

Concrete Skateboarding Magazine

Concrete Wave Magazine

King Shit Mag

The Dry Spot Indoor Skate Park

Auto Repairs R Wee

Woodsmith Custom Cabinets

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

Protest Skateboards Welcomes Shawn Rowbottom

Mar 7,2014 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I met Shawn Rowbottom through the internet and just started following his ventures of nasty skate spots and crazy tricks he would do at them and I was always stoked on his commitment to skateboarding. As time went on we communicated a bit here and there and finally met face to face a couple months ago in Victoria. As we sat and chatted about life and skateboarding I began to realize more and more how we were very similar, the long hair, the crazy ambitions, and the will to go for it when there’s something we want. The offer was put on the table, and it’s time for Shawn to get some recognition.

This guy represents the Langford scene on Vancouver Island and he’s a dedicated Six Side Local which says a lot about someone’s skating right there. If you’re favourite place to skate is the toughest and gnarliest skate spot around, chances are you’re pretty good. I’m stoked to hook this guy up and see what changes happen in his life from here on out, but most of all I’m stoked to skate with him. For his welcome to the team video we decided to show off a compilation of old and new footage that shows Shawn’s crazy side, the last trick says it all.

Have a watch, and enjoy the show – this is definitely just the beginning…

Authentic Board Supply Opens Saturday

Nov 1,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

As the newspaper article stated, we were trying very hard to get the new Surrey Skate Shop “Authentic Board Supply” up and running. The staff was hired earlier in the month, the Sk8 Team is already built with welcome videos waiting to be launched, the website (www.authenticboardsupply.com) is full of awesome info about the shop, and I, Hippie Mike, have been slaving 24/7 for the past 3 weeks renovating the shop with one other person from an empty rectangle into the unique masterpiece you will see when you walk through the doors. And for the past week there has been a mega-team of people contributing their time and skills to beautify the shop. As usual, no matter how hard you try, you’re never fully prepared on time, but be patient and the new era will begin soon.

Saturday, November 2^nd, we will open the doors to the public and let you see “what’s in store”. From then on we will be open 10am-6pm every day. Come on by for a visit and check out all the top brands we have in stock – tons of clothing, shoes, watches and skateboard hard goods to select from. Deals will be happening all month long and we will be having a soft opening 3-day sale on the weekend of November 22-24.

I look forward to continue serving you, the community of Surrey and it’s surrounding area in a positive way.

Thank you all for your support, and see you Saturday

We like Weston – Welcome to the Team Budds

Aug 12,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I’ve always enjoyed watching Weston Ganger skateboard. He just comes up with some of the wildest tricks sometimes, but even is norm is awesome. 3 weeks ago at my Fraser Heights contest for Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey, Weston came out blazin’. The advanced category was insane that day and it was super tough to have only 5 guys in the finals, but 3 of them that qualified were unmistakable – Dominic Devries, Tony Casano and Weston Ganger. He came out even harder in the Finals destroying the ledges down the double set and the 9 stair, and with a few rail tricks and an airwalk hardflip up the step up he finished in 3^rd place. Then he laid down about 12 tricks on the 9 stair during the Best Trick. I asked him later that night why he didn’t have any sponsors and he didn’t really know. I remember how hard he killed it on Go Sk8 Day this year too, and only got featured in 1 of the montages. I was like, man, people need to know about this guy, he’s creative, solid, fearless and consistent. And he goes for it. I asked him if he would want to be a part of the Protest Wheels Team and he said yes.

So a few days later we went back to Fraser Heights Skate Park and as the sun rapidly set, we filmed this quick video.

Welcome to the Team Weston!

Now it’s time to really skate…

Check out the video, and be prepared for more Weston Ganger

Protest Summer BBQ#2

Jul 29,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Saturday we had another Protest Team BBQ which only half the team showed up but we had lots of other friends I had invited too so it was still busy. A lot more mellow than the last BBQ mainly for the fact that Randy Madland showed up sober this time and didn’t drink 20 beers, but don’t worry, Brad Muscat took his place on that level. But at least Fighter wasn’t hucking himself of the cliff like Randy liked to do, he was just hucking himself around in the mini ramp.

Everybody had a good time and we all just hung out having fun. There was ladder golf for the kiddies and mini ramp for the big boys, and plenty of food for everyone. Homer was the BBQ master again, and one my old friends from high school in Ontario, Ray (Turner) Fox showed up to hang, and Dennis Regan was in the house as well. The ramp was kind of the highlight area of the party and it seemed like everyone was on there game – Cisco Gooding was dropping 270’s out of every type of grind all over the ramp, Fighter learned yet another variation of Judo Blunt by popping them to frontside tail, Jaden Easton-Ellett was slashing everything super fast and stylish, Randy Madland was hitting primo stalls out of 50-50 and then landing them back in, Giver (Michael James) was going frontside like usual, and Justin James skated the entire time and probably took the most body slams of everyone, in amongst landing a ton of tricks. I jumped on the ramp for about 10-15 minutes for a doubles photo and video of me 5-0 grinding the hip over Justin doing a bigspin going the opposite direction. That was about it for Hippie Mike‘s skating on this day both my legs were super cramped up from the day before. Later in the evening Jeff Cole and Andy Anderson strolled in and of course both got up on the ramp for a “fresh legs demo”. Jeff is injured right now so he was taking it easy but still slashing with style, and Andy had just come from an all day Freestyle Demo out in Maple Ridge so he was on top of his game, and itching for tranny. He threw down a couple perfect nosegrinds over the hip and Jeff called him out to do nosegrind on the first side and then revert into sugarcane as he transferred the hip. It took Andy a whole 2 tries to stick it and then he did like 3 more in a row. All these guys are great to watch skate mini, and that was pretty much all we did. Food was good, drinks were good, weather was good and the people were awesome.

Not so many at this one, lots were out of town or just didn’t show. I’m sure they’ll be at the next one…

Protest Spring/Summer 2013 Gear now Available

Jun 18,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Hi Everyone – our new line of 2013 products are now for sale online. You can check out our store to see what you like and make a purchase through paypal.

We have 2 new designs for our standard decks – The Protest Peace/Rasta Team Deck and The Hippie Mike-Uncle Sam Deck which both come in 5 sizes 7.5”, 7.75”, 8”, 8.25” & 8.5”. The 2 bigger sizes are made with a longer wheelbase to properly match the widths!

Then if you love to cruise, you can grab one of the Old School Cruiser Decks specially constructed by Folk Skateboards for Andy Anderson. They have the new Protest Crest Design and every single one has different colour patterns in the crest. They measure up 33” long and are 9.25” at the front truck and 8.5” at the back truck with custom wide tail. These boards are amazing!

Protest Skateboards has now started manufacturing wheels as well. There’s only 1 design but 4 different sizes to choose from 50mm, 52mm, 54mm & 56mm. The price is good and they are built to last.

We have 3 standard T-shirt designs – The Protest Peace, The Protest Fist, and The Protest Peace Sign on Tie-Dye shirts. And there’s also the option to customize your own T-shirt or hoody with some of our other special designs.

And lastly, we of course have stickers. Rectangle vinyls, and 2 types of Dye-Cuts. Have you seen The Statue of Hipperty before?? You gotta check that one out.

Click here for the store

http://www.protestskateboards.com/protest-skateboards-online-store/

Anyway, we love all of you whether you buy stuff or not. Protest Skateboards is a company that exists for the love of skateboarding and just wants to promote the positive benefits of living life as a skateboarder.

Peace!

It’s Official – March 24th, 2013

Mar 24,2013 / By Hippie Mike / 1 Comment

10 years ago I met Jaden Easton-Ellett as he was barely 9 years old and had just started skateboarding. He came to one of my Skateboard Camps at the Cloverdale Skate Park in Surrey. Just another tall, skinny kid covered head to toe in skate pads and a helmet, it might have even been a bike helmet. But right away in that set of lessons I recognized some things about Jaden. He had a natural ability to learn and adapt quickly, and he was somewhat fearless, or clueless to danger, whichever one it was. Jaden learned a lot in that camp and he was signed up in another one a couple weeks later. I figured I was going to see a lot of him and I thought that was cool.

Jaden started coming to almost every camp or lesson I had scheduled for Cloverdale and I was always teaching him so many tricks. Since each lesson begins the same by teaching all the basics to a bunch of newcomers, I would just send Jaden off on his own and watch what he was trying. Then later I’d go over and give him some stuff to try that related to his interests. He was learning fast and his creative side was showing. This went on for years, and Jaden would sign up for tons of lessons and camps and come out to all the Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey Contests and it just evolved into a really awesome relationship between us. When he turned 14 he was super sad because he wasn’t going to be able to come to the lessons anymore since the age category maxed out at 13. So I hired him as a Volunteer and he began to help out at the lessons. He was good at it too, so the next year we started paying him when we could until eventually he took over teaching the camps as the main instructor.

Jaden always showed a good sense of responsibility and had a lot of self-motivational drive inside him. Then one day he told me that he designs websites and would like to set one up for Protest. So we did – that was in a about 2010. As Jaden’s knowledge with internet and website management was growing, he was learning about how the website could actually begin to produce income. So last year we decided to take our friendship to a whole new level and work together to help make Protest Skateboards Website a place where the skateboard world can stay connected with what’s happening in the Lower Mainland and we made some changes. Jaden became a partner in the business, and invested some funds into it, but wasn’t legally old enough to sign on as a full partner, until now.

I’d like to congratulate Jaden Easton-Ellett on his 19^th birthday on all of his accomplishments and officially welcome him on as my full Business Partner to Protest Skateboards.

To many more years of great friendship and success…

A Toast

Category : Protest Skateboards