I step out of the car and stretch my legs, stiff from the cramped flight. I look up at the deep blue sky and distant rolling mountains, the tall palms sway gently in the bright warmth of the mid-day sun. I notice a cool off-shore breeze, and unlike home, there’s not a hint of humidity in the air. It’s a perfect day in Southern California.
I find myself in this fortunate location on my first assignment for this site—to cover the Etnies Goofy vs. Regular Skate Comp. The GvR is said by some to be the absolute sickest contest in existence and its’ home is the Etnies Skatepark in Lake Forest, California.
This weekend should definitely be interesting. Not only will I be hanging with the CORE crew, of which I’m the newbie. I’ll also be covering a skateboarding event, which I haven’t done since the Rhode Island X-Games in ’96. I’m curious how things will turn out.
A lot has changed in the sport of skateboarding since I was in Rhode Island. At that time the industry was on the verge of making it big. Everyone wondered how the corporate involvement of ESPN would alter the fate of the skateboard industry. They could see the writing on the wall—change was coming and most were ready for skating to jump to the next level.
Back in ’96, I remember speaking to skate veterans Rune Glifberg, Omar Hassan and Dave Duncan about the unlimited potential skateboarding possesses—not just as a sport, but as a marketing device. They all realized that success comes with a price and after many years of ups and downs in the industry, they were somewhat tenuous over skateboarding’s corporate future.
Now flash forward to this lovely day in Orange County, some twelve years later—Tony Hawk is the most recognized athlete on the planet, the X-Games isn’t just an event, but an institution, and the ever-burgeoning skateboard industry is booming balls out. Skaters are finally getting the support they’ve always deserved from their sponsors and are making good money while they’re at it.
They’re selling signature boards and shoes, repping clothing lines, bags, pads, helmets—you name it. If they can tag it and bag it, somebody’s selling it. And, man, they’re drinking lots of Red Bull. Yep, skateboarding has gone corporate, but the skaters came along with one serious demand— They are to be in charge. Sold out…maybe; sold up, definitely.
How else could an event of this magnitude be taking place like the one I’m at right now? The Etnies GvR of Skateboarding, in its fifth year in existence, is unlike any other contest in history. More than 100 of the world’s top professional skaters are here to compete on teams—Goofy (right foot forward) or Regular (left foot forward). It is the only skateboarding event that has ever pitted the stances against each other.
And, without the corporate cash, how could this playground of dreams, the Etnies Park, even exist? It’s a sprawling 40,000 square foot facility widely regarded as one of the finest skateparks in the world. The park features two bowls, a super-trick flow-y, snake-run and a huge street course with various rails, stairs, gaps, hubbas and trannies.
Currently one of the nation’s largest skateparks, Etnies opened in 2003 through a unique public and private partnership that allows the skatepark to remain free of charge for all guests. Here at the GvR, over 15,000 people are expected to attend throughout the weekend, one of which is me.
The first thing I see when walking up to the skatepark is the organized chaos going down in the Festival Village area. The village is a kind of tent city with food, activities and vendors promoting their products and causes. Some of the booths included Grind for Life, Oakley, éS Footwear, Keep-A-Breast, FUEL TV, CORE Action, Bamboo Sk8, Consolidated, Tum Yeto, and more. Etnies have a photo set where you take your photo standing on a board mounted to a rail with a street-style background.
I make my way through the festival crowd and meet up with the other CORE team who are already working hard at our booth. Nick, Hodgie and Scooter had set up our brand new CORE Action tent and hung our banners. They’re busy spreading the word about CORE—passing out flyers, stickers, t-shirts and raffling off our boards.
GvR
Sanctioned by World Cup Skateboarding (X Games, Gravity Games, etc.), the $100,500 GvR Skateboarding contest invitees include 2007 GvR MVP’s Tyler Hendley (Goofy) and Rick McCrank (Regular), Ryan Sheckler, Chris Cole, Andrew Reynolds, Jereme Rogers, and many more.
The Goofy Team Captain is Dave Swift, editor of The Skateboard Mag. As a part of his strategy Swift was previously keeping the starting five riders for his Goofy team a secret. Today they announced the Goofy starters to be Tyler Hendley, Jereme Rogers, Caswell Berry, Alex Olson, and Darrell Stanton.
The Regular Team Captain is Mark Whiteley, editor of SLAP Magazine. They originally had Ryan Sheckler and Andrew Reynolds on the starting line-up, but the official starters end up being Julian Christianson, Chris Troy, Chris Cole, Rick McCrank, and Sean Malto.
This year will be the tie-breaker. The teams are tied at two wins each, both looking to take the lead in the series. The crowd seemed pretty well divided between the two camps. It is anyone’s game.
I spoke with two friends who were chilling up in the stands watching the comp. The kids tell me they’re from Fullerton, California. I find out they are pushing for opposite teams.“You can’t beat the regular skaters, even without Sheckler, they still got it,” said the taller kid. Ryan Sheckler is a no-show; the word in the stands is that he is sick.
The other kid with the sandy-shagged hair and rockin’ a red Goofy trucker hat and neon green shades said, “I’m voting for Goofy. They’re gonna win. No doubt!” he says with confidence.
This year one of the sponsors, Zumiez, installed some rails on a couch for some extra flavor. At halftime they host a gnarly best trick contest. Julian Christianson, who just won the Hometown Heroes comp for the 2nd year in a row busts a crazy nollie heelflip to feeble grind across the couch, but Rodolfo Ramos edges him out for the win with a super smooth frontside 180 switch krooked grind to frontside half cab out. Cody Davis takes 3rd with a kickflip backside smith to backside 180 out.
In the GvR finals, all the stars bring out their bangers during the heats. Stand-outs are Chris Cole, Tyler Hendley, Justin Figueroa, and Jereme Rogers. Rick McCrank, Fabrizio Santos and Sean Malto. They all tear up the course with blatant disregard for gravity or their personal safety.
In the end, the Regular team score highest in the contest, but it was so close that the rules allowed for a sudden death, winner-takes-all game of SKATE. On the Regular squad, Chris Cole and newcomer Andrew Langi were chosen and the Goofy team go with last year’s MVP Tyler Hendley and Justin Figueroa for the head on head match.
In the final moments of the bout, Tyler Hendley busted a sick hardflip down the stairs, which was soon matched by Langi. After that, Cole and Langi broke away easy, taking home the victory for the Regular team. Hendley wins the MVP award for the Goofy-footers and Chris Cole is MVP for the Regular guys, and rightly so.
As the crowd began to filter out of the stands, Pro skate legend and jazz guitar aficionado Ray Barbee closes out the show with some of his instrumental styling as the crew prep for the closing ceremonies. The winners are announced and huge checks handed out like nuts. GvR is over.
In the end, even the most reluctant of us will drink the Red Bull, because, let’s face it, cool things happen when we do. Hey, just take a look at me—I came to California, chilled at the GvR and I drank Red Bull. We all did. There, it feels good to let it out. I get it now. Peace.
— Chris Eudaley
