Skate and Annoy Scene Reports
Where: Denver Colorado
Submitted by: Ash Truesdell
Report Date: 12-07-04
This post from our short-lived series of Scene Reports was originally static HTML. It has been backdated and inserted in the blog because it was too small to pretend it was an actual feature. And yes, this does hurt my OCD! Can you believe I used to have to hand code this? I integrated the blog into this site in July of 2006.
Editor’s note: This is our second scene report. This one from Bad Egg editor Ash. So far we’ve got Kansas and Colorado. I’d like to hear from some of the non-square shaped states too! -K.ed
Denver Colorado
Denver is the California of the future. We’ve got the yuppies, the overly hip shopping districts, the congested highways and the Californians to boot. ( Sounds like Oregon – k.ed ) Denver is also neck deep in skaters right now, which is rather Californian as well. In any case, we’ve got plenty of terrain and plenty of good people helping to create a killer skate scene …so check it out.
f you’re down for some park skating, the Denver area has got you covered. Keep in mind, this is not Oregon (pool coping and cradles are not the norm), but there’s some decent ‘crete to hit just the same. The downtown Denver park is a staple, well, because its downtown. It features an amoeba-shapped vert bowl, a simulated ditch area, a weird, washboard menagerie, a large flow/street area and three other bowls. If you plan on riding the bowls, a set of grippy wheels are recommended because that anti-graffiti coating makes ‘em slick. Just 15 minutes away is the Aurora park. Aurora’s pretty fun, despite the creepy fencing that surrounds the entire park. There is a fun little bowl that ranges from about 3 to 7 feet in size, a stoner/flow area and a super spread out street course. From Aurora, you can make a quick drive to the new park in Centenniel. Centenniel features 2 bowls and a super hazardous street area. Other parks in the Metro area include: Littleton, Greenwood Village (coping is actually Noping), Edgewater, Stapleton, Sheridan, Boulder, Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch (fun snake run) and Waterworld. All of the aforementioned parks are free, unsupervised and require no safety equipment.
In case of inclement weather, we’ve got an X-Games skatepark. It’s at a huge mills mall, its weird and the session prices are not cheap. But, if you happen to be over 30 years old or female, Thursday night sessions are only $5. X-treme obstacles include: a 13 foot vert ramp, a 6 foot mini (with escalators), a 3 foot spined micro, a typical street set up and a vert bowl. Helmets are required.
One of the best things about being in Denver is that Carbondale is three hours to the west and Trinidad is three hours to the south. Carbondale and Trinidad both had the sense to hire Grindline to build their city parks. Trinidad is super fun. The park features an over vert taco and endless lines. Carbondale is rad, because it’s got a capsule/full-pipe and tons of hips. Both of these parks are highly recommended. Another fun day trip from Denver is the skate park in Ft. Collins. It has a multi-level bowl. The deep section features poured cement coping, tiles and a light. Hitting tiles and cement coping is easily worth the hour drive.
The Denver area has also got a healthy backyard scene. You’ve got the Skate Colorado ramp just outside of Boulder, which features an over vert section and poured cement coping in places. There is also the “Humbler,” which is aptly named. It is basically an above ground wooden pool and has removable shallow end stairs! And if you just so happen to be purchasing heroin in the Five Points area of Denver, you can stumble over to the Fallen warehouse. They’ve got a 6 foot mini that has a spined out section and other various obstacles.
If you’re into street skating, there are plenty of spots in the downtown area. A lot of spots have been skate-stopped, but you can still get some. If your street skating style leans more towards the 1980’s than the 1990’s, Denver has got some really great warehouse districts filled with loading docks, embankments, wall-rides, etc. Denver features lots more great, natural terrain, but you just have to know…you know?
If you need equipment, while you’re in Denver, there are plenty of shops to keep you rolling. While in the city of Denver, you can hit Emage or Thrifty Stick (www.thriftystick.com), which has a good variety of decks and wheels. There is also another Thrifty Stick across the street from the Aurora skate park, which is called TS2. And if you’re in Boulder you can visit Meta or Satellite.
The Denver area is also home to a couple of board companies. Conspiracy Skateboards (www.conspiracyskateboards.com) has been around for over 10 years. It is run by ex-Zorlac-ian Dana Buck and Lindsey Kuhn. Their boards are 100% American made, come in a wide variety of shapes and Pushead does a lot of their graphics. They also make some killer wheels. And out of Boulder, comes Null Skateboards. Null was started in the spring of 2003 by Corpo Glenny. Null Skateboards are also American made. They just released their first video: “Blame The Filmer” (www.nullskateboards.com).
If you dig skate ‘zines, check out some from the metro area. Bad Egg ‘zine is a print ‘zine that I do with fellow skate trooper: Tim Mott. We are on our 2nd issue and having fun, so I guess we’ll keep going. We are also building a website in support of the print issues (www.badeggzine.com). Swellbow, out of Aurora, has been hammering out issues for quite awhile now…I think they are on issue #10. Swellbow is always funny, so check it out. (Swellbow #6 – PO Box 461903, Aurora, CO 80046-1903 from an old Thrasher – k.ed)
There’s also a handful of web ‘zines based out of the Denver area as well. You can check out 64mm (www.64mm.com), which is run by Chris Wireman. 64mm features plenty of great photos and heavy opinions. There is also the Skate Colorado (www.skatecolorado.com) website, which is run by Bruce Adams…he owns the Skate Colorado ramp mentioned above. His website features great photos and spot reports. In cahoots with Skate Colorado, is Negative Ion (www.negativeion.com), which is run by Jerry Hahn. Jerry’s site is jam packed with rad photos that span decades and the North American continent. Negative Ion and Skate Colorado are in the process of making a new film called, “Skate Colorado: Mountains of Trannies,” which is going to be released in January. And finally, there is Skate Legends (www.skatelegends.com), which is run by legendary freestyler Lynn Cooper. Skate Legends offers up plenty of great reading and you can get product from ‘em too.
OK, so that’s what I can think of. There’s so much going on in Denver right now that I’m sure I left some stuff out. The scene has really grown in the last few years, mostly because of the skate park boom, but also because there’s a lot of people here that truly love skateboarding. So, if you’re planning a trip to the Rockies, I’m sure you’ll run into some friendly locals with ample couch space.
Reporter: Ash Truesdell
Skates: Anything. Mini ramps, bowls, ditches, banks loading docks..
Started: 1988
Skate and Annoy Scene Report
Straight from the horse’s mouth. What we’re looking for is a Maximum Rock and Roll type of thing. You should send yours in, because the world wants to now how that curb is in front of your house.
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