The Oregon Trifecta begins tomorrow in Lincoln City. I don’t know why they bailed on Pier Park, I though it was very well received last year. Oh well. This year it’s Tigard instead. For the love of Hosoi, couldn’t we get another Oregon skatepark in the Oregon Trifecta this year? While some are boycotting, our coverage begins tomorrow. Until then, check out last year’s coverage of Lincoln City, Pier Park, Battle Ground, and the Battle Ground rain out at Tobin’s Bowl.

The LA Times reports that skaters and BMX riders alike are not too happy with ESPN’s Superpark course built by a BMX crew. The main complaints are “too small” and “tight transitions,” although you’d be hard pressed to tell by some of the photos. The Flying Tomato reminds us that this is the first year for the event, and next years will likely be better. Shaun White may be right, or he may just be more interested in making bad miniseries for HP computers. I seem to recall hearing that some of the early vert ramps in the X Games were kind of crappy too, but they eventually go that right. With more money on the line now, they’ll probably get right on that. Although the general public seems to only be interested in the Mega Ramp. [Photo: Los Angeles Times] – Thanks to Mac for the tip.

There are shin injuries, and then there are shin injuries. That shot in the top right is Danny Way hanging his shins out to dry on the coping of the quarterpipe part of the Megaramp after catching about 20 feet of air. Catch some incredulous highlights after the jump, including Jake Brown’s return to the event. Looking at that huge contraption… I can’t believe it’s actually used in a competition. An exhibition would be crazy enough. I hope those guys are getting paid. How the hell do you practice for this? It’s not like they have them set up everywhere. So yeah, those guys are skateboarding, and it’s amazing to watch, but one of these days someone is going to die or end up crippled. Best case scenario: They’ll be like Hank Hill’s shinless father Cotton Hill.

The Gorge Games went off in Hood river last weekend. We didn’t cover it – Estes, this was your time to shine! Looks like it will be broadcast by Fox Sports Networks August 18 – 22. The Gorge Games featured slalom and and bowl-riding skateboarding, plus wind surfing and a bunch of other Extreme!™ sports you’re not interested in. It’s kind of like a localized X-Games for Hood River, Oregon, which if you didn’t already know, is supposed to be one of the premier spots for wind powered water sports. It’s a major event in Oregon tourism. I heard legendary skater Tom “Wally” Inouye was heavily involved in the Gorge Games this year. So far all I have is a little slalom coverage. The photo above is from a Flickr stream belonging to Carvethebowl. There’s also video footage after the jump where you can see one of the Fox cameramen following the action on a skateboard. The announcer is mildy amusing. It’s almost golf-style reserved, polite and quiet, except broadcast over a loudspeaker. – Thanks to Judy Oyama for the tip. That’s her on the left.

Just about this time last year everyone was freaking out over Jake Brown’s amazing escape from a potentially life ending or at the very least, life changing bail on the mega ramp at the X Games. Hard to believe he walked away from the slam heard round the world. Thankfully I’m not posting about the first annual memorial Jake Brown contest. I’m sure he’d be pissed that we’re bringing it up again, but after the jump there’s a handful of links that date back to the hysteria, and of course, you can watch the video again if you are feeling robust.

Lance Robson snapped some photos at a Tampa pro vert contest. Which one? I don’t know. That’s right, I don’t know. AST? Actually, this was the warm up day, not the actual contest. He’s also got some shots of the Bro Bowl from the same day thrown in the mix. He’s got a photo set and a short but interesting write up. Check it out on Flickr.

Colin went to Sweden and all I got was this picture of a bunch of smelly dudes in a car instead of their famous bikini team I keep hearing about. That’s the Swedish Bikini team, not the Bacon Bikini team. (Shudder!) But seriously folks… I’m going to beat that joke like a dead horse. He actually did take pictures. The occasion for the road plane trip was the Bowl Rider’s Cup in Malmo. He said something about “epic,” so give him some time to assemble his thoughts and do some typing.

The State Games of Oregon have been organizing “amateur Olympic-style competitions for all ages and skill levels” since 1986. They claim 38 sports and 16,000 athletes, so it’s quite an affair. Skateboarding (in the form of Slalom) has been part of the agenda for the last three years. There were three days of slalom events this weekend, including something intriguing called “slalom cross” which looks like it’s head to head on the same set of cones. Sounds like fun to enter or watch. The Statesman Journal has an article and photo gallery. Come on, don’t be so uptight. Slalom can be fun. – Thanks to Judy Oyama for the tip.

I realized I forgot to put up a Shot of the Week, so I decided to continue today’s theme of skateboarders of color. This is Ron Allen back in 1988 at an N.S.A. contest called the Bluegrass Aggression Session, held in an almost empty arena in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. (GBJ was there.) If I remember correctly, Ron was very accommodating for this photograph during a warm up session. This was a massive flatground ollie with a kick out. Most may remember Ron from his days at H-Street, but did you know he’s still skating and riding for a company called Creation Skateboards? Check out this week’s Shot of the Week.

Two of the event locations for this years Oregon Trifecta have been announced. For some reason one is still in Washington. The overall purse looks a lot bigger, and appears to include some sort of ATV. (Not that kind of ATV as seen on Wheelbite) What’s the stock photo graphic doing up there? It came from a recent iStockphoto.com promotion and signifies my surprise at finding out that the Trifecta’s official web site thinks I’m running some sort of free stock photo service. I don’t begrudge them, but a heads up and a spot on the links page would have been nice. Crap. I think I’m in Chicago for my grandmother’s 90’th birthday that weekend. – Thanks to Ryan Hass and Jeff Hottle for the tips.