Mount Tabor hill in Portland is a popular downhill spot. It’s closed to auto traffic and pretty mellow on conventional once you’ve taken your first run. It’s open to foot traffic as well, but on Wednesdays it’s supposed to be specifically open for high speed travel, be it bikes or skateboards. It’s also the sight of the annual Adult Soapbox Derby, an event that doesn’t use the actual purpose-built soapbox derby track adjacent to the main downhill course. There’s a bit of a debate about off leash dogs. Portland is simultaneously progressive and very uptight at the same time. There have been some “outlaw” races on the hill, but this Saturday is supposedly the first sanctioned and permitted downhill race on Mt Tabor. The Portland Downhill Challenge will feature giant slalom and old school downhill. By “old school downhill” we’re talking late 70’s style with your feet placed almost side by side. Sounds like fun. That’s on Sunday, and the day before the promoters are sponsoring the second annual Portland Skate Scavenger Hunt.

You’re looking at massive portable and reconfigurable concrete bowl made by Spohn Ranch. In much the same way that you’ve seen Tony Hawk’s metal framed vert ramp carted along in pieces to assorted demos and Boom Boom Huck Jams, except it’s concrete, and more complex. It’s a pretty amazing from a technical standpoint, something that heavy than can be set up, then torn down and transported on regular roadways, to be set up again in a different configuration. The current incarnation is still in beta. As it is now, the waterfall and intermediary walls are poured in place on each stop, but plans are to get those fabricated and surfaced for reuse as well. The rough sketch for the bowl (shallow 7′ 6″ , deep 12′) was conceived by Chris Miller before being worked over in CAD to engineer it. The individual sections are laser cut, with 3/16″ of steel between every other section. It’s supposed to be precise enough to not feel the seem on rollover. A CNC cut floor template helps everything fit together. The coping is modular as well. The goal over the next 5 years or so is to build a giant library of sections to…

ESPN has let out a few photos of the skate structure for X Games 17. They chose the now more commonplace method of pouring a concrete over a wooden substructure. This kind of facility is temporary and seemingly very wasteful, although the concrete and wood can be “recycled” into new concrete and new ramps. However, I’m pretty skeptical that they are going to store all that wood somewhere until the next time they use it. Landfill seems more likely. On the other hand, the Dew Tour is going a different route via a familiar name in precast concrete. Don’t confuse this with ordinary prefab, these massive pieces are cut with the aid of lasers and designed to be interchangeable and self aligning. The plan is to eventually build up a large library of interchangeable parts. If you’re confused about the strange look of these, then join the club. We’re supposed to get more information shortly, so stay tuned. SPeaking of the Dew Tour, I heard a rumor that PDX local Dave Tobin was being flown back to judge!

20 years of skate films crammed into three nights this weekend (July 22nd-24) at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland. Guest speakers and a pretty cool lineup after the jump. Presnted by Vans, so it might be coming to your (major metropolitan) neighborhood soon.

Everyone who follows the skateboarding industry in the slightest knew who Fausto Vitello was, and what his contributions were, but Eric Swenson was arguably equally as important. He took his own life outside of a police station. The San Francisco Examiner reports his friends and family believe he ended his life as a result of his struggle with a debilitating motorcycle injury. The photo above is Eric Swenson, Craig Stecyk, & Fausto Vitello, at the Independent foundry in San Francisco, CA, 1983. It was taken by Mofo and lifted from Thrasher – Thanks to anonymous tipster at Skate-Planet.com.

It’s another installment of Lloyd Kahn, the 74 76 year old skateboarder, this time in video.

Yessir, guilty of being delicious. BBQ benefit for the Brooklyn Street Skate Spot in Portland, Oregon on saturday the 16th. Sponosors include Unheard Skate Supply, Merde Skateboards, Rip City Skates, and Cold War Skateboards. What’s going on with Brooklyn Street? When are they going to break ground on the second half? Enquiring minds want to know.

Chris Lynch turned me on to this St louis area backyard project, the pool that cannot be named: After hand digging, hand mixing over 650 bags of concrete, hand stacking aforementioned concrete, 63 feet of tile, and 15 different types of coping; the pool that cannot be named has reached completion. And Actually, that was almost eight months ago. I had this labeled saved as a draft and eventually forgot about it. There are three videos, in order of completion from Show Me Pools, and the middle one is a time lapse movie. UPDATE: Added another video with skate footage, which is slow motion for some reason. GVK must have been the filmer… Thanks to Tim Jamison.

Christchurch, New Zealand has been rocked twice this year by deadly earthquakes. I picked up this vid from reader comments, can’t find it now. Sorry, nameless reader. Thanks for the tip. Surreal street skating terrain. Check it out after the jump.

Near I can tell, this video is like a DVD extras talking about Bones Wheels footage shot in Florida. Idon’t know if the actual Bones footage as seen the light of day yet, but check out that product placement on Seth Levy. South Florida Pool Invasion from Drew Perlmutter after the jump.