Irrigon’s grand opening is just a month away – April 14, 2007 – according to SkateOregon, where you can view images of some test rides by the crew.
Find more photos at the Skaters for Public Skateparks forum and at Dan’s Skate Pages.

photos:top left and right – SkateOregon; bottom left: copinggrinder1 from SPS; bottom right: Dan Hughes

Ten guys working out there this morning plus a couple of inspectors – I had to shoot through the fence. Notice all the bricks are done. Click the picture for a larger view. Beautiful day here, I heard they have another pour today.

Rich from EPM sent over this shot of Mike Swim from you know where. I’ve been screwing with the site layout, so things may look wacky around here for a whle. Chances are if you reload the page in 10 seconds it will go back to normal. So no, we’re not suffering from web site eplipsy. Click to enlarge.

The San Francisco Chronicle has an article on Zach Wormhoudt of Wormhoudt Inc. titled Chairman of the Board. Get it? “Board” as in “skateboard.” Ah ha ha ha! Get it? Get it? Oh stop, you’re killing me. Oh wait, you don’t get it? Wormhoudt’s father built Santa Cruz’ infamous Derby Park which is the world’s oldest surviving skatepark. Everyone is a critic, as evidenced by this quote from the article:

“I have nonskater friends who say, ‘You have the greatest job in the world!’ My friends who are skaters say, “I don’t envy you.’ “

It’s a decent article. Check it out.
Update: Links fixed.
[Photos Top: Chronicle/Mike Crane and Mike Kane, Bottom: Wormhoudt Inc.]

but Battle Ground is in Washington. Thanks Tobin for the tip.

This quick wall in the street area at Glenhaven remided me of some photos of Glen Woodruff from the first issue of Skateboarder when they revived it in the seventies (Vol. 2 No. 1).

He only lives about a mile from this park. You’d think he’d have it more wired. So is it Reinert, Rheinert, or Reinhert? I’ve seen it all three ways on the web. Shawn, set us straight.

ID check, supervision, consent, annual fee, per use fee, helmet, elbow pads, kneepads. A problem exists when facilities designed to promote action sports are more of a burden than a blessing. This burden is the Southern California skate park standard.

From the editorial titled Skate parks constrained by unnecessary regulation by former skatepark employee Kory (Webster?) Prindle in the North County Times in Escondido, CA. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but if you are from the land of free and relatively unregulated skateparks (i.e. Oregon, Washington, Idaho…) it can be a shocker when you travel elsewhere and suddenly have to worry about how much the park will cost, does it require elbow pads of all things, and whether or not the park will even be open during school hours or on holidays. it’s about time someone spoke up.

Oh great, now I’m not the only wannabe skate-photog lurking in Portland. Hey Rich, how’s that new camera working out for you? Pretty good, huh? Just don’t get in my shots man, or I’ll sic Lil’ Pimp on you. Everyone is a photographer. Why not make the deck a little more crowded by checking out How To Steal My Job by Transworld photographer (I assume, because I don’t have a subscription) Scott Pommier. It’s lenghty and humorous piece filled with good practical advice. Lastly, when you look at the above picture of Chris Nukala, make sure you are humming speed metal and not Blink 182.