The Maloof Money Cup is leaving permanent skate structures on each stop of their tour. This facility is scheduled to be built in South Africa by California Ramp Works. The mini mega ramp isn’t going to stay, but the vert ramp and street course will remain. Interestingly enough, I recently heard from a contract employee of the Maloof Money Cup that they let a bunch of people go due to an alleged… money shortage. True or not, this is some good news for the South African scene. Between skatepark donations and alternative construction methods, this is like the arms race of arena skatepark extravaganzas.

The Maloof Money Cup will be broadcast live on Fuel TV August 7th and 8th. So much for environmentally friendly skateboard contest facilities. I give these guys credit for donating the park in NYC earlier this year, but it’s one step forward, one step back. I believe the Orange County stop is a another temporary concrete facility that will be destroyed after the event. Sources tell us that there’s an actual permanent facility within a mile of this temporary one. Maybe it’s not up to par, but why not improve it, or god forbid, build another permanent one where it’s really needed. I hear this is supposed to pay homage or outright duplicate some famous spots. That volcano looks a little reminiscent of Sadlands, not that I’ve ever been there. See for yourself on the web cam.

– Thanks to KC for the tip.

Today is day one for the Maloof Money Cup in New York City. Last night was nuts, see yesterday’s post for details. I picked up an Eye-Fi card, which is a Wi-Fi enabled memory card for the camera, so hopefully I will be able to post pictures much closer to real time. Just a reminder that Fuel TV will be showing this event live from 2-4 PM so check it out if you can.

Today is day zero for the Maloof Money Cup in New York City. The contest doesn’t start till tomorrow, but today there is a ribbon cutting ceremony, jam session, and two skateboard related art show openings in the city. Believe it or not, SnA was considered a legit blog by the media credentials people so I have all access passes to everything. Check out the recap of last night’s pre-Maloof party hosted by DC Shoes and, starting around 2 PM, a live blog of the days events.

At first I was aloof about the Maloof Money cup… Yes, Thank you. Good night! Don’t forget to tip your bartenders. I’ll be here for the rest of the month…

OK. The idea of a building a concrete street course for one event and then tearing it down seemed absurd and grossly decadent, but it turns out California Skateparks was using mostly Spohn Ranch (I think?) reusable prefab concrete elements. I saw some of last year’s street footage on network TV of all places, and it was enjoyable. The participants fell all over themselves to gush about the event and the prize money, which seemed a little forced in the way the TV program presented it. It was almost like extreme ass kissing to guarantee another event. This year the vert event (was there one last year?) features a crazy ramp with a mini megaramp. I’m not sure how that fits into the judging or whether or not it will be a separate event. The total purse is at $450,000, and Fuel TV will being doing a live HD webcast. To get you in the mood they have a video teaser, and interviews with Bryan Herman, Braydon Szafranski and Joe Maloof one of the egos, I mean wallets behind the event. He says Geoff Rowley designed the street course this year instead of Rob Dyrdek, but I swear they were hyping Paul Rodriguez as last year’s designer.

Maloof Money Cup: Jully 10-12. It’s a shame that this conflicts with the equally as anticipated Kilwag Passing the Cup for Money & Lack of a Job Contest. (I’m not saying it’s fixed, but I am favored to win. )

Thanks to Concretins for the tip.