October 30, 2008

Rumble in Ramona

Omar Hassan

By Brian Brannon with photo by Pat McGinnis

Hats off to Darren Navarette for throwing THEE best vert contest in a long, long time. The Rumble in Ramona was so good, it shouldn’t be called a contest. Just a bunch of bros (who happen to be some of the best vert skaters of all time), hitting the halfpipe hard and heavy, just like in the old days, with $1 beverages, burgers on the grill, classic cars and even a burlesque style bikini contest to round out the session.

Basically Darren, a.k.a. the Vertical Vampire, got sick of vert skating only being associated with X-Games hype, so he wanted to throw a contest that went back to the roots, a la contests like Joe Lopes’ Ramp Jam and Terror at Tahoe, which captured the spirit of vert riding. No corporate sponsors, no clueless commentary, no one heavy jocular competition from skaters with dollar signs in their eyes–just a solid expression session in a party type atmosphere. And oh yeah, some rocking bands to provide the sonic inspiration.

I’ll name just a few of the rippers to give you an idea of what you missed: Christian Hosoi in full effect, blasting rocket airs like it was 1987; Ben Schroeder, full speed ahead, throw it up there and see what happens; Omar Hassan, somewhere between old and new school, taking the best of both worlds and launching to the stratosphere; Al Partenan, heavy shred sledding; Pat Ngoho, plastic Barbie head watching in terror from the nose of his board; Duane Peters, invert reverts like nobody’s business, warming up for a set of tunes with the Duane Peters Gunfight; Nolan Johnson, showing that the new guard stands ready to carry on; Max Schaaf and even Wade Speyer(!), both back with a vengeance.

Bands on Saturday included Tony Trujillo’s trio of trios, Heavy Cessna (my new favorite band), the Duane Peters Gunfight (my new favorite of Duane’s bands), JFA (my band), and the Smut Peddlers (always ready to rock).

So there you go. If you missed it, it was because you weren’t invited. If you were there, you know it was all this and much more. Either way, let’s all put our heads together and figure out how to do this again soon!

Posted at 9:00am
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