Sunday 30 December 2018

CJ'S Skatepark

CJ'S Skatepark
560 Hensall Circle
Mississauga, Ontario


CJ'S Re-opened (to the public) in their new location on October 31, 2018, over a year after closing the old location.
Set-backs aside, the new location is something to behold. There's a bigger street section with a bunch of rails, ledges, manny pads and hubbas. The old mini-bowl is back on the second level that also has a great view of the park and the party rooms.
There is another 5' mini-ramp as well.
To vert ramp is slightly narrower than the last location.
2021 Update - A concrete bowl with pool coping has been added and the foam pit has been replaced with a 40ft wide mini-ramp and pump zone.
2024 Update - The rumor mill is rampant but it seems the concrete bowl has been dismantled over the past few weeks with no explanation. Even the builder is unsure of the reason.  There are tales of the building being sold but who knows.

Larger Pro Shop


2021
40ft Mini and pump zone.

New Concrete bowl. There is a 3' mini under the skylights on the left.
RIP didn't even last as long as the Kitchener bowl.


Vert



Q Hubba has already seen some crazy tricks go down
Like I said. Curbs are Back!




Doorway to Gnars-ville






Gone but fun at the time
5 set foam pit.

New 5' Mini
(Reworked into the 40ft Mini)

Tuesday 11 December 2018

The Best of 2018!

The Best of 2018!

2018 was a pretty good year despite a week in a wrist cast and a twisted ankle. I made it out on a couple road trips and got to 20 new parks. One of the highlights was the Toronto Van winning the video contest for SkateLife's Road Rage East 2018

I also saw some things at different skateparks that set them apart. There are some great ideas out there that need to be more widespread.

Shade and Water

The skatepark in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QC has a youth centre attached with a covered basketball court, washrooms, water fountains and an amazing, spacious park.
Several of the Montreal area skatparks have this water fountain. It features two height bubblers and a water bottle filler.

Nice Small Parks
I made it out to a couple on really nice, small parks. These parks are great for a neighbourhood park or a smaller community. 
Greensborough-Williamson Neighbourhood Skatespot. Markham, ON
Granton, ON

Great Large Parks
On the flipside, I also got out to some massive (for Canada) parks
Montreal,QC – Rosemont Skatepark in Parc Pere Marquette. Super popular park and lit until 11 at night.

Original Features
With an increasing abundance of designers and builders, many working together, we're getting lot's of really cool and distinct skatepark features.
Welland, ON - The new park has a big taco/funbox/slappy ledge and a neat cut-out/step-up with a slappy bar.
The park in St. Hubert,QC has replicated street.
The Salaberry-du-Valleyfield, QC park has a cool sculpture surrounded by ledges and a mini-ramp.

RosemontSkatepark has this cool stone bump to ollie over. 

This Bench!
This Bench at the All-wheels Skatepark in Stratford, ON has a solar powered USB charging station.

Also in Stratford, the local Rotary Club provided a bunch of these seating stones and a well designed sign.

 Save The Trees!

The phase 2 of the Stratford park is a BMX track. It was designed to fit around all the existing trees. 
Photo borrowed from All Wheels Skate Stratford's Facebook

The trees on the Welland Skatepark site were preserved around the built up bowl.

Curbs Are In!
Slappys for days!
Granton, ON & St. Hubert, QC

Podcasts
The two podcasts I've been listening to this year are; The Skatepark Podcast presented by The Tony Hawk Foundation.  It's about skatepark advocacy. The other one is Skatosis. It's by a couple of skateboard loving dudes from Wisconsin.
(EDIT* Quell Party isn't bad either)
Check them on youtube as well.

Homies

The best part of skateboarding after being on the board is the friendships.

Here's the 20 new parks in a badly edited video. Enjoy

Monday 10 December 2018

Skatosis

Skatosis

While looking for something new to vibe on for the winter while the Skatepark Podcast form the Tony Hawk Foundation is on break I found Skatosis.

These guys just have the same soul for skateboarding that I do. They love experiencing and absorbing every aspect of skateboarding from videos & clips to skateparks & skating with friends. The podcast is available in all the usual places and YouTube as well.

Here's Episode #100!


I also got to Muskoka Woods with the other Ontario SkateLife Crews.


Alex battled for this then didn't like it. I love this ledge. I took a couple long FS boardslides across and down to Regular & Fakie.

Some more new stuff from me as soon as I feel motivated. There's snow here now so I'm not too motivated but I might hit the new CJ's this week.