Spott Dreams of Skate Parks: 2019

Tuesday, 31 December 2019

2019

2019...Kinda in review.

Alright so, the good stuff; Hit 11 parks in one day & then hit 50 parks in one day. Hit 32 new parks. Tooks road trips to Brockville, Ottawa and Montreal. Hosted a BBQ for the Pickering Skateboard Competition. Got a cute little drone with my Air Miles. Appeared in a friends skate edit. Got to meet a bunch of Skatepark Buliders & somehow worked my photos onto the Newline Skateparks Website.

11 Park Day!!

50 Park Day!!!!!

Road Rage East Toronto 2019

I get paid in Hoodies! Thanks New Line!

The Bad

September 16, 2019

First broken bone but I now have the greatest X-ray of all time.

It sure put a damper on my autumn but yesterday...

Here's to 2020
Edit - F^#* 2020 so far.

Thursday, 12 December 2019

Impact Skate Club

Impact 2.0 is a set-up at Evergreen Brick Works. Ramps & Rails by Ramp 2 Rail.

Feb 2024. Park #537.

This ride-on bar was getting a lot of use.

RIP (just the indoor, Impact lives on)

After years of great work in the City of Toronto, Impact now has a space to call their own. I got to check it out with the L8R Skaters Gang. My first real skate after busting my clavicle. Park #378!

Learn more about Impact HERE

Friday, 8 November 2019

Seaton Skate Spot

My contact in the parks dept. recently asked me to put something together outlining the

needed obstacles for a small skate spot that is being planned for Seaton in North
Pickering.

Let me know what you think,
Agree/disagree, in the comments. PS IDK why the spacing and layout is so messed up

HI City of Pickering Staff

As per our discussion, here is some info on simple skate spots.

A skate spot of 150msq to 600msq does not allow for a multitude of obstacles so it is

best to start with the basics and build from there. A ledge (Approx 40-50cm high,
60-100cm wide and 3m or more long) and a

flat rail (Approx 40-50cm high, 10cm wide and 3m long) are the fundamental elements of a
skate spot.

Thompson Skate Spot in Aurora has these two features laid out in a ‘skate path’ style.

The next step up from this set-up would include a Ledge/Manny pad combo.

This three obstacle spot is Jubilee Skate
Spot in Georgetown. It features a

Ledge/Manny pad, a small ‘A’ frame bank
and another ledge element. It is short one flat rail.

Chatfield District park includes a quarter
pipe and an ‘A’ frame with rail and hubba

(down ledge) in a ‘V’ shaped layout.

Holland Landing’s new skatepark in small yet includes all the major features.

It was also well planned and has no in park drainage. Water runs off the concrete without

puddling on the park surface.

Many small parks are laid out in a line. An advantage of these ‘Path Style’ skate spots is that

they can be designed for areas where traditional sport courts won’t fit. They work well

when built adjacent to the main path or wrapping around another park feature.

Angus Glen Skate Spot wraps around a basketball court.

Leithcroft Skate Trail is adjacent to the main walking trail.

Secondary features to include if there is room would include a small quarter pipe and/or a bank.

The small quarter at ARC is very popular. A Quarter Pipe 18-24” tall with a 5’ radius

would work for all rider levels.

Long and low ‘A’ frames (with or without extra features like gaps and rails) are easy for

novice riders but can be enjoyed by more advanced riders.

Here are a few examples of transition (bowl) based skate spots

12 Oaks, Vaughan & GWNP- mini bowl, Markham

Other features that can help a spot stand out include patterned concrete or brick at the

entrance/exit. It signifies the start and end of the skate zone.

A laser cut support for a flat rail would be great for displaying the parks name or some
inspiring words.

Another way to go for a skate spot is a sculptural piece of art that is made to be skated

but with Pickering’s limited skateparks I feel that would be better left for a later spot when

there is already some existing terrain. Here are some examples.

Ray St skate dot, Markham.

Quebec City Plaza features include several skatable sculptural pieces.

Thanks as always for including me. Two smaller skate spots have opened in Scarborough in

the last year at Neilson Park and Fundy Bay Park. I suggest you and staff take a field trip to

some local spots and get a sense of what might work but I’ll emphasize: Flat Ledge, Flat Rail -

Then add from there.

Scott

Other info can be found here.

http://scottdreamsofskateparks.blogspot.com/2017/02/small-skateparks-still-have-lot-to-offer.html

http://scottdreamsofskateparks.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-best-there-is-to-offer.html

http://scottdreamsofskateparks.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-best-of-2018.html

Thursday, 31 October 2019

What an epic day

Back in July, two friends and I set out to break the record for 'Most Skateparks Skated in One Day'

Here's the video.

5AM. Hadn't slept much.

Park #2. Ajax Community Centre. I was originally going to skip a lot of modular parks, including this one, but when I had to bump up to numbers from 38 to 50 all parks were fair game. I got a boardslide here but we somehow missed the clip.

Park #10. North Oshawa Park.

Park #12. McKinney where I got the fakie tailstall finger shuv first try. It would be a finger flip at the same park that would break my collarbone.

Park #13. ARC. Hit the AJAX

Park #25. Got here just before noon. Half way done.

Lunch

Park #30. Hillside Park in Vaughan

Park #38. Chinguacousy Park in Brampton. When we got here I pointed out my line to Chris and got it first try until I slid out on a One-foot Willy at the end.

Park #46. Gellert Skatepark in Georgetown. Tying the record set by the Colorado Boys.

Park #47. 3 Musktears Skatepark in Acton. New Record!

Park #50. Milton Community Skatepark. Jello legs but I managed to carve and slash over the stairs and call it a day. We finished before 10PM and now my friends are asking 'what are we doing next year?'