Skate Montana

BITCHIN' BOWL JAM, MISSOULA, AUGUST 9TH

2008-07-23T19:55:00.002-06:00

Seeking skate-park solutions

2008-07-17T06:50:00.002-06:00

Seeking skate-park solutions
Summary of the meeting with the city about the Woodland Skatepark in Kalispell from the Daily Interlake

Thrasher Indy Tour Footage

2008-07-15T21:48:00.012-06:00

BUTTE, AMERICA
Finding some lines in the big bowl.

DILLON
Sammy Baca, Rick Howard, Emmanuel Guzman, Peabody, Tosh Townend, Tony Trujillo, Jeff Grosso, and Grant Taylor show you how to skate the race track.

Polson Skate Jam, August 2nd.

2008-07-13T08:59:00.001-06:00

Be there.

Kalispell Skate Park City Meeting

2008-07-12T13:38:00.006-06:00

Monday, July 14th at 7:00 PM there will be a meeting at the new Kalispell City Hall building to discuss the future of the Woodland Skatepark. Topics of discussion will current and future policies including: helmet rules, maintenance, and the amount of trashers people just hanging out there littering, fighting, breaking s***, drinking, etc, who have absolutely nothing to do with skateboarding. I feel the scene at the Kalispell Skatepark has degraded significantly and I will be there....so should you.

Update - More from the Daily Interlake:
Skateboard summit planned for Monday
Posted: Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 - 10:45:33 pm MDT
By JOHN STANG/Daily Inter Lake

Meeting seeks solutions to skate-park problems
The Kalispell City Council wants to talk skateboarding with anyone and everyone — especially skateboarders and people using Woodland Park — at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall. The workshop is to discuss skateboard-related issues at the park and in downtown Kalispell. The Woodland Park issues include numerous complaints about vandalism, underage drinking, drug use and harassment. The downtown aspects include a request by some local skateboarders to loosen restrictions on skateboarding in central Kalispell.

“What we want to do is air out what we might do in public and to hear from users. The answer to our problems is to get the users on board,” said Mike Baker, director of Kalispell Parks and Recreation.

Baker and police Chief Roger Nasset have sent a memo to the council that contends significant actions are needed by the city government and park users. Police responded to the skateboard park at least 90 times from May to September 2007. “And if things continue as they currently are, we expect to exceed that number this summer,” the memo said. Meanwhile, parks workers are daily picking up litter, replacing signs and removing graffiti. A surveillance camera has been vandalized several times. Last summer, city employees provided on-site supervision at the park. “After the season, the workers refused to return and subject themselves to the disrespect, vandalism to their vehicles and threats from the park users,” the memo said. For police officers, patrolling the park “is amongst their most undesirable duties because of the negative culture and disrespect,” the memo said.

In past interviews, Nasset and Baker have said a small number of few people have caused problems, but the vast majority of skateboarders and park users behave well. Baker said potential solutions that would be discussed Monday include:

Staffing the park, which would be expensive during a time of tight city budgets.
Shortening the park’s hours from the traditional sunrise to sunset.
Re-examining enforcement of helmet requirements.
Closing the park temporarily as a punitive measure.
Sending violators of park regulations to the youth justice system.
Expelling people from Woodland Park. Expelled people who return could face trespassing charges.
Increasing loitering and parking restrictions.

For more information, people can call the Parks Department at 758-7715.

New Member

2008-07-11T11:12:00.004-06:00

We would like to welcome James Reeves, guest "blogger" (man does that term suck), to the team.

James tailslidin' in some ditch in or around Kalispell, Montana

If you are interested in contibuting content, video, photos or events, especially those of you in Southwest MT or Missoula area or any other rural part of the state, hit me up at info@skatemontana.com.

Go Skateboarding day in Missoula

2008-06-20T11:40:00.000-06:00

Join the grind heard round the world down at MOBASH for day full of
shralping, mini-contests, BBQing and just plain ole good times. We'll
be getting things started around noon, so grab your board and be ready
to shred!

Go Skateboarding day

2008-06-17T11:34:00.002-06:00

is June 21st. Send me your events now or post them in the comments.

Wild in the Streets: Missoula Skate Comp

2008-06-13T14:03:00.000-06:00

Better late than never. Be there.

Independent Trucks 30th Anniversary Tour

2008-05-15T10:36:00.000-06:00

Happening Wednesday, June 25 3:00-6:00 PM at the MOBASH skate park in Missoula,

Featuring the likes of:
DARREN NAVARRETTE, JEFF GROSSO, CHET CHILDRESS, SLASH, PETER HEWITT, EMMANUEL GUZMAN, STEVE ALBA, DANNY WAY, ALEX HORN, SAM HITZ, TONY TRUJILLO, ALEX OLSON, GRANT TAYLOR, TOSH TOWNEND, SPANKY, RANDY COLVIN, BRIAN ANDERSON

Kalispell Skatepark Cleanup

2008-05-14T20:40:00.005-06:00

From Spirit Kalispell:

"The city of Kalispell is about to close our skate park due poor treatment. If you want to help keep our skate park clean then listen up. If you see kids down there who aren't skating, ask them to leave. If they say anything derogatory to you, get an older skater. Trashers suck. We worked a long time to get our park. Lets not get it taken away at the hands of some trashy crackhead kids!!!!!!"

I'll second that. Take it back!

Simon Smith / Stumptown Photo

Seriously, a Pool?

2008-05-12T22:53:00.006-06:00

Some photos and sketchy Camera phone footage rolling in of a little rectangular number somewhere West of Plentywood, Montana. Check it.

Adidas Polson ST

2008-05-11T14:17:00.004-06:00

Adidas shoe pays homage to Polson
By VINCE DEVLIN
Missoulian

POLSON, Mont. (AP) -- Anyone with about 60 bucks can now walk a mile and more in Polson's shoes. And ride a skateboard in them, too.

Adidas has named a shoe after the town. The Polson ST, a combination of tennis and basketball shoe designs that makes it well-suited for skateboarders too, debuted in March. How did the world's second-leading sportswear manufacturer come to name one of its shoes after a small town in western Montana? "The way it came about is, as we develop a new product, we solicit suggestions of names from people who work here," says George Cutright, who works as a marketing communications specialist for Adidas in Portland, Ore. Cutright had suggested several names before, and been shot down. "I don't remember what they were," he says, "but they obviously weren't good enough." But when the 1998 Polson High School graduate nominated the name of the town where he lived from the ages of 13 to 18, Adidas liked what it saw. "It looked good on the shoe," Cutright says. "You don't want a name that's real long, anyway, and 'Polson' fit with the esthetics of the shoe." Hence, the Polson ST, inspired by Adidas classics such as the Campus, the Ultrastar and the Forest Hills, with the added twist of a basketball sole. It probably didn't hurt that Adidas could market the shoe as being named after "a small northwest Montana town with a big skate park."

When Cutright was a teenager here, he and his friends had to build ramps on an abandoned foundation and concrete slab on an otherwise empty lot in town to enjoy skateboarding. "We built ramps, put them out there and called it our skate park," Cutright says. "They let it go until they sold it, and then they put up notices that we'd have to move the ramps by a certain date or they'd do it for us." When he comes back to Polson these days and Cutright hopes to make the trip again this summer, for his 10-year high school reunion he brings along his skateboard. "It's so cool to see they've got a world-class skate park now," Cutright says of the town's Seventh Avenue Skate Park. "It's a real step up from our old homemade one."

After graduating from high school, Cutright attended the University of Colorado, where he majored in business management. He worked in the skateboarding industry before joining Adidas a year and a half ago. "It's a great company to work for, and Portland is a great city to live in," Cutright says. "It's worked out really good."

It's still early, Cutright says, but the numbers look good for the recently launched Polson ST. "It was only released a month and a half ago," he says, "but the initial read is that it's doing very well. The sell-through numbers are looking good." The Polson ST will remain in Adidas' product line through 2009, with new color combinations being added each season. The first ones, now available in stores and online, are either black with white stripes, or a white-orange-green combo.

Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com

Video Footage

2008-05-07T20:58:00.004-06:00

Some Polson / Missoula footage of Emmanuel Guzman courtesy of strangenotes.com

Coming Along

2008-04-28T23:24:00.006-06:00

The Skate Montana Refresh (AKA SKATEMT2.0) is coming along nicely, Still some bugs here and there but check out some of what's new.

SKATEPARKS
We scrapped the whole park directory and separate skate map thing in favor of one smooth map/skate park directory Smorgasbord. Now you can view all the locations, Zoom in super close and click between parks, or click on the park title and view the details. Oh yeah and it is all driven by a fancy new database.

PARK DETAILS
New larger slideshow gallery. Fancier pop-up printable driving directions. Coming Soon: we get all AJAXy on you and have some embedded video galleries.

PHOTOS
Same photo gallery but larger and with the option to go full screen!

ADS...WTF?
Hey, I build this site and pay for the hosting out of pure love for skateboarding, blah, blah. If you find them annoying or would like to see your way cooler and more relevant ad ahead of that Google ad for Hannah Montana Birthday Parties, hit me up, cash or trades welcome.

SHOP
Yeah, we've still got some stickers laying around but hopefully we have more to offer here in the future.

As always, if you see something missing or would like to contribute anything Let us know or leave feedback in the comments.

The New Radness

2008-04-19T00:44:00.003-06:00

So in the background I've been working on freshening up the park and map sections a bit so they become one smooth skatepark machine. I guess you could say it is a "beta" now, so check it out. More features coming soon. Check the new full screen slide shows by clicking on the lower right icon in the slideshow on each park page.

Check the New Skate Park Section Here

Hold Tight

2008-04-01T20:35:00.001-06:00

We're going through a small overhaul here. That means a wider site so we can actually fit full size videos now. Big glossy pictures. Way Radder integration of maps and skateparks. The works.

Michael Franti and Spearhead

2008-03-08T16:28:00.003-07:00

Michael Franti and Spearhead will be playing the Gallatin Valley Fairgrounds march 28th. If you don't know who they are you can read here. Before the show there will be a skatelove event with 100% of the proceeds going to support the Gallatin Valley Skatepark Association. with a 10 stair rail contest, demo, screening of Juxtaposer, and showing of I Know I am Not Alone a documentary by Michael Franti, where he travels to Iraq, Palestine and Israel to explore the human cost of war with a group of friends, some video cameras and his guitar. Click the poster to download a PDF.

footy

2008-02-27T20:56:00.009-07:00

Update: All these links actually work now.

It's been a while and things are starting to thaw out so I trolled youtube for the most relevent Montana footage from the last couple months. If we missed anything let us know in the comments.

RMM Media Missoula Montage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIC9dQp0jJo

Shift for Better: Teaser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyuUyPaEyg8

RMM Media Year in Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skvyy6sl9-c

Babysteps 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rdCD0LJUeo

Sierra vs. The Flatbar
Behind the albertsons a couple blocks from my house
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-lAB7pdBVGU

King of 93 '07: extras
Flathead Valley Kids hitting all the parks on Highway 93.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42C4rwcWZ8o

Bacon Skateboards: Country as F*** Extras
Some Dudes from Bacon skating Montana and Idaho.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB5aBlZFFzg

Rex Martin
Bozeman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4v2m36dT7Y

Street Wolf Weekend
Some of the sketchiest Montana footage on the interweb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuWQv7waS8M

STREET WOLF WEEKEND 2
More of the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvbEIggPPYU

OverIt Promo: Fitch
Yeah Glendive!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pKdTFwZ2hQc

EOW Video Montage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_2K0M-joRM

What Was I Thinking? Final Teaser
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WlWW-mygkao

U-Ditch

2008-02-23T15:04:00.012-07:00

I know it is not really skate related but, whatever...

For some reason The Big Mountain...I mean umm..Whitefish Mountain Resort has decided to stop cutting their superpipe in recent weeks, and it super kinked and sketch. Just as the sun is starting to shine and the gettin' is good. So for my personal sanity, and that of all those who kind of like riding transition but are buried under a couple feet of snow, Send them and email at info@skiwhitefish.com and politely ask that they can continue to maintain it? Otherwise let's break out the shovels and get the Whitefish Park uncovered.

Gracias

RMM Skate Media

2008-02-22T14:52:00.002-07:00

RMM skate media has a new site at www.rmmskatemedia.info that is currently a work in progress with a daily video blog, interviews and various other projects involving skateboarding in the Treasure State. Stay tuned..

Check out the year in Review Montage.

Field Update

2008-02-18T20:06:00.005-07:00

James "The Man" Reeves sends this update from the field.

Polson Park: Totally Dry but in need of a good sweeping
St. Ignatious: Totally Dry
Missoula Park: Mostly Dry
Kalispell park: all the mini stuff is skateable but bowl is full still (not from James).
and SHEC is open again.

Head South my friends and bring a broom and/or squeegee with you.

Update:
Logan Triplett also informs us Whitehall skatepark is dry and the Bozeman park is about 1 quarter dry, and in the process of being cleared out.

Is it dry in your neck of the woods? Let us know in the comments.

Independent Northwest Videos

2007-12-31T14:53:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been there you should head over to northwest.independenttrucks.com. They are releasing a dvd part by part every 2 weeks. The Whitefish and missoula parts are up. I think you can also download them to your high tech gadgetry as a podcast.

Update - 1/29/08: You can now download the entire disc image and burn your own DVD. Go figure it out.

Tomorrow night; Hit it Up.

2007-12-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

NC Productions: For Love or Money and the New Lakai vid, Fully Flared. Tomorrow at the KM. Tickets 3 bucks sold at Spirit. Click the image to see the flyer.

Gallatin Valley Skatepark Association Fundraiser Vid

2007-11-13T23:08:00.000-07:00