Skaters have been hitting the ramps, stairs and even the walls at HMI Skate Park lately.
They’ve been working on every trick in the book, and filming them, for the Paul Kaji Online Best Trick Contest. The entries were slow to start, says HMI Skate Park owner Mike Faux (Hippie Mike), but after a while it got popular enough to add extra categories.
At first there were cash prizes for two different age ranges, 12 and under, and 13 and up. But once girls started entering the contest, they added two more by dividing up the boys and girls.
In the end, the winners were 11-year old Charley Nelson, girls 12 and under; 26-year-old Kendall Boone, girls 13 and up; 12-year-old Brody Coburn, boys 12 and under; and 16-year-old Kyle Wolf, boys 13 and up. There were up to eight or nine entries in most categories, but of the bunch, Mike says Brody is the one that blew everyone away.
He did a wall ride above a nine foot drop, with a hand on a rail. It’s a tricky move, one that only five people have tried at the skate park so far.
HMI Skate Park is the only facility of its kind all the way from Hope to the Lower Mainland. The skaters who go there have been watching the park grow over the last few months, with the bowl being added last month and another area being covered with plywood more recently.
Mike says he built the place for the locals, from those who never stepped foot on a skateboard, to those who have drifted away from skating. Everyone is welcome, and they have pricing for everything from drop in to memberships.
Skating competitions have been sidelined due to COVID-19 restrictions, so the online contest was an idea to compete in a new way, Mike adds. Prior to the trick contest, they held an art contest for board design.
HMI Skate Park is open six days a week at 840 5th Ave., in the old Rona building.
You can also check out the @hmiskatepark page on Instagram to see clips and the winners’ videos.
READ MORE: From ‘a ball of energy’ to a place to skateboard in Hope
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