Last night in Hollywood, Skateboarder Magazine took the Standard Hotel hostage for it's annual mini-ramp session and poolside party.

With the newly custom built mini ramp Skateboarder invited a bunch of their friends to come rip apart the ramp while the rest of us sat poolside drinking a beverage of choice enjoying the incredible skateboarding happening in front of us.

Some of the invited skaters included the likes of Sal Barbier, Dustin Dollin, David Loy, Louie Lopez, Curren Caples, Andrew Langi, Ben Nordberg, Tony Manfre, Eddie Moreno, Kevin Long, Kenny Anderson, Chad Bartie and a last minute appearance from last years standout Raven Tershy.

The night was set up as a jam session, not a contest. When a skater did something worthy of some cash, Skateboarder handed out a $100 bill. Let's just say several bills were handed out.

Skateboarder Mag's Jamie Owens had this to say "You couldn't ask for a better night of skating: Insane mini-ramp session, free drinks and food and tons of friends. It was epic!"

The Standard hotel was rocked by a hurricane of PBR cans and ominous smells flowing from the rooms set to the sounds of a DJ that looked like he came from the local mechanic shop.

Skateboarder Mag for the second straight year left their stamp on Hollywood.

Check back on Monday for video from Sunset Rampage.


The Standard was turned upside down last night.

The set up was perfect for the mini ramp session. Poolside PBR while reading the latest edition of Skateboarder Magazine.

David Loy warming up the custom teal mini ramp.

Birds-eye view of the night.

Curren Caples gives on lookers something to shout about.

Last years second place finisher Converse skater Tom Remillard did one better in 2011 winning the Converse Coastal Carnage bowl contest in Huntington Beach this weekend at the US Open of Surfing.

The soft spoken Remillard is not the biggest fan of the spotlight in fact he struggles with anxiety skating in from of a crowd as big as the one on the beach , "I just focused on having a good time with my friends."

For a guy who doesn't skate contest very often he sure seemed like a seasoned vet as he pulled numerous combinations of tricks on the vert cradle including a stalefish and a backside tailslide to fakie.

The Coastal Carnage contest isn't about the prize money for most of these guys, it's about the opportunity to skate with the best.

This years field of skaters was arguably one of the best in bowl skating in years including the likes of legends Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi. The future of bowl skating was out in full force including the second and third place finishers Pedro Barros and Curren Caples.



Determined to be more than just a skate icon Tony Hawk put his stamp on the competition with a fourth place finish as well as taking home the best trick honors with a "McTwist" on the skark pillar.

Tom Remillard may not be the best interview at the moment but if he continues to win contest like Coastal Carnage he'll definitely be getting more practice with a victory speech.




2011 Converse Coastal Carnage Results
Tom Remillard $15,000
Pedro Barros $12,000
Curren Caples $8.000
Tony Hawk $7,000
Ben Hatchell $5,000

Check back for more from the Coastal Carnage bowl as Converse revealed their newest line of shoes...

X Games 17 will officially get underway with Skateboard Park, one of the more fast and free flowing competitions at X. The custom-built concrete course is design for both skateboard and BMX park. The challenging course needs to satisfy both the skaters and the riders therefore making it extremely difficult to dial in their lines.
Veteran Rune Gliffberg and 15-year-old Curren Caples trying to figure out their lines in practice

This year's course is smaller than years past which will make skating tight and technical park lines especially critical if you want to win.

Veteran skater Andy MacDonald recently said this year's course will favor the younger generation of skaters who grew up skating more than just pool and vert.

Sixteen-year-old Pedro Barros fresh off his victory at the Dew Tour Open will look to repeat his gold medal performance last year at X Games. Super Grom Curren Caples style is suited well for this park coarse, plus he doesn't seem to mind the pressure of the big stage.
Pedro Barros looking to repeat as champion.

So much hype has been made of the older guys like Bucky Lasek, MacDonald, and Rune Gliffberg passing the torch to the new generation, but after watching practice on Wednesday we're not so sure their ready.

Gliffberg who won in 2008 and 2009 seem to have his line dialed while Barros was struggling to complete his tricks.

That was practice, everything changes as the cameras turn on and the lights shine bright.

Round 1 and the finals are Thursday at 5pm. Check out GrindTV's facebook and twitter as we will bring you live updates from X Games.


Omar Hassan continued to lock in his run. After several attempts he seemed happy with what he found.

Curren Caples looks like he's surfing with incredible flow from wall to wall.

The ever-talented lensman Riley Blakeway recently filmed s bowl session with Ventura's supergrom Curren Caples. The kid's got a lot going for him. He's a gifted skater, and a polished surfer. Expect to see more of this little guy..



CURREN from Riley Blakeway on Vimeo.

The ESPN X Games 16 are upon us. The courses have been built, the rider list has been released and practice has already started. This is one of the most complicated skate contests out there because of all the different divisions, 11 to be exact. Not to mention all the skateboarders that are invited, and all the different little side stories that are guaranteed to ensue each year.

We'll be breaking down each division, and help you with what to look for all week. To get it started, here's 5 Q's of X...Skateboarding.

1. Will the flakes show? It's no secret that skateboarders tend to be unpredictable, and rich and famous skateboarders, with management, are even are even more prone to be MIA when the contest starts. Now, Shaun White is no flake when it comes to snowboarding, but in skateboarding he has been known to play hooky. Just recently emails were sent out that stated White was confirmed to be skating the vert ramp at the Dew Tour Boston. When the tour rolled into Beantown White was there, but claimed he wasn't going to skate due to injury. It has been over a month since then, has healed enough to skate? We'll see. How about Ryan Sheckler? How about a confirmation he's going to skate Maloof NYC followed by a no show at Maloof NYC. Then there's guys like: Brian Anderson, Mark Appleyard, Leo Romero, Nick Trepasso, Johnny Layton, Sean Malto and Alex Olson. These are not your typical contest guys, and are the most likely to not show. Take the last two on the list Malto and Olson. Malto was invited and didn't show up last year, he opted to film with his sponsors for an upcoming video. Then there's Olson. He has to be the biggest liability on the whole list. Anybody who knows the guy knows he does what he wants, and the X Games are not a big deal in his life. He drives his sponsors nuts by not using their products, and contest directors are even lower on the list of his cares. He would much prefer to be at a photography show in Williamsburg Brooklyn rubbing shoulders with the more artsy A list celebrities of the world, than at an X Games event getting his shoulders covered in D list dust by one of the girls from The Hills.

2. How will the young guys do? As in X Games first timers, Curren Caples and Pedro Barros. Caples who at 14 years-old is the youngest competitor in the games, and will be skating in the Skate Park division. This being a relatively new event to the X Games and has only one winner, Rune Glifberg, who has won both years it has existed. The Park may just be the most popular event in the skateboarding portion of the games amongst actual skateboarders. It is a course built for creating a line, maintaining your speed and just killing transition. And if there's one thing Caples can do it's skate tranny. Pedro Barros is Bob Burnquist's little creation. He also kills transition, but what makes this kid not your typical young skateboarder is he will be competing on the Mega Ramp in Skate Big Air. When it comes to anything Mega, there aren't that many guys in the world who can compete at an X Games level. There will be only 10 participants in the Big Air contest, and at 15 years-old Barros is almost half of all their ages. He will also be competing in Skate Park, and is an alternate in Men's Vert. Will this be the year he becomes the household name that he is destined to be?

3. Will Ryan Sheckler get revenge on the X Games Street course. It was at last year's X Games that he broke his foot, which sidelined him for months. He was forced to pull out of a handful of contests that he has been a regular contender in, and only recently has gotten back to his competitive form with a 2^nd place finish at the Dew Tour Boston. He was a no show at Maloof NYC (see Question 1), and hasn't won a major contests in over a year. That said, you can never count this guy out, he has everything in his bag of tricks, and we all know he can go huge. Plus, the reality television star will have his usual cheering section of teenage girls when Sheckler Mania rolls into LA.

4. What will go down on the infamous Mega Ramp? This section of the X Games is almost cartoonish to most skateboarders. It is something, that when you pick up a skateboard for the first time, you can pretty much be guaranteed you will never do. More so than really anything in the X Games; Freestyle Motorcross is crazy and everything, but people who start dirt biking always have that option to floor it and start attempting flips and what not. Mega Ramps on the other hand, are so rare that you really have to go out of your way to find one. That said, when Danny Way, Bob Bournquist, Jake Brown and the rest of the mega field start hucking themselves off of that creation of epic proportions, headlines are bound to happen. We've had huge falls like the legendary spills of Brown and Way, that have brought silence to the Staples Center. To epic performances, like that of you've guessed it, Brown and Way, who put those falls behind them and gave us two amazing performances at last year's event. What will be the skateboarding mega story be this year?

5. Will Bastein Salabanzi shock the world? He made his first real debut to the skateboarding world as that amazing teenage sensation in Flip's Extemly Sorry, where he opened his part by kickflipping a set of stairs and landing cross-footed, then proceeded to technically dismantled rails, ledges and stair sets around the world. Since then he just about disappeared. The Parisian was on a bit of a self-induced sabbatical in his home country of France. Recently though, he showed up out of the blue, and decided to skate the Maloof NYC. He had more of the actual skateboarders in the contest pulling for him than anyone, because as we all know "real recognizes real," and he managed to place forth. Then, he really freaked skateboarding out when he showed up at this year's Dew Tour Boston. He skated through the trials and into the main event, and once again finished forth. According to the list of skaters who are going to compete in Skate Street, Salabanzi's event, there is no name of Cole, Rodriguez, Lutzka or Pudwill listed. Translation; there are only the two skateboarders who have finished ahead of Salabanzi in the past two major contests (Maloof NYC and Dew Tour Boston), Ryan Sheckler and Chaz Ortiz. Will the X Games Street celebration consist of banquettes and wine?

Photo: CHRISTIAN PONDELLA/Shazamm ESPN Media