O.K., in this article I am going to briefly go over some of the details of this amazing skateboarding event. Let me break it down! 1st, you show up to the coliseum on Friday. You watch 111 street skaters try to qualify for a top 40 position. Saturday rolls around and you witness the top 40, mix it up with 40 of the pre-qualified skaters from previous events. Saturday is when the 80 skaters get cut to 20, and advance to the finals on Sunday.
Now lets go to the vert. On Saturday 36 vert rippers battle it out for a top 12 placing. These warriors go back to their hotel rooms on Saturday night and anticipate the next day's semi finals. Vert semis are: 12 qualifiers from Saturday and 12 pre qualifiers from points earned in previous events.
Sunday is here!! The girls practice all morning for the female street and vert competitions. The contest begins and they all go out and rip. We begin to see that the female skate population is growing by leaps and bounds and the skill level is going with it. The contests ends and Ellisa steamer takes 1st. Ellisa is so good that I don't even think it's fair she skates with the girls anymore, she's a contender with the guy's. Meanwhile the rest of the girls duke it out for the next 34 placings. Second place honors went to B.C. sensation and now a S.F. local Ms. Jessie Van, skating for the ever popular Rookie skate company. Now we move over to the vert ramp. It is time to witness the brave and bold women skate vert. Jen O'brien wins the female competition with flying colors and Stephanie Hasegawa (Mathias Ringstrom's girlfriend) pulled through with a steady ride and a second place finish.
(DRUM ROLL and CANNONS PLEASE) ...
The guy's vertical competition begins... ooops, what I meant to say is the Mike V. demo is going on over at the street course. The vert competition was a blast as usual. 2 standouts for '99 are Colin Mckay, he placed 28th, and Mathias Ringstrom. Plenty of others were killing it and a lot of them seem to be stepping it up this year.
Mathias Ringstrom appears to be on a long sought - after - mission, and it's being accomplished. Mathias won. Colin Mckay on the other hand got 28th out the 36 pro's. If Colin received dead last it should have been fine with him, because during the best trick competition, Vancouver was smeared in Colin's dazzling true colors.
