AST FREE FLOW TOUR: NEXT STOP THE DEW
Imagine going to heaven without having to die.
That's what it was for several hundred skateboarders and BMX riders who came to the third annual AST Free Flow Tour, held on sacred ground: the Ogio Training Facility in Riverton, Utah. It's a large indoor warehous, with satin smooth concrete and unchipped, unwarped, slick wood quarterpipes and halfpipes, ramps and rails, spines and tableteops; even a foam pit to test your daring in the air without having to worry about sticking the landing.
The only people allowed to ride this fine, fine vert are the athletes sponsored by Ogio.
As well as those who show up for the yearly AST Tour, which was certainly heavenly. There was no entry fee. There was a goodie bag for every competitor, with two T-shirts and some candy bars. A large steel fridge was stocked with endless cartons of Mountain Dew, bottled water and energy drinks, help yourself.
Dillon Guenther, 13, was ecstatic. "I won my age group. I grinded the rail and did a toe grab over the transfer," he said. He beat 14 other skaters.
Everyone knew the one to watch was Bryant Chapo, who came to compete from San Clemente, California. He has won the Utah AST stop for the past two years. But this would be his last year. The contest is only for those 18 and under. Bryant is 18.
It was slightly controlled chaos during practices between heats. Skaters bashed into each other or took a line that someone suddenly crossed, leading to a quick last minute move that often smacked butt to floor. The noise was constant; the boom of boards and shouts of skaters echoing and bouncing off the high walls. Skaters were bouncing too; bad landings, mini-Jake Browns, they fell from the air to the crushing concrete, slid from the vert wood to the flat floor, stumbled and ran for a miraculous save.
"I'm a little sore," said Shea Cooper, who might have made the finals if his run had been more flowing. A good skater, he went fast, then slow, hesitated, then went fast again; pulling off a heel rail grind and several kick flips. But for Cooper, it wasn't about winning. "I came down here to hang out with my friends. Skateboarding is more about hanging with your friends than winning a contest," he said.
The jam format of the finals was crazy. Skaters were trying to avoid each other, many became frequent fallers as skateboards flew through the air. Skaters who lost it would grab their board and run up the pipe to get momentum for another trick. They landed on their backs, heads, knees, elbows and hips. Adrenalin kept them going, but it was obvious those who had gotten this far were worn out., unable to do the tricks they had done so easily in earlier heats. They would step down, lose all momentum, look around frantically for the nearest vert from which to launch a trick.
The biggest rising skate star in Utah is 12-year-old Tyson Browerbank, whose run got skater-style applause: the banging of the deck nose on the concrete. But as Tyson rode smoothly up the quarterpipe in front of the foam pit, along the deck to ollie off the wall for huge air, he came down awkwardly. He curled up at the bottom of the wall quarterpipe and lay there, grabbing his heel. Mom Kim ran over, along with Ogio's skate team manager Erick Bork and some of Tyson's friends. His face was clenched in a rictus of agony, then, like every fallen skater at the contest, he got up, said, "I'm okay," and got back on his board.
Tyson made the finals, but everyone could see the hurt from his fall was holding him back. Still, he came in second. Christian Serika, another rising star, did a kick flip into big air with another kick flip and landed his whole routine. "It's probably the best I've ever skated during a contest. The best part of my run was a backflip down the handrail. I've never done that before," he said. Serika came in third.
Bryan Chapo won for his final time on the AST Tour. He stood on the podium next to Tyson, who did not quite come up to Chapo's shoulder.
Tyson said, "I'm pretty beat up, but I'm happy. I entered it last year when I was 11, and I came in second then. The year before, I didn't place. I wish I hadn't of hurt myself, I would have done better."
After the awards and the photos, Bryan stood by the podium, looking at the other skaters practicing. "I feel pretty sad, because it's my last year. I didn't know if I would win, because there's a lot of good skaters here. Since the AST has started, the competition has gotten much better," he said, adding as he looked slowly around, "I'm saying goodby."
He rode tiredly out to the parking lot, stopping outside the entrance for a quick look back, then riding on, by himself.
The next day was for BMX. It was an older crowd, not as many parents, a lot of tattoos, some beautiful sleeves. This contest is for 21 and under, and it seems like a tighter knit community than the skaters.
Crew Bailey, 20, might have made it to the finals if his front wheel hadn't kept hanging up as he tried to land a backflip fakie on the quarterpipe. He pulled it off on his first run, but fell badly in the semi and twisted his ankle. The Layton rider is fairly well known, but has no sponsor yet, though his riding certainly warrants one.
The pain of BMX was obvious as many riders slumped off, using their bike for support when their run was done. But one who just glowed was Nick Fletcher, whose grin made watchers happy just seeing it. "I MADE THE FINALS," he said, laughing. "I tied with the guy I was against, so I made the finals. I'm happy right now. I never thought I'd make it this far. But don't tell anyone," he whispered, "I am out of tricks, I don't know what I'm going to do!"
In the finals, Casey Barret was the only one grinnng through his whole run, though he lost it at the end and lay on the floor, laughing with pure joy. Like so many of these riders, he seemed to be loving it all.
But the judging was controversial enough so that it caused a few mutters among the crowd. Brian Shephard, 16, had ridden a flawless run, landing nearly all his tricks and getting more air than most of the other riders. Yet the judges placed him fifth. Even the winner, his friend Colton Sauderfield, thought Brian had won. The two of them came from their Pocatello, Idaho homes together.
Brian said, "I felt I should have done a little better than fifth, but I didn't come here to ride the comp and they let me in, so I'm stoked. I did a 720 over a spine, I've never done that before."
Sauderfield won the event, Jason Johnson was second, Brian Banghart was third.
The announcer and organizer of the BMX comp was living legend Fuzzy Hall, DEW competitor, manager of Ogio's bike division, and owner of Layton's 50-50 bike shop. He will be 37 next month, and will compete in the DEW Tour when it stops in Salt Lake. "It will be so great to ride in my home town, sleep in my own bed while competing in a huge contest. I had a separated shoulder all summer, but I'm 90 per cent back now," Hall said. His six-year-old son competed in the Junior Jam BMX contest.
Winners on both days got Ogio packs, crammed with goodies such as $120 sunglasses and certificates for free shoes. They will also be flown, all expenses paid, to Florida for the AST Nationals.
Sometimes skating and riding is a very good thing.