Diamond Mine Contest
I got a call from my friend Jerry asking if I wanted to roll down to the Diamond/Thrasher Halloween contest in Los Angeles. I had nothing going on so I figured, why not. Diamond Supply Co. has a private bowl, the Diamond Mine Bowl, and were teaming up with Thrasher for a cash-only, prize purse, bowl contest . A handful of rippers were invited to come skate, with a lot of locals between the Los Angeles and San Diego area showing up. The likes of Raven Tershy, Brad McClain, Robbie Russo, David Gonzalez, Josh Mattson, Duane Peters and Josh Borden were just a few of the attendees.
I started filming and was told right away that only Thrasher media were able to film. Tony Vitello, son of Thrasher founder Fausto Vitello, found me right after and said I could take photos -- thanks Tony.
There was a free bar, tacos and a lot of raw skating. A good portion of the people dressed up, or at least had their faces painted. During the contest there was a Playboy photo shoot that ended up in the bowl at one point. That was probably a highlight for many.
Once the heats began, the skating got chaotic fast. The DJ went from rap to metal, there were plenty of collisions and slams, people were throwing down tricks all over and the going-for-broke vibe was in full effect. The crowd was loving it. Aaron 'Jaws' Homoki battled through some tough falls and crashes but hyped the crowd when he landed a 540 on the vert wall. Ben Hatchel was pulling frontside blunts and blunt kickflips on the vert wall while Brad McClain and Josh Matton found endless lines of gnar. Jerry Gurney had the best King Diamond costume (in my opinion), and had a bone cross that he would switch hands with while approaching every wall.
In the end though it was Ronnie Sandoval that dominated the contest and took home first place with 540's, frontside inverts, Saran Wrap body-jars and Madonnas, just to name a few of his many tricks.
Thanks to Diamond Supply Co and Thrasher Magazine for putting on a next level event.
