Canada's first-ever DC King Of event took place at the Vancouver plaza on the weekend of August 22-23, which resulted in the smoothest running and most efficient skate contest in recent memory. The invitational jam sessions replaced what would normally be the final contest, typically held in Montreal, from the cross-Canada DC Nationals series. The Top 5 skaters from each stop on the Nationals tour were invited to the King Of Vancouver event, and the first place winners from each stop were treated to a plane ticket and accommodations at the Sandman Hotel on Georgia Street, which was apparently also housing contestants from a bodybuilding event.

"There were a few injured skaters who couldn't make it, and a few who couldn't afford to make it out, but 28 of the 35 Top 5 pre-qualified skaters from the DC Nationals showed up," explains Trevn Sharp, the team manager for DC Canada and organizer of the Nationals. "The vacancies were filled with ‘wildcards' we invited to skate the contest – there were about 40 skaters overall."

Crowning an "unsponsored skater" as the King Of Vancouver was the intention, but a bit of a grey area due to the multi-tiered flow hook-up structure that exists in Canada.

"There are a lot of distributor sponsored kids in Canada, and the whole thing with this contest is to have shop sponsored and flow kids who don't really have a signed deal," Trevn adds.

Every skater on the contest roster got a crack at the $10,000 purse – a $1000 winner for each day, and $5000 for the KOV crown from 2 days of overall solid skating. The King of ‘Couver also gets a SHAZAM! interview in a future issue of Color magazine, and a spot on an exclusive DC team.

John Hanlon, nollie crooks.

"Being a part of the DC Kings team is being a part of this elite group who's won a King Of event, and they get sponsorship for a year. You get your foot more in the door at DC, so it's a great opportunity," says Jeff Pang, DC skateboarding's brand manager and emcee at KOV. He also helped develop the whole King Of concept for DC with King Of New York in 2006. "Usually contest skaters aren't put in the light that they're ‘true street skaters' or whatever, but this contest is a little bit different. It's not about runs, or training and being a robot."

Brian Schaefer, Ryan Clements, and Rob Meronek from Florida's SPoTlight Productions were hired by DC to bring their extensive experience to this Vancouver event. They organize and run the famed Tampa Am and Tampa Pro events, the Damn Am, and 2008's DC King Of LA.

"There was like 40 dudes, and we broke them down into 4 heats-per-day, 10 guys-per-heat," explains Schaefer, the primary emcee at DC's King Of Vancouver. "It's easier for the guys to skate for 20 minutes rather than being in the spotlight, like: ‘Next in, Brian Schaefer...You have one minute to shine [laughs].' And nobody's bummed that the contest took 8 hours; it ran from 1:00 until 3:30 each day. It's good for the skaters and the spectators."

"There's no elimination and everyone skates both days," guest judge Paul Machnau adds. "It's a community thing where everybody gets together and just shreds hard, and it's gonna be obvious in the end who should win. I don't know half of these kids, so it's a good way to keep up on all the kids who're coming up."

Day 1 - Saturday
After some uneasy morning weather, the sun was sort of shining on the Vancouver plaza (it's housed beneath the Georgia/Dunsmuir viaducts), and the sectioned-off area for the day was dubbed the "Tech Section": the wheelchair ramp out-bar and ledge, the slappy wall, the long 3-set, and the 4-set/rail.

On Day 1, Mike "Hashbrown" Schultze really elevated the game – despite having a broken wrist set in a cast – with consistency, solid style and an ample trick selection. "Everything this kid does is on point," Jeff Pang reassuringly amplified over the mic to the plaza crowd. 

Other standouts included plaza local Desmond Hoostie, who just came off a $3500 win at the ‘09 Lord Of The Lines final; Windsor, Ontario's Dallas Ives; Montreal's Will Cristofaro and JS Lapierre; Surrey, BC's John Hanlon, and Winnipeg's Kyle "Baby Malto" Nickoshie. Notably, Regina's Sarah Molder was the only girl who qualified in the DC Nationals and showed up to skate the KOV weekend.

Desmond Hoostie, backside tailslide bigspin out.

"There's mad homies here – that's the best part about contests," says John Hanlon. "There's a few dudes that I don't recognize, but everyone's killin' it."

Day 1 Results
1: JS Lapierre (QC) $1000
2: Dallas Ives (ON) $500
3: Desmond Hoostie ‘Wildcard' (BC) $400
4: John Hanlon ‘Wildcard' (BC) $300
5: Neil Blackwood (NFLD): $200
6: Will Cristofaro (QC) $100

Day 2 - Sunday
Things got even hotter on Day 2, since the fenced-off focus for the 4 heats was the "Hammer Section" at the plaza: the 7-set/rail, long 4-block, granite hubba, and wheelchair ramp out-bar.

JS Lapierre – who won the 2008's DC Nationals final – showed up sans-hangover and in even finer form by absolutely dismantling the 7-stair rail with tricks like his impressive bigspin flip frontboard to fakie. Hashbrown lost steam on Day 2, but Dallas Ives gathered even more momentum with his array of first-try solids, like switch lipslides and switch tailslides down the rail, among many other moves.

JS Lapierre, kickflip 5-0.

"I just heard about him, he's sick," Sascha Daley says about Lapierre. "Dude, I wouldn't even stand a chance in this contest [laughs]."

Day 2 Results
1: JS Lapierre $1000 [First overall]
2: John Hanlon - ‘Wildcard' $500 [Third overall]
3: Dallas Ives $400 [Second overall]
4: Adam Fontaine - ‘Wildcard' (BC) $300
5: Dustin Locke - ‘Wildcard' (BC): $200
6: Neil Blackwood: $100

King Of Vancouver: JS Lapierre $5000 (7Gs total)

"I'm pretty hyped," Lapierre said surprisingly calmly for holding 3 giant cheques, which signified heavy shralping both afternoons resulting in Canada's first DC King. "I'm gonna pay my rent, maybe got to California, and just party..."

DC's Josh Kalis, Marquise Henry, Matt Miller, Lindsey Robertson, and Wes Kremer were on hand to present cheques to the big winners, and to help present a $10,000 cheque to Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Sarah Blythe on behalf of DC.

"That money will go towards maintenance and repairs at the plaza because it's been skated so hard since it opened in 2004," explains DC's Trevn Sharp. "I'm really stoked we were able to give back to skateboarding in Vancouver."

Click here for more photo coverage and info on DC's "King Of" site, and here for some photographic evidence and a video from Day 2 on SBC Skateboard's site.

All photos: Brian Caissie

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Related:
DC Nationals Qualifier Wrap-Up
Talkin' TM with Trevn Sharp
JS Lapierre Takes It (2008 DC Nationals)