If a skate contest in Vancouver without rain is considered a victory, then day one of the Billabong Damn Am was a downright triumph. The sun shone, hot dogs were grilled, and plenty of gnarliness went down at the Bonsor skatepark. A big crowd formed by mid-afternoon, with a who's-who of Van City skaters and industry heads skating and lurking at the park. It was pretty damn cool to see vets like Tony Fergusson and Judah Oakes working up a sweat on the street course and skating like they were 16 years old; not guys who work day jobs.

Adam Hopkins, wall transfer. Forsythe photo.

With Brian Schaeffer and the SPOT crew in town, a wad of $20 bills was gathered to reward the best tricks in the Push.ca Bowl Contest. Schaeffer was on the mic, and served notice to anyone attempting tricks that they'd better damn well land them if the wanted to earn a bill or two. A dozen or so guys skated for 30 minutes, with plenty of cash dispensed for worthy moves. Actually, Schaeffer even gave $20 to a girl who walked by with a massive purple Mohawk, and slipped local legend Alex Chalmers $20, "just for being there." So as you can appreciate, it was a loose affair without any real rules: just the way a skate contest should go down.

The $20 mohawk. Forsythe photo.

Adam Hopkins ripped the entire session, transferring up and over the wall-ride spine both ways and nearly landing a McTwist (no, I am not making that up). Chalmers got in for a few runs, and slid an insane frontside tailslide around the bowl's corner, which he later said was the first time he'd done that trick there. Nate Lacoste was on fire (not literally, of course), with backside Smith grinds, frontside flips, and a Half-Cab stalefish. Chris Connelly also ripped some hurricane grinds, and Mike Kilnkhammer shredded the entire bowl with style.

Caissie photo.

Alex Chalmers, rock 'n' roll. Forsythe photo.

Caissie photo.

Caissie photo.

A real standout, however, was an unknown kid with completely shredded shoes (one of which was held together by a mere strand of suede over his toes) who was maybe 15 years old at the most, but skated like he was twice his age. He landed huge frontside airs about five feet to six feet above the coping, and did several frontside grinds that stretched the length of an entire wall. At Schaffer's urging, the kid even took one of the grinds all the way through the corner, earning huge cheers and a quick payout.

[Insert generic "The bar was set" caption here] Forsythe photo.

When the all the cash was gone, the contest moved to the street course for the Ollie Pop High Ollie Contest. A bar was set up to ollie over, and skaters were eliminated as the bar was raised. By the time it reached 40 inches high (which is no joke, trust me), serious olliers like Jon Hanlon and Joe Buffalo were eliminated, and it came down to Chad Dickson and Jeff Marshal.

Caissie photo.

Caissie photo.
 

Chad, moments after making it into the final round. Forsythe photo.

Jeff Marshal, high marking for the judges. Forsythe photo.

Dickson and Marshal battled it out, back and forth and back and forth, but neither could quite stick a landing above the 40-inch mark. When it was finally declared a draw, and the prize money was split between them, Dickson took one more crack at it and actually landed an ollie. The irony! I think Dickson was just stoked to have done it, and earned a case of beer and pack of smokes courtesy of his DC team manager, Trevn Sharpe (who obviously knows how to provide extra motivation in a white-knuckle situation like this).

With all hot dogs eaten and the sun beginning to set, it was time to wrap the day up. Check back for full coverage and more photos from day two tomorrow, when the street contest goes down.

Something to look forward to tomorrow: Matt Berger, backside 180 fakie 5-0. Caissie sequence.