Volcom’s Stone’s 2011 North America Wild in the Parks packed up its “A” game and hoisted the Jolly Roger for an event in Rincon, Puerto Rico on Saturday, June 4th!
What is the skate scene in Puerto Rico like? Well, it took us a mere moment to determine that the response to the aforementioned query was both; alive and well! The number of talented skaters blew us away and their positive attitude was the perfect accompaniment.
There are more than a few amazing sights in Puerto Rico
Ground zero for Volcom’s inaugural Puerto Rican WITP was Skate Town Skatepark. Located in a town called Rincon on the western coast of the island, the area has a palpable surf vibe and an all-around laidback demeanor. We could get used to a place like that.
The skatepark was located on an old basketball court
Things got off and running in a hurry with the 14 & Under division! Not being familiar with the WITP format, we were a little concerned the knee-highs would be slow out of the starting gates. Right away it was easy to see that this wouldn’t be the case! No sooner had the starting horn sounded then all three contest “zones” were attacked in rabidly feverish fashion.
Hector Martin getting down with an impossible 50-50 in zone 3
In the blink of an eye we saw a hardflip down the 5-set, a frontside flips on the pyramid and a host of other impressive tricks! Needless to say, it was clear to everyone that these guys meant business! Later on at awards, Christian Cartagena took 1st, Jomar Ortiz locked down 2nd and Elijah Latorre placed a close 3rd! Nice work chaps!
B/s overcrook, zone 1
The 15 & Over division was up next and the skatepark’s roof nearly popped off! The sizeable crowd was pumped up and it was clear the skaters were feeding off of the excitement. Similar to the 14 & Under division, these guys wasted no time getting down to business!
B/s nosegrind in zone 3
With a zest and vigor rarely seen, the 15 & Over skaters laid siege to the street course and absolutely destroyed everything in sight! Off the top of my head, I can recall seeing a bank-to-bank late flip, b/s nosegrind across and down the flat-down rail, 5-0s on the hubba ledge, dolphin flip, kickflip b/s 50-50 just to name a few! After all was said and done, Angel Ramirez reigned supreme with a 1st place finish while Ricardo Alfonso and Angel Garcia were a close 2nd and 3rd respectively!
We’ve got a tre flip in zone 3 going down here
Being the last to skate, Open division competitors were charged with rounding out the day’s anarchy. The caliber of skating was amazing and the camaraderie displayed during the heat of battle was deserving of a Purple Heart in itself!
Here’s one of our judges working off his barbecue lunch - kickflipping the channel
The judges had their work cut out for them as the Open division skaters tore around the park like men-possessed! The pounding rain outside the park couldn’t match the volume of the screaming crowd inside. Great vibes and tricks were flowing like Puerto Rican rum!
Volcom’s Juan Ashton was holding it down and dishing up goodness all afternoon
The tricks that went down in the finals were mind-bending and nothing short of jaw dropping! It was so hectic that if you blinked you’d miss something. To scratch the surface, we saw a gap b/s bigspin front board, nollie inward heel front board, tre-flip over the flat-down rail, kickflip 5-0, varial heelflip b/s 50-50, impossible 50-50 etc, etc!
Halfcab nosegrind b/s 180
Not to be outdone, Alexis Rivera was skating hard and hammering out some serious tricks of his own! He gave us a half-cab noseslide 270 out and a boardslide up and across the up-flat rail in zone 1! It seemed a shame, but at the end of the day it was time to name the winners. Yariel Melendez trumped everyone with his smooth style and impressive combinations. Hot on his heels was Hector Martin in 2nd and Johnerik Felio in 3rd! Hot damn, what a show!
Tricks like this b/s bigspin f/s bluntslide are what landed Yuriel Melendez on top of the Open division podium
Thanks to Rene Di Cristina and everyone else at Skate Town Skatepark for all their hard work and support! They’re the main reason the WITP madness unfolded with relatively few hiccups. Thanks to Gustavo Torres, Robert Lopez and Kidwell Colon for judging, Chagy Vargas for his help on the mic and DJ Tony G for providing the audio inspiration. Thanks also to Pedro Huck from Mundo Rad TV, Aron Geiger and Alexis Rivera for helping make it happen. Another big thanks goes to all our WITP sponsors below for pumping up the winners with extra prizes.
