Volcom Stone's 2011 North American Wild in the Parks tour visited Denver Colorado for its 4th stop on Saturday, May 28th!
One of our favorite aspects of the WITP tour is being involved in the progression of different people’s skills in each event’s area. The tour has been around long enough now that we’ve been able to witness the development of skateboard careers from a relatively unique angle.
Tre flip to flat in zone 2 - Wyatt Milhollan
It’s both unbelievable and humbling to stay in touch with kids that were 12 when they skated in their first WITP and are now making appearances on the mag covers. Seeing alumni featured in the media is a trip back to yester-year and incredible to see how talented some former-WITP brats have become.
Vincent Cipri working a frontside 50-50 down the big rail in zone 1
180 nosegrind shuvit, zone 3
Speaking of skills and progression, Denver has no shortage of either! From WITP vets like Lee Wilson, Julian Christianson and Matt Pennington on down to relative groms Phil Hansen and Wyatt Milhollan, talent runs deep in the area! This always results in incredible battles going down to the delight of both competitors and spectators!
Here’s a good lookin’ varial heel in zone 1
While there were plenty of familiar faces on hand at the park, it was great to see some fresh ones as well. The 14 & Under division got things going just after 12 noon and no one looked back after that! Serious tricks were quickly nailed in all three WITP contest zones and made us wonder if any tricks are out of their reach!
Hefty frontside flip on the hip in zone 2
In the midst of the 14 & Under madness, it was really cool to see expressions ranging from blank stares to astonished disbelief on the faces of the older guys.
It’s obvious that the 15+ and Open division competitors were genuinely pumped up watching the younger kids destroy the park! At the end of the day, Phil Hansen’s tech wizardry landed him in 1st just ahead of Whatt Milhollan and Vincent Cipri in 2nd and 3rd respectively!
A rail-clearing hardflip for the zone 1 gallery
Volcom’s Wyley Cotton was nearly overrun during the free barbecue. Also, Grant Corrigan’s look is creepy.
Next up, the 15 & Over division had the unenviable task of somehow taking things up a notch. Thankfully, with rippers like Raphael Sanboh, Luis Medina, John Herrera and Connor Erickson on the scene, that was exactly what happened! While these names have been singled out, I think it’s important to point out that the entire division was super competitive and full of skill.
Lee Wilson was skating well and was a contender to be, well, contended with. B/s crooked grind here
The 15 & Over finals was a rabid hive of hectic, yet controlled skating in all three zones. The scores were incredibly close and as usual, were double-checked to make sure our math was right. John Herrera emerged atop the podium while Raphael Sanboh placed a close 2nd and Luis Medina squeaked into 3rd!
Bucky Schlanger greasing a proper bluntslide 270 on the bank in zone 3
Rounding out the day’s mayhem was the Open Division. Chock full ‘o impressive talent with their sights set on an invite to the $25,000 WITP Championships (Sat Oct 15, location TBA)!
Matt Pennington was on fire from start to finish! Getting a b/s lipslide in zone 1 here
What we all saw on that crisp, cloudy afternoon will go down as one for the record books! It was a battlefield out there and it was clearly evident that no prisoners would be taken. After our judge’s scores were tallied up, the top three were only separated by 1 point! Matt Pennington claimed 1st, Michael Marks left his mark in 2nd and Julian Christianson was hot on their heels in 3rd!
Julian Christianson blew the judges away with tricks like this nollie heelflip over the rail
Thanks to the city of Denver for having us back for the city’s 6th annual installment of the Wild in the Parks! Thanks to Brendan Reimers (Emage), Ryan Johnson (BC - Boulder) and Alex Cutler (Satellite) for undertaking the difficult task of judging.
Thanks also to Sam King for his proficiency at handling random task as well as Volcom’s Wyley Cotton and Rebecca Birnbach for being on the scene all day. Of course, thanks also to our WITP tour sponsors below for all their support!
14 & Under:
1st: Phil Hansen
2nd: Wyatt Milhollan
3rd: Vincent Cipri
4th: Eli Tennant
5th: Nathan Kester
6th: Jackson Parish
7th: Angelo Subia
15 & Over:
1st: John Herrera
2nd: Raphael Sanboh
3rd: Luis Medina
4th: Grant Corrigan
5th: Connor Erickson
6th: Ruben Vigil
7th: Burt Dominguez
Open Division:
1st: Matt Pennington - $250
2nd: Mike Marks - $150
3rd: Julian Christianson - $100
4th: Cameron Lawrence
5th: Bucky Schlanger
6th: Lee Wilson
7th: Pat Donivan
Electric “Hype of the Day”: Cameron Lawrence - $50
