For the week of June 4 - 10, 2003

Celebration cranks for Hailey Skate Park

Top notch design beckons to
pro skaters and loud music

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By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

"It’s definitely gonna be a great time," local skate and snow board whiz Andy Gilbert said about the celebration for the Hailey Skate Park, Saturday, June 7, from noon to 5 p.m.

This celebration is being dedicated, by the band Unborn Perfection, to the memory of Sara Alstrom, who was killed in a car accident over the Memorial Day weekend.

The idea for the event was turned over by the Hailey Skate Park group to Becki Keefer, chair of the Hailey Parks and Land Board. She, in turn, hired a promoter out of Bozeman, Mont., skater and event impresario, Adam Longnecker.

"The park is so premiere—we were asked to throw a big celebration—and we had this challenge but had no clue. This is why we hired Adam. He also lined up the teams of pro skate boarders," Keefer said.

The teams that are showing off their moves come from Consolidated Skateboards, in Santa Cruz, Calif., and one from Dreamland Skateparks. Thrasher magazine is covering the event, and it may also bring pros.

The Hailey Skateboard Park, which was designed by Dreamland Parks, is "possibly their best park yet," Longnecker said. The 13,000-square foot park represents a style that's becoming typical of Dreamland Skateparks, Thrasher magazine’s review said. "Baby-smooth concrete, tall walls, and a kooky layout." Also notable is a full radius concrete pipe, 16 feet in diameter—the first of its kind to be built in over 25 years west of the Mississippi—and a 16-foot roll-in with handrails.

Popular with boarders of all ages, it also has a "14-foot pocket at the end of a capsule, a 9-foot round hip, and an extension with a flat wall backing it up for a fun as hell air spot," Longnecker said.

The free opening features music by A Winter After, Unborn Perfection and 3PX, the house band from SPACE, a performing arts center in Ketchum. KSKI DJ Tom Sparks is emceeing the event.

And when demos are not being held, "local skaters get to skate, to loud music with an audience, which I think is just delightful, Keefer said.

Food supplied by Don Curtis from the Wood River Valley includes barbecued chorizo, sausage, and hot dogs.

Other sponsors include Board Bin, Ketchum Video, Ketchum Dry Goods, Mama Inez, Johnny G’s Subshack, Twist & Trout, Smith, Sturtevants, Hailey Paint, Java and KSKI.

Basically it’s "loud music and skating for five hours," Keefer laughed.

 

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