In the early morning hours leading up to this weekend's Concrete Rodeo in Ketchum, the Guy Coles skate park was more than just a venue, it was a hostel.
"I think it's always funny to walk up and see half your tour sleeping in the park," said Concrete Rodeo organizer and tour director Konrad Rotermund. Rotermund woke up a handful of skaters who had rode in from Oregon when he arrived in Ketchum at 6:30 a.m.
The Concrete Rodeo, a regional skate park tour that has designs on being fully national by next summer, bucked through central Idaho this weekend, drawing 49 skaters to the Ketchum event and 39 to the tour finals in Hailey. The Ketchum contest, though well attended, was rained out before the tour's trademark Jousting Finals could begin.
Local skaters did turned out though and five qualified for the Hailey finals: Justin Pidgeon, Tanner Farrow (Ketchum), Kade Hampton (Hailey), and Chance Larkin and Colton Larkin (Hailey).
Pidgeon earned the top spot in his Veterans category (over 29). Hampton was third in his 11-12 year old division while both Larkins finished well in the 10 and under class.
Steff Carter, as the only local girl to skate, impressed judges. Rotermund described her as "a phenomenal skater."
"She needs to keep going, she's really good," he said.
Overall, "both events were very good," said Rotermund who also noted that "the local skating communities are way behind both of their parks."
Despite this lag between quality venues and enthusiasm, Hailey turned out a sizable crowd of spectators, second only to Reedsport, OR, said Rotermund.
Overall winners of the Concrete Rodeo tour—Steve Reeves, 18, of Medford, OR and Ashley Anderson, 14, of Reedsport, OR—were crowned in Hailey and earned automatic sponsorship with placement on the Dakine Flow Team.
Rotermund complimented the different designs at the two local parks. Ketchum focuses on street riding while Hailey is a more vert-intensive experience with minimal street features.
"The designs allow for significant difference," he said.
With murmuring of a possible Bellevue park being thrown around the local skating community, Rotermund thinks the Wood River Valley could establish itself as "a skating mecca."
As for 2006, he sees a future for the Concrete Rodeo in the Wood River Valley, regardless of additional parks.
"I think we'll come back," he said. Next year, with tours planned for the southwest, New England and Florida, Rotermund hopes he can make the Concrete Rodeo a household name.
Shawn Black of Twin Falls gets some frontside air with an Indy Grab.
