Many of the unsung athlete heroes of summer can be seen any day of the week surfing the smooth concrete curves of the world-class Hailey Skate Park.
With a combination of guts and discipline, skaters take turns riding the curved walls and steel rails at the park, pulling off feats of daring that skaters a generation ago could only imagine.
It took four years and $500,000 to build the Hailey Skate Park, at the southern entrance to the city. The full-radius pipe at the park is described by Thrasher magazine as "the first of its kind to be built in over 25 years west of the Mississippi." In 2003, world champion Tony Hawk brought skaters Bam Margera, Shaun White, Alex Chalmers and Ryan Sheckler to the park to skate its "baby-smooth, concrete tall walls and a kooky layout," Thrasher reported.
Last spring, however, skaters almost lost access to the park when bullying and vandalism there caused the City Council to threaten its closure. After cracking down on two miscreants and calling for more parental supervision at the park, the atmosphere has since changed.
Last Thursday, about a dozen skaters—watched by two mothers—were at the park. The skaters ranged in age from 6 to 16, chatting in the shade, before taking carefully coordinated runs through the park's varied terrain.
If there are rules governing who skates when and where at the Hailey Skate Park, they are unspoken. Similarly, Hailey cops found there was an unspoken rule against skaters telling on one another when they tried to crack down last spring on a reported BB gun shooting at the park. It took police a couple of weeks to track down the "bad apples," as Councilman Fritz Haemmerle described the perpetrators in a City Council meeting.
Haemmerle and Hailey police officers spent time at the park in May, gathering information on how to keep it safe. Skaters and their families crowded City Hall to protest the park's potential closure.
The City Council agreed to keep the park open and encouraged parents agreed not to drop young children off there, as the park was not designed to serve as a child care center. Next week, the city will test out a video surveillance camera that could help them keep an eye on things at the park between police patrols and at night.
But if you ask kids and parents at the park how things are today, they will tell you circumstances have vastly improved.
"Vandalism was always a big issue here. There was trash everywhere, but it's better now," said 16-year-old Marco Alvarez, who has skated at the park for three years.
"The people doing that stuff are not hanging out here any more," he said.
Gavin Admire, 16, said some of his friends have been asked to leave the park by Hailey police just because they weren't skating. Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter said this was done to cut down on vandalism and bullying, which he attributed to non-skaters.
"We want it to be as family-oriented as possible down there," Gunter said.
Despite the park's lack of seating, many non-skaters and parents come to the park to watch this compelling spectator sport. And despite the city's concerns, it continues to be a hangout.
So, is this a bad thing?
Hailey "skater mom" Jenny Heekin started bringing her 6-year-old son Brian to the park two months ago. She had heard reports of bullying, so she doesn't drop her son off to skate, as some parents still do, but sticks around while Brian gets the hang of the sport.
"A lot of the younger kids go to the Ketchum skate park because the terrain is easier, but this park is much more convenient for us," Heekin said.
Young Brian Heekin may be in luck, as the city of Hailey is hoping to expand the challenging Hailey Skate Park terrain with a less-challenging "skate plaza" made up of street-skating features, including rails, stairs and ledges. The plan is part of the city's overall goal of upgrading the entire rodeo grounds site with a hockey rink, restrooms and improved parking.
Fundraising for the new skate plaza will get a jump-start this weekend when two professional skateboard teams (the Antihero and the Girl teams) come to town for a demonstration, followed by a local skating competition.
After three years, 16-year-old Anthony Aguayo has already mastered much of the terrain at the Hailey park. He will compete this weekend.
After a short chat, Aguayo dropped into the shallow end of the skate park and caromed off a vertical wall, landing only on the back wheels of his board, riding out the wheelie. The stunt is called a "manual."
A minute later, he successfully jumps a flight of concrete stairs, as though his skateboard is glued to the bottom of his shoes.
Aguayo isn't satisfied with his prowess just yet. He plans to pull off a "front-side 180 with a late back-foot kick flip" by summer's end.
"Not many can do it," he said with a grin.
Alex Martynto is 10 years old and about the only kid wearing a helmet at the park last Thursday.
"I'm here every day," he said proudly before climbing the 12-foot-tall concrete pipe and then boldly dropping skating down its vertical face.
Later, he is aksed if he has heard about any bullying at the park.
"I don't care. I just skate," he said.
Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com
Weekend activities
Saturday, Aug. 8
· 3-6 p.m. Professional Antihero Skateboard and Girl Skateboard teams perform a demonstration brought to town by Andy Gilbert.
Sunday, Aug. 9
· 4 p.m. registration
· 6-9 p.m. Hailey Skate park demo and local competition, sponsored by the ST. Luke's YAK and the city of Hailey.
· DJ Zeb Strobel-Haft and band Toast.
· Free entry/open-jam format. (Prizes from Smith, Scott, Lost River Sports and Board Bin.)
· Snow Bunny Drive-In food special: 15 percent of cost for cheeseburger and small fries go to fund skate plaza expansion.
Ten-year-old Alex Martynto gets “off the lip” at the Hailey Skate Park. Photo by David N. Seelig
