West Coast skater guide to include Valley park
Spokane Valley’s year-old skate park played host Wednesday to a gnarly gaggle of pro and sponsored skateboarders touring the West in search of the best bowls, rails and fun boxes to include in a skate park guide coming out next winter.
Their tour featured a half-dozen or so young skateboarders, a dog and a veteran, tattooed skater from Hawaii who got tired of getting lost while trying to find Southern California skate parks two years ago.
“Why don’t we have a guidebook? … There are guidebooks for everything you can think of,” said Bill Hensley, 47, as he snapped pictures of pros and local riders for the second edition of the Best of the West Skate Park Guide. It will include directions, reviews of the parks’ features and other information like helmet requirements, required waivers for young riders and other basic information that can be hard to find.
The Valley’s park is “not very big but it’s very efficient – it has everything,” he said.
Ten-year-old Skyler Siljeg, of Bothell, Wash., one of the youngest riders on the competitive skateboarding scene, and his companions pulled tricks at the park as a few dozen local skaters looked on.
“It was kind of a fun park when it wasn’t all windy,” Siljeg said. Tuesday’s storm cut short their Hillyard visit.
“It was kind of weird skating it when I was starting,” he said.
The park’s biggest feature looks like a deep swimming pool with a large bump in the middle and sides that curve in and out.
“It’s a fun bowl,” Siljeg said.
The group may head to a park in Sandpoint next.
The skaters had an audience.
“Someone told me there were a bunch of pros coming here, so I just decided to stay and watch,” said Erich Graff, 14. Even though she sprained an ankle the last time she was at the park, she likes its features and said there is plenty for riders of all skill levels.
“It’s OK. It is smaller than most of them,” she said.
“It’s pretty good, though,” said her brother Devin Graff, 12.
The existing park is the first phase of a plan that will triple the skating area when it is finished, said Dan White, of the YMCA. He said the park has been popular.
“We’re seeing a lot of different kids that we don’t see come in to play basketball or swim,” he said.