Slam City Jam 2001

Archived from 2001

Story and Photos by Erik Olson

In the beginning of May, the eighth annual Slam City Jam took place in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. It was a big media event as usual. Many pros from many lands flew out to compete for many dollars. The street course was pretty good, I guess. In this one part (see photo above), all the main obstacles were built together, and it looked a bit crowded. I tried to cruise around the course so I could give you, the reader, a more accurate account of exactly how the course felt. I dropped in and as I reached the other side of the course I slid out on the fast masonite and decided I didn’t want to look like a dork anymore, so I stopped. Look closely at the photo above. The red “x” on the course represents where I slid out and fell. Sick.

Anyway, I won’t really go in to much detail about who did what trick where, because that is what 411 is for. I am going to waste fill the rest of this article by telling you to go see a pro contest. I understand that pro contests don’t happen every day and if you live in Hulett, Wyoming… But if you live in California you have no excuses. There are plenty of other spots around the world where pro contest take place. And if you live hundreds of miles away from where an event is taking place, take a road trip. It is pretty fun to sit and watch your favorite pros as they skate under pressure. And almost all the pros are pretty accessible. If you go to a basketball or baseball game, chances are you aren’t going to be able to ask for free products and bug the pros. But at skateboard contests the pros are just walking around, and most of them don’t even have personal security guards. If you have no way of getting to a pro contest, hold your own. Ask your moms if you can give away her Suburban as the first place prize. 

If you only have a beat-up Ford Pinto, that can be first place for an am contest. Then make some flyers and send them to skateboard companies. Tell them you are putting on a contest and you want them to sponsor it. You can hang up their banners and crap and then they will pay you loot. And try to get some big corporation like Colgate or Hanes to sponsor the event. Just tell them that every skater uses toothpaste and underwear and that they really need to make sure they capture this market. They love that crap. Then once they commit to a few grand, you got your contest. Make it wacky. Say that all skaters entering must wear sunglasses and hold the event in a small dark barn. Get creative. A good way to get the pros to come is to have some really good stuff to skate. Buy some cement and a long rail and have your handy uncle Joe build the perfect 50 stair rail. Or if you are really smart, make the first ever double loop. No one’s done that yet. But if you are getting the runaround from Colgate and moms won’t give up her ride, then just set up a skate jam with all your buddies; that’s almost the same as a big contest like Slam City. Go to a local park or school with some smooth ground (where you know you won’t get kicked out), tell everyone to bring barbecue and drinks, get some ramps, and you got yourself a full fledged skate jam. Some of my most memorable skate sessions were at ghetto style bbq skate jams. Anyways, I hope that everyone gets stoked because skateboarding is like the most dopest thing ever! To get some info on pro and am contests check out wcsk8.com or vans.com.

Slam City Jam 2001 Placings

Sourced from Skate One Magazine 2001.