Portland Concrete Lures Skaters

The Pacific Northwest is the absolute Mecca for concrete skateparks and with the Dew Tour in Portland it was inevitable that the skaters would be planning a ditch day in order to sample some of Portland’s finest. With vert prelims taking place the day before and only a couple of practice days on the schedule before the finals Andy Macdonald rallied the troops for session out at Pier Park.

Overview shot of Pier Park

Pier Park is no walk in the park when it comes to skateparks. It features an 11ft square bowl that connects to a 9ft bowl via a 22ft full pipe with a mouse hole opening. Certainly not the kind of skatepark you would find in southern California, this was just the kind of terrain the Dew Tour vert skaters were looking to ride.

              
Pier Park plaque                                                           Andy Mac going over the door

Ditching the day of practice along with Macdonald was Bucky Lasek, Renton Millar, Juergen Horrwarth, Chris Miller, and Dew Tour judge Owen Nieder. Usually the first one to drop in and the last one to take a run, Andy got the session going while the others got their skate legs and warmed up the behemoth terrain.

Owen Nieder

One of Pier Park’s elder statesman Mark Conahan laid down some lines for all to soak up while some of the younger locals looked to impress showing they’ve put in their time here airing over the mouse hole and blasting some airs in the deep end.

                

Chris Miller                                                                  Bucky Lasek

Chris Miller went frontside over the hole with style and ease and proceeded to blow minds with high-speed lipslides and massive airs in the corners. Bucky toyed with the bowl as it was small in comparison to what’s in his backyard. Andy capped the session by incredibly rocking the top of the door of the pipe. Probably something that will never be done again.

Chris Miller

The skaters had an awesome time getting their concrete fix at one of Portland’s best skateparks. There were plenty of spectators on hand that got to witness some of the Dew Tour’s top athletes playing in their own backyard. The marathon session finally ended and the skaters hung out and relaxed while signing boards and posing pictures with the locals. What a perfect way to ditch a day of practice while in Portland.

              

Bucky Lasek, handplant                                            Bucky and Owen

Flip through a photo gallery from the day right here.

Then, check out the Alli Ditch Day Video below