Vans BOWL-A-RAMA Bondi 2014: A Poolside Perspective

Vans BOWL-A-RAMA Bondi 2014: A Poolside Perspective

Words and photos: Brad Hocking

Josh Rodriguez gets inverted

Huge airs, inverts, high speed carves, lengthy grinds, teenagers dominating the pros and fifty year olds still pushing the limits in the masters. These are just some of the things that make Vans BOWL-A-RAMA Bondi the epic spectacle that thousands travel to Bondi for each year.

For the past few years I have sat at home watching the live stream and highlight videos of the contest, but this year I had the privilege of working with the BOARDWORLD team throughout the week-long event. This was a bit of a dream come true for me. Not only was I there for the 10th birthday of the event, but it was also the first time skateboarding legend Tony Hawk had attended.

Tony Hawk whips a frontside blunt in practice

Come Thursday morning it was great to see the likes of Tony, Mike McGill and Steve Caballero in practice. These guys can really ride a bowl with style, and age doesn’t seem to have affected them at all. To top it all off, I was given the opportunity to interview Tony Hawk and spend the day with him and his family at Taronga Zoo.

Meeting one of your childhood heroes has the potential to be a bit of a letdown, but this was not the case. Tony is such a cool guy. He’s very down to earth and hearing him talk about his career was simply awesome. You can check out a video of the BOARDWORLD crew hanging out with Tony here. After seeing the level of skating from the masters during their warm up days, there was a definite feeling of excitement for what was to come.

Tony hanging out with some locals at Taronga Zoo

Fast forward to Saturday. The weather was perfect, the crowd was growing, and there was a feeling of electricity building in the air. The lines to get in stretched down the beach promenade, and as the grandstands filled up the skaters began their warm ups and started their heats. The real action had begun.

Being poolside was a special experience. Sitting just a few feet away from the lip of the bowl as some of the world’s best skaters threw down a plethora of incredible tricks really had me speechless. Sometimes I couldn’t help but cheer as loud as possible and turn to give the closest skater or photographer a high five. Being surrounded by grandstands filled to the brim with stoked fans, standing shoulder to shoulder with guys that were in video games that most of us played growing up, and being able to witness such high standards of skateboarding combined for a very humbling experience.

Raney Beres was one of the underrated rippers at the event

When it came to the finals everyone was super hyped. The pool deck was a frenzy as everyone began throwing down their best tricks and really chasing the win. Tony Hawk took out the masters with a solid variety of tricks ranging from the McTwist to a multitude of inverts and grinds on the coping. Steve Caballero styled his signature Caballerial like no other and even busted a kickflip indy in his final run, while the likes of Nicky Guerrero hit the lip at unbelievable speeds. Then there were the pros. These guys can skate. Bucky Lasek and young gun Cory Juneau had some of the most tweaked out grabs I’ve ever seen. Pedro Barros was shooting higher than ever out of the bowl, going trick-for-trick with Alex Sorgente and Felipe Foguinho. I’m still trying to figure out how Pedro rolled away from some of his tricks and straight into others. He really took bowl skating to another level and thoroughly deserved his victory.

Pedro Barros claimed victory yet again. Boneless around the deep-end corner.

I was truly left in awe after witnessing the event that is Vans BOWL-A-RAMA Bondi. Do yourself a favour and get down there next year and be a part of the action. You won’t regret it!

Tony Hawk blew away the competition in the masters division.

Here are some more pics I took throughout the week:

Thursday
Tony waiting his turn and eyeing his lines on warm up day

Kevin Staab had style on the board as well as with pink hair

Saturday
The crowds filling the stands

Being upside down was the flavour of the day

Sweeping the crailslide to the limits

Corey Juneau. How a 15yr old skates as hard as all the pros blows my mind

Cory had some killer noes grinds

Willis Kembel put on a solid performance all day

Alex Sorgente

People in the grandstands still had an awesome view of the action

Josh Rodriguez making it look so nice

Bucky Lasek knows how to bone it out, and does so in this backside air

Fardell with a nice feeble

Was good to see one of Boardworld’s your shredders in the Am Jam

Bowl rats doing their thing inbetween finals

Steve Cab with a kickfilp indy in his final run

OG style

Was fair to say he was pretty stoked on it all

J-Rod again. He did this trick a few times so got multiple angles

More of Corey. He was so much fun to shoot

Bucky

Everyone was hyped on Pedro

Pedro stretching it out

The Birdman rocking it

It was great to see the BW tees on the deck capturing all the action

What made the experience even more special for me was meeting Steve Caballero. Nicest guy I have ever met.

I have always been a big fan of his skating, but more recently his artwork as well. On the Friday night I got to buy one of his paintings off him personally. So stoked. I purchased the green canvas and Azz the blue

Tony offered us his skateboard to raise money for the B-Rad Foundation. More information on the auction of his board will be posted at a later date.

This is me holding onto the board post competion (I really didnt want to let it go )

I’d like to say a huge thanks to BOARDWORLD for giving me this opportunity. Also to the BOARDWORLD media team: Riely, Andy, Mitch and Cameron. It was a pleasure walking with you guys!
Also to my partner in crime for the Tony Hawk day, Azz! Cheers to Tambo for all your help over the week. And Deano for getting the riders pumped with interviews early in the week!

Bloody awesome, mate! You guys absolutely killed it and I’m stoked to read about how much you enjoyed it. Well done!

wicked write up mate!

fardells F.U. to helmets makes my feeble grind!!

Nice write up beardo!!!

Cheers guys