Skull Skates presents the return to the Vernon, BC 'Dead Men' Ditch on September 17, 2016. The last contest at the Vernon Ditch was in 1988 where Skull Skates' Sam McKinlay and PD's Hot Shop rider Mike McKinlay both won their age classes. It really puts things into perspective when you can appreciate what the romanticism of underground spots in the 1980s could generate as the DITCH contest had a full line of trophies, a 'crowd', cameramen, etc. Like most movements in skateboarding that stem from scenes popularized and exposed in California in the skate mags and early videos, the popularity of the Vernon Ditch could easily be attributed to the fact that it looked very much like the ditch from many cult 80s US ditch shots and especially the famous ditch session near the end of the Powell & Peralta 'Future Primitive' video [see pictures below]. The fact that you had to FIND the Vernon Ditch with f**ked here-say directions and walk down into a sketchy canyon, etc. made it all the more badass and like a small adventure to skate it back in the day.
So YES - the ditch still exists[!] and thanks to Vernon locals, it's still running and ready for heated and obsessed Boneless One variation and slash grinding sessions in a return to the Vernon Ditch contest / jam format. Skull Skates' Mike McKinlay and Sam McKinlay will be at the contest to defend their first place trophies from almost 30 years ago.
Cool and related sponsors and prizes, jam format, September 17, starts at 2 pm. This could be the cultest and most nostalgic contest to go down in Okanagan skateboard history. See the pictures below for recent pics of the Vernon Ditch, Future Primitive screen grabs for inspiration and the poster for more details.
Vernon Ditch overview, 2016.
Vernon Ditch landscape, 2016.
Sam McKinlay, Slob Boneless One to tail, Vernon Ditch Contest, 1988 [note the killer DEAD MEN ditch graffiti on the right].
Mike McKinlay [in 2016 Vernon, BC] channeling Tony Hawk's mid 80s Boneless One [in California] from the Future Primitive video.
Overview of the ditch in California skated in the Future Primitive video. Looks so much like the Vernon Ditch site.
Jeff Grosso sweeper in the California ditch from Future Primitive. Images like this in the 80s magazines and early skate videos sparked the imagination of 80s Okanagan skaters and helped make the Vernon Ditch such a popular and punk spot.
