West Hobart Bowl Jam 2023 from Duncan Ewington Far away on one of the most southern islands in the world lies an ancient cement bowl, scarred by the movement of time and aged by harsh winters. Built in the late 70’s The West Hobart Bowl (“The Bowl”) is a snake run that leads into a lumpy, uneven death trap of a bowl. It is one of the oldest remaining skate parks in the southern hemisphere (possibly).

The West Hobart Bowl Jam was created for Tasmanian skaters to shred one of the gnarliest bowls around, showcasing what they have and to party with skate crew from far and wide. All are welcome. Two decades on from the first Jam it’s bigger than ever and growing every year. The local skate shop Jimmy’s Skate & Street have really taken the reigns and flown the flag high – taking the event to new levels… compared to the first one where we dragged a bbq to The Bowl, cooked up on the lip, drank some beers and threw out some prizes to a couple dozen skaters.

This year kicked off with a pumping opening party with a photography show by yours truly at Hobart’s newest and freshest boutique store Concept On Criterion, which drew OG Tassie skate heads out of the woodwork. Despite some dusty heads the next day the Bowl Jam kicked off around noon with the eager groms getting some, followed by an “all in” in The Bowl. Shit got heavy when Ramp Wizard brought their obstacle to the show and the crew stepped up! Everyone skated hard, shredded some skin, sweated buckets and then it was on to the final event… The Thrasher wall! The line into this spot is mean, the angles obscene and the speed that shoots you in to the bowl is deadly. To put it into perspective the ABDs are only now being written on this lip 40+ years later…

Seriously, video and photos just don’t do this place justice. It has to be experienced first hand for you to truly know how vicious this ancient park really is. To celebrate the crowning of this year’s youngest Bowl Jam King and Queen (respectively 11 year old Harvey Campbell and 15 year old Anneka Lewis) we washed the sweat away with cold brews at an old Hobart drinking hole and partied til the early morn.

Shout out to all the volunteers that helped make this year a sick event, the crowd for bringing the hype, the skaters for ripping so hard and the cold hard concrete for bringing the pain! Special thanks to the sponsors for dropping cash and prizes into skaters hands – Jimmy’s Skate & Street, Santa Cruz, Creature Skateboards, Independent trucks, Modus, Van Diemen Skateboards, Concept, Shambles, Vibrance, and Ramp Wizard.

The Bowl looks forward to welcoming you with bloody hands next year!

Photos: Duncan Ewington