skater

SKATER OF THE BEER 2022

SOTB has been going for six years now. It’s a small midwest, backyard mini-ramp skate party. That pretty much sums it up. It’s what you live for when you know all the homies gonna be there. It’s a chance for the youngin’s to come up on the scene and the older dudes to still puff their chests, blunts, throw back a few shooties and show that they are not dead, and they know about the stoke that brings us there in the first place.

The ‘stoke’ is real.

Started as a reason to skate hard and encourage each other to push above and beyond the normal park trick. Bring them here, bring the street tricks here, It’s a mini-ramp, have at it. Mini’s are usually a magnet for a barrage of skating. How many people can you fit on the decks? That’s usually how many show up x 2. Today, that number is gonna be cubed. What? Did you say gleaming the cube? No, but I’m sure someone will gleam the cube at some point today.

This is just a backyard contest, No registration, no sign-ups, just let a brudda know that you are here and are gonna skate, you know…Read the rule of the ramp – Don’t be a DICK. Plain and simple. Sounds like a place I can get down with.

Early the day of, as the crusties begin to fall of the eyelids of all the attendees, the ramp’s mist is burning off it’s metal chest as the sun pops up to alarm us all that shit is gonna be heavy today. Useless wooden toys, all gathered together like a small army. Different sizes, colors, makes, models, underfoot, in hand, under-butt, on the roof, skateboards are everywhere. The sound of the wheels across the metal, the sound of the locals, the sound of the stoke, yep, listen. It’s there, the stoke is smoking. We’re ready for the fire. When the stoke rages, the fire will ignite. That’s what we are here for.
After 4 hours of ramp rippage, the pyre of stoke is high. The contest is coming to a close. Shredding, snaking, slashing, everyone gets in their last licks at the flame.

In the end, we all get together and in an old fashioned way, we vote for the winner of the day. Heart, sole …soul and sweat. It’s what we all kind of look for. Scribble down your pick. By the end of the afternoon, it’s Isaiah taking home the Skater of the Beer Trophy. Full of beer, blood, sweat and tears and stoke, everyone there had their heart and skin in the game. Familia! See you next year, holmes.

Words, photos and video by Brian Infante