Color Magazine Blogger Profile

It's always nice when one mag is stoked on another, so much so that they make it a point to include them on their tour itinerary! This was the case when a crew from SF's LowCard Mag made their way to Canada recently for their "Mid-90s Vancouver Invasion" and made Color a necessary part of the voyage. Chris Atwood recounts their adventures in the Great White North.

(left to right) Zak Gonzalez, Chris Atwood, Kappy and Eric Jufer

San Fransisco is a great place to call home, skating around the city and exploring the Bay Area is the best.  No matter what though, we all need  to get away once in a while: explore new places, meet new people, and of course, skate new spots. You break out of the mold and normalcy of your daily routine and remind yourself that there is an entire world out there. Whatever the effort involved, a solid vacation is always worth it. With that in mind, myself and a couple good friends decided to fly up to Seattle, and jump on a train headed north to Vancouver. Throw in an unlimited supply of brewskies (Bowen Island IPA to be exact), a Flip cam, and a Yashica T4, and you have the 2012 Mid 90s Vancouver Invasion.  We stayed   downtown for 4 days and couldn't have had a better time. Friendly folks, delicious food, beaches, bbq's, and of course, the shred.  Here are some photos for your consideration.

-Chris Atwood

This was our street skating crew: (From left to right) Zak G, Sheldon, Rob, Ali Y., Rose, and Eric. We skated around downtown Van for about 7 hours and we all caught a fair bit of sun that day.

Winding down with some beers at the dog park later that same day.

Folk Skateboards rider Adam Richter covering the long lens angle. One of the nicest dudes ever, radical on a skateboard as well.

This is Rachel, I met her on the street one day.  She and her owner were both deaf and very friendly. I like her brown spots.

Bart sighting...

Joyce and Adam after a session at the Hastings park.  She is definitely the nicest can collector I have ever met. As you can see, she and Adam are pretty tight. In Vancouver you get 10¢ for every can you recycle. In the Bay we only get 5¢.  Lame.

Adam making sure the spliff duties are attended to.

Andy Dobson, the creator and driving force behind Folk Skateboards.  He works pretty much day and night building and shaping skateboard planks the old fashioned way, one at a time. We were lucky enough to stop by and check out his warehouse space. Super cool skateboards, super friendly dude, super cool accent. Andy is crushing.

Some of Andy's handiwork on the wall in the Folk warehouse. Get yourself a Predatory Bird board if you know whats good for you!

This is Karl holding it down at the Hastings park. He was seriously there every time I was.  A true local, dreaming of sausage links and t-bone steaks.

Speaking of cool boards, Anti Hero is pretty on point with their graphics these days. A bruised and battered Judge Reinhold, in the grass at the Slurrey skate park.

Nate LaCoste, Jamie Maley and Sheldon Barr. Radical dudes, all of 'em.

An old Hightower flyer pasted up at the Hastings park. Hightower is an S.F.-based skate rock band, and good friends of mine. Rad to see some hype for the tower so far from home.

I saw this kid at the Surrey park and had to get a pic. Obviously he has a good sense of humour. I myself should get a shirt that says "20 somethings are stupid."

Zak G warming up with a kickflip in traffic, shot from our apartment on the 18th floor.

Zak Gonzalez throwing down a quick nollie heelflip on some public art in downtown Van, while Ali gets the shot just as the the fuzz arives to kick us out. No tickets, no problem.

Post Card attempt #4. Downtown Vancouver, facing south.

Eric (aka Uncle Touchy) showing off his latest stick and poke, a perfect replica of his native flag, Old Glory.

Rob Rickaby, a nice guy and a demon skater. A skateboarder's skateboarder, as they say. Rob gets it done, Zak and I are almost certain that it must be the beard. He also did the first hurricane shove-it I have ever seen, which from now on will be known as the Rickaby Grind.

Nate LaCoste — half cab nose grind at the Hastings bowl.

A BBQ on the roof of the Color office on our last night of the trip. Great friends and the food was pretty good too. Perfect way to wrap up the trip. Dan, Kappy, Ali, Zak, Jeff, Chris, Nate, Adam, Sheldon, and Linda (who helped make this weekend what it is).

The downtown skyline. Postcard attempt #1.  Clear skies, sunny weather, what more could you ask for? It was raining every day 'till we arrived and it was raining when we left, so I guess we brought the good weather with us.

The view from the 18th story apt. we stayed at on Burrard Street. Not bad coming home to this after a long day of skating.

Filmed and Edited by Sheldon Barr.

And there you have it: 4 days, 24 photographs, a little skating and a few new friends. We flew home to the Bay Area, back to jobs, bills and normal life, only to start again, planning and scheming for the next time we will make our escape, venturing again into the big wide world.  Because in the end, who the hell really knows what's out there waiting for you.

Thanks Canada, and everyone out there we were lucky enough to hang out with.  We can't wait to return. In the meantime, Zak, Kappy and myself will just have to be content to host a monthly Canada Night at Zak's house in Oakland. We'll take our best shot at making our own Caesar's and poutine to fill the void.

Check out some other side photos on Kappy's Corner blog on the Lowcard website:

And some other incidentals on the Mid 90's blog also on the Lowcard website: