Contest brings world's top skateboarders to Vancouver
The Vans Pro Skate Park Series stops in Vancouver Saturday, Hastings Skatepark to get 'annihilated'
Some of the world's best skateboarders will be at East Vancouver's Hastings Skatepark this weekend for the Vans Pro Skate Park Series.
One of the skaters vying for the points needed to qualify for the championships in Sweden is local man, Adam Hopkins.
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"This is huge," he said. "There's pretty much the world's best park terrain skateboarders here. There's probably, I'd say, over 40 people right now."
Hopkins, 26, who is taking the summer off his delivery and bartending jobs to focus on skating and a bunch of the other competitors were forced to take shelter from the rain on Thursday at East Vancouver's Leeside Skatepark.
"Just because of the weather, because it is covered here, people are just coming out to practice and just skate around," he said.
The skaters tested some of their tricks and cheered each other on.
"We're all friends — it's a competition setting, but most skateboarders, it's not like what you'd think for a competition setting."
Cedric Pabich, 16, travelled to Vancouver from Ocean City, Maryland, for what will be his first international competition.
"I don't know about the rain, but skating this park's fun," he said of Leeside.
The athletes are hoping the weather cooperates over the weekend, so the competition can go off without too much trouble.
"It's a Vans contest, so it's big," said Pabich. "It's pretty gnarly. Everyone's really good. Everyone's super good."
Hopkins has already taken part in the first two of four qualifying stops in the series, one in Australia and one in Brazil.
"For me, if I were to qualify for Sweden, I'd have to do very well in this event, and then I'd have to do very well in the California event," he said.
There are only five spots open for the Sweden championships, with another 15 spots reserved for pre-qualified pro skaters.
Hopkins encourages everyone to make their way to Hastings Skatepark Saturday afternoon.
"They're probably going to see some of the best skateboarding they've ever seen in their life," he said.
"[They'll] probably see Hastings bowl annihilated ... because when you get a crew like this in any city, at any skate park, people like this, they're going to come in and just destroy the bowl, like completely rip it to shreds."
