Whitehorse skateboarders rose up at the Rise and Shine Skate Jam skate contest Sunday.
Like the rest of the jam, which took place over the weekend, the skate contest took place at the Second Haven Skate Park in Whitehorse.
The skate contest involved skateboarders executing a variety of tricks on the Second Haven course.
They were limited to 45 seconds per lap.
The contest featured three categories: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.
Gab Roy, who competed in the beginner category, said he was “happy to be here”.
Roy said he thought his ride was “fine”.
“I just started this summer so I’m just excited to skateboard and to be here.”
In the beginner category, Frankie Bragg came in third, Shah Bragg was second and Blue Jones came in first.
“I’ve never really won anything,” said Jones, “so I feel really great. It’s kind of like a high. I never expected to win. It was great.”
Jones, 11, said the key to winning the competition was what seems to be a common theme in skateboarding.
“Try new things and if you don’t get it, you don’t get it. Just keep trying.”
Jones added, “if anybody really wants to try skateboarding, or anything, but they’re scared to, they should just really try it. If they give up, they give up, but just keep trying”.
Amazingly enough, Jones said she’d only been skateboarding for a couple of weeks.
In the intermediate category, Ocean MacCulloch was third. Kate Koepke came in second.
Reilly Lane won the Intermediate competition.
“I’m so stoked because I had a really bad first lap and then I felt like I had a really good second lap.”
In boarding, the best lap of the two is the one that counts.
Lane said the key to the second lap was that “I just landed all my tricks and I was faster, so I could do more tricks in the 45 seconds.
“You want to skate as much of the park as you can,” he said.
Lane, 12, has been skating for approximately three years.
“I won my first competition when I was 10 and that’s the only other one I’ve done.”
Lane added, “it was so much fun skateboarding out there because all the competitors had such a good vibe and no one felt sad if they didn’t get a place on the podium.”
Linden Wolki won the advanced category.
Wolki, 17, said he thought it was a tough competition, but said, “I made the run easy for myself, so it was a good run”.
He added, “I want to thank (Rise and Shine organizer) Ashley Swinton for making this come true.”
That was Wolki’s third competition. He said he’s been skateboarding for three or four years.
When asked what he thought worked for him, he replied, “Coming out and having a great day.”
Wolki did indeed have a great day, also winning a BMX bike from Cadence Cycle in a trick competition held after the skate competition.
