Pala Pool Jam

…the contest was essentially a three hour jam. You could skate take a break, skate more, whatever the hell you wanted, for three hours.

Words and Photos: G. Crosland

On Saturday 4/11/03 a “contest” was thrown to raise money to help get Neil Heddings out of jail. Neil is a great skater that was railroaded, arrested and thrown in jail for a crime he did not commit. Pala is a backyard pool in northern San Diego County. It is a good pool and blown out like a porn stars asshole so it was a perfect site. Good pool but we are not giving away ant secret spots here. The cops even showed up, only to take a look and have a few laughs, very cool. It was a hella good event. People were skating, drinking beer, smoking pot, eating hot dogs and over $500 dollars was raised. That’s enough for a few hours with a good lawyer, way cool. Thanks to all who helped with this thing. A shitload of free product was given away at a raffle. But what’s it really about? Skating, lets talk about that shit.

Fucking Sick would be two words to explain the day, but we shall go into a little more detail. First off, the contest was essentially a three hour jam. You could skate take a break, skate more, whatever the hell you wanted, for three hours. Everyone there, skaters and gawkers voted the results, pretty cool. This guy Brendan was ripping shit all over the place. Frank Atwater, fuck that guy rips, his lines were so fast and speedy that I think people missed some of the sick shit he did. Zaroache? I kept thinking, is Steve Roache here? Seriously Zaroche is a guy that was rolling in, blunting in, and who the fuck knows what this crazy bastard was doing. Alex Horn was skating with mad style and pulling nice airs. Sam Hitz, what can you say? Sam is one smooth fucking pool ripper, his sidewall hits stand out to me. Al Partenen, big and fast, sums it up. Matt Mofett was the hardest working skater of the day. Matt did a sick Smith Stop on the coping OVER the love box and somehow ollied back in, fuh dude. Jimmy The Greek had some of the sickest lines. His Sweeper up the Love box and over the death box may have been the trick of the day. That Greek Fucker rips. Benji Galloway may not have a much style as Darrell Delgado but he should have a pro model and make tons of moulah cuz Mr. Galloway skates better than most of the sissy fucking pussy skater out there. Maybe he has a Scum pro model I do not know. Benji skates vert, pools and street really well. He could give Andy Mac, TNT or Omar a run for the money as All Terrain skater of the year.

All the usual antics went on when you get skaters together in a semi lawless environment. Sam Hitz shooting fireworks into the pool. This girl Stephanie was ripping and slamming so hard. She got up every time and kept skating. Problem was, when she slammed her G-String hung out so everyone would look a little harder at her slams. At least I was. Tons of other people were ripping; Reuler, DD, you know what, I can’t remember, what is this, the best damn sports show? Fuck it! A rad time, does this kind of shit happen everywhere or just California? What a beautiful state!

Neil Heddings Freedom Fund
c/o 1984
1954 Placentia Avenue #108
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

Results
1. Benji Galloway
2. Jimmy The Greek
3. Matt Moffett
4. Al Partenan
5. Sam Hitz
6. Alex Horn
7. Zaroche
8. Frank Atwater
9. Brendan
10. Neil Hedding (not there but he got 4 votes for 1st place)