Philly Skate Hub

I transferred to Drexel a little over two years ago and it had been a full year since the last time I touched a skateboard. I didn’t know a single student on campus and I wasn’t sure how to go about meeting people. When I arrived to my first class I saw another student had a skateboard at his feet. I told him that I used to skate a bit and everything picked up from there.

Continue reading “An Ode to Skateboarding”

The demolition of Love Park created a scattering of Philadelphia skateboarders. We once had a place that we recognized as THE Philly skate spot. After Love Park was taken away we still have Muni but if the city took away a park designated for the public I can’t help but worry that they’ll have no qualms removing all skateable obstacles from their own Municipal Services Building. I imagine many other Philadelphia skateboarders share my same fear for the future but recently a spark of hope surfaced.

Continue reading “Do You Believe in Life After Love?”

Connor Lichterman was one of the first people I met through skateboarding in Philadelphia. Connor grew up between Upper Darby and Havertown so his roots primarily lie in the Havertown Skatepark. This park has been replaced by Merry Place park, a concrete park that has a more finished look than the original. I sat down with Connor to hear his thoughts on the influence that these two parks had on the local skate scene.

Continue reading “The Metamorphosis of Havertown Skateparks Through the Eyes of a Local”

It was September 30, 2017. Despite the chill in the air and the gale force winds, there were more people at Paine’s than I had ever seen before. The strangest part of this gathering was the fact that the vast majority of people weren’t skating or didn’t even bring boards. Everyone was trying to secure the best real estate they could for the events that were about to unfold. Everyone in the park was eagerly awaiting the premiere of Sabotage 5.

Continue reading “Sabotage 5 Video Premiere”

Nick Tredinnick is a freelance skateboard videographer and close friend. Nick is known as the filmer of our crew but his renown extends past our local group. Nick is our personal filmer until summer rolls around then he’s whisked back to work at Camp Woodward. He is a part of the filming and editing crew for the Camp Woodward Show which will be entering its eleventh season this summer. I had the opportunity to sit down with Nick and talk to him about some of his most memorable and impactful experiences from filming with Camp Woodward.

Continue reading “Story Time with Professional Filmer, Nick Tredinnick”

Derek Hengemihle is a beginner skateboarder only in a temporal sense. Despite skating for less than a year I’ve never seen someone quite as driven. Derek starts learning every new trick going as fast as he can, fully prepared to endure a slam in the pursuit of gnarliness. Skateboarding is something that people seldom begin at the age of 20 but Derek’s approach is that its better to be late to the party than not party at all. I sat down with him to discuss his roots in skateboarding and mindset moving forward on the board.

Continue reading “The Newcomer’s Perspective: An interview with Derek Hengemihle”

If you go to any skatepark, you’re bound to encounter the locals. Skatepark locals have a tendency to be tremendously talented and a tad eccentric. Nobody has immersed themselves in the culture as much as someone who goes out and skates every single day. Pops Skatepark is park that hits an interesting synergy between transition and street obstacles. This park is located in Kensington on 2134 E. Hazzard Street. I spent a day at Pops to see what the local culture is like. I was able to meet some great new people, catch up with some old friends, and get an amazing session in.

Continue reading “Skatepark Spotlight: Pops”

Sometimes you only have a brief window of opportunity to go out and skate. Busy schedules, high security spots, and fluctuating weather are just a few hurdles that can prevent a skateboarder from indulging in a day long session. Sometimes you need to treat skateboarding like a mission. Get in, get your tricks, and get out. My friend, Phil, and I spent an hour skating at Penn between classes and an impending snow storm with a specific mission to keep the stoke alive despite demanding school schedules and Mother Nature’s nasty temper.

Continue reading “Mission Im-Penn-sible: An Hour of Filming at University of Pennsylvania”

Unfortunately skating can’t always come first. We have jobs, school, and other engagements that take place during the day and can make it difficult to get a session in. More often than not when the sun goes down, we fear that we missed out on a day of skating. But there are plenty of places in Philly to push around after dark. Philly has three parks that are viable after dark and the surrounding suburbs has another two. All these parks are free with the exception of The Foundry and are lit up until around 11pm depending on the season. Without any further ado here are the best parks for when it’s dark:

Continue reading “Hitting the Park After Dark”

Skateboarding certainly isn’t considered to be as beneficial to individuals as many other forms of physical activities. Skateboarding offers the rider a means of physical and mental release at the risk of their own safety. The considerable physical risk associated with skateboarding is likely the reason why local governments and townships are reluctant to build the proper facilities for people to skateboard. The lack of official skateparks has definitely not stopped people from getting out and pushing themselves to learn new tricks. The skateboarding community has come together and created two unbelievable parks using their own resources, manpower and abilities. FDR Skatepark and 9^th and Poplar are two DIY skateparks created for skateboarders by skateboarders. Sometimes when you can’t get what you want you just need to build it yourself and that’s exactly what the Philadelphia community did.

Continue reading “If You Build It, They Will Come: Philadelphia DIY Skateboarding”