Stop #7 of Volcom Stone's Wild In The Parks skate tour pushed to the home of Purple Rain and 3rd Lair Skatepark in Golden Valley, MN Sunday 21, 2013.
It has been a few years since we have had the pleasure to hold a WITP event at 3rd Lair Skatepark and Skate Shop. Over the years the owners of “Lair” have made enormous changes and improvements to this premier skate facility. When you walk in the staff greets you as you step into the newly remodeled pro shop. The shop is stocked with a solid shoe wall, a great skate hard goods selection, and proper clothing offering that now includes Volcom! When you get the chance, head over and check it out. 3rd Lair’s street course has also been revamped adding a ton of flow and has every type of feature to keep skate progression at a premium. As we looked at the park we found 3 different lines to form the 3 zones fitting WITP contest format. Zone #1 had number of ledges and the signature 3rd Lair flat bar, zone 2 boasted a large 3x3 double set with 2 hand rails and zone 3 gave the competitors options with an A-frame feature that includes both rails and hubba ledges. With the zones set and the day upon us, the time was here to test the skills of the competitors that call 3rd Lair their 2nd home.

3rd Lair's Street Couse Looking Top Notch
The 14 & Under Division was hot out of the gates to set the skate level ridiculously high. There was no such thing as a standard 1 trick objective as these young bucks showed they have years of skating under their belts. Henry Garland put it down with notable tricks like bs 180 nose grind to regular on the flat bar, kickflip bs lip on the A-frame rail, and fakie kickflip down the double set to show he was the alpha dog and take home the win. Not far off, Jackson Parrish was all over the park as he battled the zones with tricks like a nose slide 270 shuv, a smooth impossible lipslide on the double set rail and powered a bs crooked down the hubba ledge to lock down a respectable 2nd place finish. While all that was happening, Benny Milam provided enough to get into 3rd as he landed cab 270 bs lip on the flat bar, a bs kickflip down the double set, and a bs 270 lipslide on the A-frame rail before he broke his board trying a bs 360 kickflip (aka: blizzard flip) down the double set.

Benny Milam Hitting The Double Set With A Bs Flip Over The Rail

Jackson Parrish Poking This Bs Smith Down To The Concrete

Henry Gartland With A Kickflip Bs Lip That Made The Crowd Go Wild
It was now time for the 15 & Over Division to take the keys and put the petal to the metal. Jake Rogers skated out of the shadows to be come a highlight as he went ham with a nollie laser flip bs boardslide on the flat bar and 360 flip lipslide on the A-frame rail to name a few. This “dark horse” took home 1st as he shined through the crowd of his skating peers. Chase Domeier was making the best of a bad situation as he skated with a separated shoulder the entire day. You could see him fighting through the pain, but it did not stop him from getting solid tricks in all 3 of the zones to place 2nd for his determination. Shalom Larson was also skating hard as he kicked flipped bs tail bs biggie out on the flat bar, bs flipped over the rail on the double set, and got some solid grinds on the A-frame to finish out the top 3 in his division.

Shalom Larson Getting A Bs Flip Over The High Rail In Zone 2

Chase Domeier Showing His Skills With This Bs Tail On The Drop Rail

Jake Rogers Getting Ready To Catch This 360 Flip Lipslide On The Zone 3 A-frame Rail

Anna Reese Definily Stood Out With Tricks Like This Text Book Fs Smith

The Future Of Minnesota Skateboarding Was Looking Bight As These 10 & Under Competitors Took Over The Street Course.

Photo Bombs, Hockey Helmets, Smiles And Full Bellies
If that was not enough to make your senses tingle, it was now time for the Open Division to make the crowd shake their heads and rub their eyes in disbelief. All of these Open Division competitors could stand atop the podium on any given day. From start to finish we saw the seemingly impossible become possible. These guys handled nollie heelflip boardslide on the double set rail, alley oop bs flip to flat over the A-frame rail, switch heelflip bs feeble on the flat bar, fakie bs feeble to regular on the flat bar, 360 spins both fs and bs over everything, 180 no-comply fakie 5-0 on the double set down rail and that is just the tip of the iceberg. It was a show for the record books and a totally awesome display of raw skateboarding talent. As time ended and scores were tallied Alec Majerus was in 1st place, Dan Coe received 2nd, and Tanner Van Vark was called up to gather his 3rd place winnings.

Corey Millett Was Killing It All Day Long

Ricky Nunn Was On Fire All Day Long

Greg Clover Was Unstoppable As He Sw Bs Smithed The Big Rail In Zone 2

Dalton Jones With A New To Us Fs 180 No Comply Fakie 5-0 in Zone 2

Tanner Van Vark Hit This Fs 360 First Try

Dan Coe "Spinning And Spinning And Spinning" With A Bs Big Spin Fs Blunt Bs Big Spin Out Of The Zone 1 Flat Bar

Alec Majerus Standing Tall With This Half Cab Bs Smith Bs 180 Out In Zone 2
We want to thank Mark Rodriguez, Trog and the entire 3rd Lair park staff for hosting the 2013 WITP at their park and helping us from beginning to end. Thank you to Cory Schneider, Josh Johnson, and Andrew Leibman for handling the unbelievably difficult task of taking down scores all day. Lastly, show our tour sponsors some love for kicking in the extra stoke during the entire WITP tour:
HI-CHEW
GATORADE
TRANSWORLD SKATEBOARDING
KICKER
CAM CADDIE
Results:
14 & Under Division:
1st: Henry Gartland
2nd: Jackson Parish
3rd: Benny Milam
4th: Jake Braun
5th: Matthew Stokke
6th: Connor Gasch
7th: Ty Stigney
15 & Over Division:
1st: Jake Rogers
2nd: Chase Domeier
3rd: Shalom Larson
4th: Tyler Thomas
5th: Jace Torkelson
6th: Brad Hay
7th: Ryan Larue
Open Division:
1st: Alec Majerus - $250
2nd: Dan Coe - $150
3rd: Tanner Van Vark - $100
4th: Corey Millett
5th: Dalton Jones
6th: Greg Clover
7th: Ricky Nunn
Hi-Chew's Chewiest Move of the Day:
Henry Gartland
Stand Out Lady:
Anna Reese
For Wild in the Park coverage and updates, check out Transworld Skateboarding. Check out our facebook.com/volcomwitp for shots that didn't make the article. Follow us on instagram (@volcomWITP) for a behind the scene look at the tour. Have a look at #volcomWITP for a sweet collection of shots from the day.