Ozzie Ausband

El Gato Classic / Legends Jam

Eddie Elguera

Eddie Elguera

I was awestruck today. The El Gato Classic Legends Jam was insane. At one point, there were so many Hester Series and Gold Cup series skateboarders in attendance that I was literally the only mortal on the deck. Just a few: El Gato, Malba, Salba, Olson, Caballero, Hosoi, Jim Gray, Lonny Hiramoto, Scott Foss, Eric Grisham, Jami Godfrey, Steve Hirsch, Freddi DeSota, Lance Mountain, Pineapple Saladino, Doug Marker, Billy Ruff, Mike McGill, Hackett, Wally Inouye, Doug Marker, Kyle Jensen, George McClellan, Alan Gelfand, Allen Losi, Scott Dunlap, Brad Bowman, George Orton, John Lucero, Marty Grimes, Robin Logan, Chuck Hults, Jim Muir, Tony Hawk, Jeff Tatum and others.  There was more amazing skateboarding going on than I could take in at one sitting. I was impressed with something that really stood out to me. When Scott Dunlap threw a huge double trucker in the deep end, his head would drop down just like I could see in old photographs of him. When Hackett slashed frontside, his body would twist up… When Scott Foss rode, we all rode with him. Each legend still retains all that made him what he is. The style has remained. There is more mileage but the originality and raw natural talent remains. Impressive.

Eric Grisham

Eric Grisham

Micke Alba

Micke Alba

Eric Grisham rode like a death wind was pushing him. He went for everything. Olson took a handful of runs and lit the crowd up… Malba was on fire. Period. Ruling it. El Gato reigned over all and the crowd saw skaters riding side by side in a way that hadn’t been seen in probably thirty years. It was really something to witness. The Tony Hawk vert demo went down with the sun. More on that later. Thanks to the hard-working MRZ for the images. Skate - Ozzie