I started following skateboarding in 2006, and one of the things I kept seeing and hearing being referenced was the 2004 Wallenberg contest. I watched the
video online over and over and over, completely taken in by how excited everyone was to see people jump down this gap. It was also the first time that I understood the importance of "skate spots" and the history of all of the tricks that have been done at each one. It was how I learned that Andrew Reynolds was synonymous with frontside flips and Lindsey Robertson with heelflips. Also, how sick was it that Elissa Steamer was the first to commit to an ollie? In short, learning about this contest and why it was so incredible was one of the first big things that demonstrated how great the subculture of skateboarding is. Here is the article, with a bonus still of Chris Cole's 360 flip bail. Photo credit can be found within the scans.
A couple of years pass by, and Thrasher announced that on May 30, 2009, they would be holding another contest at the legendary spot. In the five years in between a few more NBDs had been done, including Chris Cole's
360 flip in 2005 (which he stuck but didn't roll away from in the 2004 contest) and Andrew Reynolds's backside flip on the
May 2007 Thrasher cover. This knowledge, combined with Thrasher publishing a slew of "Ask The Phelper" videos about Wallenberg leading up to the contest, created a lot of anticipation for what was going to be done down the gap on that late May 2009 day. In my opinion, it lived up to the hype and produced a
pretty awesome recap video which still gives me goosebumps, even after 13 years. Here is the article (and cover) as it appeared in the mag. Photo credit can be found within the scans.
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