2016 BONDI BOWLARAMA REVIEW
The General Pants Co Bowl-A-Rama 2016 is a wrap. This year Bowl-A-Rama had a new title sponsor and a new 2-day format. Saturday was packed with hours of shred time. With a 7 heat semi final, 10 skaters would advance to the Finals on Sunday to get National Aussie recognition. The Saturday Qualifier list was a “Who’s Who” of the raddest bowl skaters on the planet.
Tom Schaar would lock down the #1 qualifier, with a sick array of 540’s, various lip tricks, nose grinds off the hip, skating every inch of the bowl fast and furious. Cory Juneau, Trey Wood, Josh Rodriguez, Kevin Kowalski, Brad McClain. Rune Glifberg, Daniel Cuervo, Jono Schwan, and Aussie sensation, Luke Russell. would all advance to the Finals. Collin Graham from Virginia Beach, Va would win the “Best Trick” contest on his last attempt with his signature trick, the “Collinoscopy”. It’s a Stalefish, egg-euerial that looks like it will twist you like a pretzel if you screw it up. The Junior Qualifier was insane as well; packed with 10 of the top Aussie’s. Ryan Helm, Jed McKenzie, Ethan Copeland would round off the top 3.
Sunday’s Finals were threatened by early morning rain showers, but the Skate Gods came to the rescue to deliver blue skies. The Masters would start it off. The top 9 Masters from the day before would get a chance to skate with Tony Hawk. After it was all said and done, Renton Millar and Pat Ngoho would join the “Birdman” on the podium. The Masters are always a crowd pleaser, and the energy level was top-shelf in anticipation of what the “Pros” would display. The Art of Skateboarding is alive and in thrival mode. This is what the “Skate Gods” had in mind, when they brought on the perfect weather, for this perfect world class skate venue. It doesn’t get any better than this… Bondi Bowl on the Beach on a perfect Sunday afternoon.
Brad McClain had some of the sickest lines. Skateboarding is truly an art form… When you see the contrasting styles of a Kevin Kowalski vs. a Tom Schaar, you see where the individuality comes in to play. Cory Juneau displayed some amazing stuff, while J-Rod threw it down with huge methods and sick frontside inverts. The Brazilians are always a force to reckon with and, on this day, Pedro Barros and Vi Kakinho took home biggest air and best trick in the finals with a Monty grind to revert around the corner. Seeing all the contrasting styles, the attitudes, the different lines and different expressions of the art, I’m just stoked the judges got it right.
On this day, the oldest of the “Pros” would not be denied. Bucky Lasek (the oldest to compete in the “Pros” at age 43) took a page from Bob’s book with his switch lines, as in switch frontside inverts to revert, switch nose grinds, switch “smith” grinds, switch frontside airs, Rodeo 540’s and a huge lien to fakie in the corner. It was classic Bucky, and he deserved to win back-to-back titles. The Pro finals capped off two days of non-stop action for thousands of screaming fans who can’t wait for next year. Bondi Bowl-A-Rama 2016 will go down as one for the ages.
Words and Photos by Lee Leal
Here are the final results:
PROS:
1. Bucky Lasek USA
2. Cory Juneau USA
3. Tom Schaar USA
4. Alex Sorgente USA
5. Joshua Rodrigeuz USA
6. Ivan Federico ITALY
7. Trey Wood USA
8. Pedro Barros BRASIL
9. Vi Kakinho BRASIL
10. Kevin Kowalski USA
MASTERS:
1. Tony Hawk USA
2. Pat Ngoho USA
3. Renton Miller AUS
4. Kevin Staab USA
5. Luke Jones AUS
6. Darren Navarrette USA
7. Adam Luxford USA
8. Marco Cruz BRASIL
9. Pat Black USA
JUNIORS:
1. Ryan Helm AUS
2. Jed McKenzie AUS
3. Ethan Copeland AUS
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY LEE LEAL (@EMBASSYSKATEBOARDS)
