Help The Hanger<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Words by Indigo Smith. Photos by Grant Monahan, Dan Levy, Dave Swift, JJ Kefalas, Steve Aycock, Eric Barlow, Patrick Staley, Mark Gee, Mika, JK Wade, Kathleen Hayes, Steve Baade and Ryan Young. Video by Chuck Powell, Trey Womble, Underground Chuck, Ev Tilson, Ryps, and Zach Cusano. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The history of the legendary Hanger Bowl is not just a story, but a full-on saga. For almost 30 years, Hank Biering has put in hard work, time and materials to maintain this incredible monstrous bowl in his own backyard. Over the years, Hank and his wife, Danielle, have taken care of the Hanger and all of the people who come to visit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hank took on this responsibility when the Charleston skate scene needed it the most after the Charleston Hanger skatepark warehouse closed back in \u201892. In order to keep the shredding going in Charleston, the original Hanger bowl was broken down, transferred, and moved right onto Hank\u2019s land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1993, the bowl was rebuilt into what we now know as the Bieringville Bowl or the Hanger. The original Hanger was designed by Hank\u2019s childhood friend, Blaize Blouin, alongside Tim Payne, in 1989. The Hanger stands today in Hank\u2019s backyard in honor of Blaize (R.I.P. Blaize).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hanger Bowl\/Bieringville Bowl has not only hosted regular sessions with its dedicated locals, but also had its coping grinded by visiting pros like Lance Mountain, Bob Burnquist, Brian Patch and Al Partanen and the Creature team, among many others, and too many East Coast skate pros and legends to list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hanger Bowl has always recognized and respected skateboarding history and it pays tribute to fallen skateboarders with names stamped onto the blocks of coping around the shallow end corner, including: Blaize Blouin, Randy Lowe, Chris Bortz, Squealer, Derek McGrew, Al Carter, Dave Tuck, Drew Ridout, Kevin and Chris Lewey and Wes Ragin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Through years of skarties and annual events that host people from all over, as well as the unpredictable harsh weather Charleston faces, this bowl now needs some lumber to rebuild the deck and relayer. The bowl has had to be maintained through hurricanes and rough storms, as well as intense humidity and salt air that causes the steel and metal to erode. The Hanger is made up of steel and Skatelite that requires frequent maintenance and adds up in price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the past, the only way Hank has gotten money for materials and repairs for the bowl has been through bowl jams and selling some shirts. Hank never reaches out for help, but this is a vital piece of skate history that deserves to be preserved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to the price rise in everything since the pandemic, especially lumber, any donations are appreciated. There is an abundance of love at the Hanger\/Bieringville Bowl. Now all they need is some materials to keep it going strong! <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hanger is truly one of a kind. Thanks to Hank for taking over the responsibility of the bowl. Due to his efforts, a skate community has been cultivated over the decades that is truly a family. Despite the attempts of concrete replicas, nothing quite mirrors or beats the Hanger\u2019s unique transition and overall energy. Please help Hank keep the famous Hanger alive and thriving by donating to the GoFundMe<\/a> and sharing the link! <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-bieringville-bowl<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Hanger\u2026 We stole my buddy\u2019s parents\u2019 car in high school, pushed it out of the driveway with the engine not running and six of us crammed in it, and rode all the way to the Charleston Hanger because it was the only wooden round bowl in that era. We drove down there and skated it when it was indoors and loved it. We met Hank and Jimmy and Roller Dave and Shannon. The Hanger was the first vertical roundwall that we could lay into and it was perfect. Then we heard that it was ghost and Hank was gonna put it on his family\u2019s land out on this island, so a bunch of us rolled back down there to help tear stuff down and do what we could do. It\u2019s been even better outdoors than it was indoors, because it\u2019s in Hank\u2019s backyard and Hank is the coolest skater ever. The Hanger Bowl has been there for so long and showed so many people the bowl side of skating. Hank took so many vert heads there that loved flat wall vert ramps, but had never skated round vert. It really helped skateboarding because it has such a unique shape and it\u2019s timeless. To have the Hanger still up and going, it’s vital. I already sent my money out to Hank and I want to help do labor too. To have the Hanger bowl backyard scene, it\u2019s not like you\u2019re going to your mom\u2019s backyard. You\u2019re going to a skater\u2019s backyard. Hank let’s the parties happen and strangers that have never been there come in. If you\u2019re there to skate, it\u2019s on. I’ve been to so many Hanger Halloween Bowl jams, and people come from everywhere. There have been multiple generations of skaters coming to skate that bowl, and so many heads came out of there to go on and do other things. The Hanger paved the way for so much and it paved the way for so many and it influenced everybody in such a good way. To hold it down for almost 30 years, it\u2019s so impressive. Hank got it right. What do you do when the park closes? You take it to your backyard. That’s what we do. We gotta keep it going. Why would we stop after so long? Wood rots out. We get it. Let\u2019s rebuild it!\u201d \u2013 Carlos Baiza<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Skateparks died again. Imagine that happening now. I know of a place… Hank and the Charleston locals knew that the Hanger bowl was too good to let go of. Relocation was an incredible feat and a monumental task, never mind keeping it going for 30+ years. No one can kill the backyard. No one can kill the love and devotion of a skateboarder.” \u2013 Tom Groholski<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost functional shape ever.\u201d \u2013 Dave “Science” Maxwell<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI sat from a distance and witnessed only what I could of the original Hanger bowl. I would study and gather as much information from the magazines and from VHS tapes that I could find on the place, observing the likes of Groholski, Blaize, and Buck Smith absolutely destroying the place with pure power of what I would assume was blatant localism! Then there was Omar and Remy … well, anyhow, I would day dream of the day I could go. Well, it came and it went, but then years later I heard of a resurrection of it in a backyard. Well, finally, I got to go.. and I\u2019ll just say this. I felt like a shiny ornament… completely out of place… The locals were true and heavy and rode again with full authority!! Knowing every screw and nail head in the place!! Yet they fully honored and let us in… I felt it… they owned it! True stuff! Now if I get a second chance… well it would be a must for me to hold . And give it more than one day… Shit I to want to know where the damn nail heads are!\u201d \u2013 Darren Navarrette<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’ve spent over half my life skatin’ Hank’s and that’s where I hope to spend the rest of it.\u201d \u2013 Bob Hart<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Charleston Hanger… summer of 1989… road trip of my life with Josh Nelson, Tom Donnelly and Bruno Herzog and the Life’s A Beach crew. We go to Charleston and the Hanger is in progress. The build is going on. We showed up and helped build the Hanger. Tim Payne is there on the project. He had just finished the Skatezone down in Atlanta. We helped him for about a week and then we go down to Atlanta and skate the Skatezone bowl. We come back to Charleston and the Hanger Bowl is done and it’s incredible. Blaize Blouin, Jimmy O’Brien and Jimmy Leaphart and all the Atlanta guys were there and it was insane. It was one of the biggest, baddest wooden bowls out there. It was big vert and shallow with a waterfall. It was an incredible build. We had an amazing session and it’s just one of the most iconic spots ever. Blaize Blouin was just incredible. He came in there and lit that bowl up like no other. I was really blessed to be there skating with my friends at one of the best bowls ever made. For the bowl to be transported to a backyard scenario, that’s what skaters do. They keep it alive. Backyard skateboarding is a really special thing. That’s why the Hanger bowl is still alive. It’s highly important to keep this bowl going because that’s the spirt of skateboarding. Bring it back to the backyard where it all started. Vertical skateboarding started in backyard pools and ramps and bowls, and it’s really important to the future of skateboarding to keep the scene going. It’s the real deal.” \u2013 Aaron Astorga<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Hank Beiring is the man who saved the Hanger Bowl the first time. Hank moved this behemoth of a bowl from The Hanger Skatepark in Charleston, SC, to his land on Johns Island in the early 90s, after the skatepark went out of business. He has dedicated his life to maintaining The Hanger Bowl, or Beiringville Bowl as it\u2019s known by the locals. This bowl has allowed Charleston to have one of the gnarliest underground skate scenes in the country and is a major link to all skate communities in the south. At nearly 30 years old, the Charleston Hanger Bowl is in need of a new top layer of a skateable surface such as Skatelite or Gator Skins and lumber for decks and handrails. Keeping this bowl alive and skateable is preserving skateboard history.” \u2013 Zach Cusano<\/p>\n\n\n\n “One word to describe Hank… Genuine. Hank is a laid-back dude. Since the mid-90s, I’ve been going to Bieringville. Twice a year bowl bashes. Backyard bowls to me are important because you can get so much more out of being in the backyard than you can a skatepark. Parks don’t last forever either. Thirty years of history has been made at Hank’s. The Bieringville Bowl is like a family member. It’s a place where you can not just skate, but also break bread and get some history lessons on skateboarding, and it feels like you’re at home. Several times I have gone to Bieringville and Hank has just flowed me something. For instance, one day I needed knee pads and Hank gave me his. That right there tells you how great of a person he is. One day I had flat spot and he gave me wheels. Hank is hospitable and kind \u2013 not stingy. Hank is one of the best carpenters also and he has taught me some tricks of the trade. Love and respect to Bieringville and Hank.” \u2013 Crappie D<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Hanger\/Bieringville Bowl is one of a kind! One of the biggest, gnarliest, backyard vert bowls out there! I\u2019ve seen first hand this Skatelite and steel monster humble some of the biggest name pros. For almost 30 years, Hank Biering and a crew of core locals have been maintaining and up-keeping this legendary ramp. Hank and the others I’ve met out there completely altered the trajectory of my life. This 12-foot deep backyard bowl shaped the person that I am today. I grew up skating, but I truly \u2018learned to skate\u2019 at Bieringville. No matter how much new stuff I skate, the Hanger\/Bieringville Bowl remains my favorite!!!\u201d \u2013 Josh McFadden<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Drop in the Deep… or go home.” \u2013 Crazy Joe<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The backyard self-made, homegrown scene was, and will always be one of, if not, the most important pillars of skateboarding. If you’re not finding, building and changing what you ride, you would only ride what they build for you.” \u2013 Dave Duncan<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I\u2019ve been to the original Charleston Hanger bowl on a trip I took back there from Dallas with Tommy Kasel and Blaze Blouin. It was epic back then especially getting to skate with Blaize, probably around 1991-ish. I\u2019ve also been to the revamp at Hank’s on an early Creature trip or maybe it was on the Saints and Sinners tour. Regardless, these epic skate structures have a history to them that goes beyond what people realize. It becomes an institution or even a way of life for some people. It changes lives. It brings people together. It\u2019s everything. These spots are a microcosm that deserve to exist and live on into the future. Save the Hanger! \u2013 Al Partanen<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHank was made the keeper of the bowl by the Sk8 Gods and he has made it a haven for all of us misfits.\u201d \u2013 Shannon (Sk8mom) Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI actually skated the Hanger Bowl before it got moved, so I skated it at both places. When I was still living in Indiana, we took a trip down to skate Eastern Vert and the Charleston Hanger. Those were our goals to go skate. I really liked it and I\u2019ve got some old footage of it that I put in my \u2018sponsor me\u2019 tape back in the day. It was huge. I wasn\u2019t used to huge round walls like that and there wasn\u2019t really anything like it at the time. With the shallow end too, that was bowled off, it was pretty unique. It\u2019s so important to save these historic spots. That\u2019s what is cool about the fact that it got moved. It didn\u2019t just disappear. That legacy kept going and it wasn\u2019t just lost to nowhere. So many places have just disappeared. The Hanger Bowl has kept going for a long time and it would be great if it can stay around. Hats off to Hank for keeping it going. That\u2019s awesome. \u2013 Brian Patch<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe drug it all out here, I almost had no choice, I was born into it or something, locked into it. It\u2019s just where it had to go, it\u2019s really no choice, I had to keep Blaize’s backyard going, that\u2019s pretty much what this is still.\u201d \u2013 Hank Biering<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please donate to the Hanger Bowl (aka the Bieringville Bowl) in Charleston, South Carolina. Hank Biering has kept this legendary backyard bowl going for almost three decades now. This 12 ft deep above ground bowl is a piece of skate history and needs to continue to be skated and remain part of the Southeastern USA skate scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve ever skated, hung out in the rec area, been given a free meal, been handed a beer, attended a party, camped on the property, had your kids over to play, now is the time to give back. You can be sure Hank will put it towards the bowl; it\u2019s one of his reasons for living! Show some love and support, and give what you can and share the link. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-bieringville-bowl<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chuck Powell made this cool video of some Bieringville Bowl highlights through the years to help out with the fundraising for the Hanger Bowl. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/hangar-2-614x906.jpg\")
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Hanger Bowl Quips & Quotes:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Help the Hanger Fundraiser<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHanger Bowl Videos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n