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« Previous EntriesPray for Snow at Peabody’s
posted Thursday, November 19th, 2009Over the past week, many resorts have opened up all across the US; Mt. Baker opened with 64 inches, the deepest it’s ever been on opening day for the mountain. Mt. Bachelor’s opening day is set for tomorrow, November 20th, and Willamette Pass is currently slated to get their turnstyles turning Thanksgiving weekend. As Old Man Winter continues to rear his beautiful face, we must ask him to bring more because, you know, as snowboarders, we’re greedy like that.
Join Tactics and KZEL at Peabody’s this evening to Pray For Snow and make 09-10 the best winter yet. Raffle and prizes from 6-8 p.m., but the party will be going long into the night. We hope to see you there!
686 Day
posted Tuesday, November 10th, 2009November 13th is 686 day. That’d be this Friday…Friday the 13th. Spooooky. That means Tactics will be giving you 10% off all 686 gear purchased in our store, plus a free gift while supplies last. So come check out the shop at 4th and Lawrence because, honestly, who doesn’t like saving money?
In-store sales only!
Skaters for Eugene Skate Park Silent Auction
posted Sunday, November 8th, 2009If you haven’t heard, the city of Eugene is in the process of building a world-class skatepark under the Washington-Jefferson bridge. This will provided the only covered, lit skatepark in Eugene and is much needed as most skating halts during the winter months in the Pacific northwest, where it can sometimes rain up to sixty days in a row.
The main organization behind the new skate park project is the Skaters for Eugene Skate parks. This past Friday, skaters from around the northwest donated painted decks to be auctioned off with all proceeds benefiting the new park. In addition to painted skateboards, there was also a surfboard painted by shop floor manager Eric Purdy. I even saw a Mikendo photo of Louie Barletta in the gallery. Pretty cool stuff.
Anyways, the event was great and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Except the one guy who started a fight. What’s up with that? It’s Skaters for Skate parks, not Bros for Boxing rings. Check the attitude at the door, A-Hole.
Check out YoBeat for more coverage and photos of the show below! A big thanks to everyone who came out and supported!
Volcom’s 2009 Wild in the Parks
posted Thursday, October 1st, 2009There’s a memorable quote in Field of Dreams that, I’m pretty sure, everybody has heard: “If you build it, he will come.” It’s the ‘The Voice’ Ray Kinsella hears that prompts him to level his corn crop and build a baseball diamond. Well, I’ve got a quote, “if you build it, they will skate it.” … and most likely, they will destroy it.
Tactics riders Nick Propios and Oudalay Philavanh qualified for the 2009 Wild in the Parks championships earlier this summer by impressing the judges at the Portland, Oregon event. The championships, held this past weekend in Peoria, Arizona, brought the nation’s top ams together for a one-day, blazing hot, shred-fest.
Notable heavies included Arizona’s own Nick Fiorini and Aaron “Jaws” Homoki, but everyone who skated killed it. And not like, “oh, yeah, they landed their tricks and people cheered.” I mean they F’in KILLED IT! The skate rats in the 14 and under division were up first and immediately got work terrorizing everything in front of them. Hardflip down the 10-stair second try? Check. Backside 360 ollie first try? Check. I felt like I was in a tool shed, hammers everywhere.
But instead of recapping you on every trick that went down–Volcom’s got you covered–we’re going to follow the Tactics skate team on their Wild Arizona Weekend.
Early Morning Wake Up Calls–4:00 a.m. rendezvous at Tactics
The crew, which consisted of Oudalay, Nick, Justin James and me, needed to catch a 5:20 a.m. flight from Eugene to Portland, and from Portland we’d head south to Phoenix. We met up at Tactics at 4:00 a.m. and team manager Eric drove the four of us to the airport. I decided staying up all night would be the best way to make the 4:00 a.m. rendezvous. Yeah, right…what a great idea.
Still Day One–Phoenix is hot!
We rolled into Phoenix around 11:00 a.m. Friday morning and it was already 90+ degrees (Note: rocking no socks, no matter how ‘cool’ it looks, might work in Oregon, but it definitely does not work in Arizona). The shuttle that took us to Peoria blew past the designated pickup spot and had to quickly reverse to pick us up. Immediately we all started thinking, “Who the hell is driving this thing!?” The drive was sketchy. Our driver was distracted by everything around him, from clip boards to cell phones to tiny forms he needed signed. He got us to the hotel in one piece, so I guess it wasn’t that bad. Plus, he was wearing Vans slip-ons, and that counts for something, right? We skated to the park shortly after checking in, but only after hitting up the In and Out Burger across the street.
Day Two–Get Wild
The championships was on Saturday, September 26th. We started the day with a continental breakfast and then skated to the park. Word on the street was that it was going to hit a record 107 degrees. At one point I heard it was 105, but I don’t know if it ever made it to the aforementioned record. Either way, it was damn hot. Nick and Oudalay skated well, but the talent level was off the charts. Some of the notable tricks included a backside flip up and over the picnic table, kickflip back tail down the 10-stair (twice, the first one was ‘too’ sketchy), 360 hardflip down the 10, multiple kickflip front boards and backside lipslides. Yeah, the skating was insane and it’s going to be fun seeing these rippers get older and better. One of the major highlights of the day happened when some skater saw Oudalay’s ‘The Hundreds’ sticker and rolled up to ask if he wanted to skate the comp because he collided with someone and his leg was jacked. Oudalay was already registered, so we gave the dude’s registration number to Justin and Justin got to skate the contest. He was so hyped! Anyways, check the days photos below.
And Then It Was Over–Late Nights, Head Home
So the contest wrapped and it was an amazing place to be. All of us couldn’t get over how good these kids were. Seeing photos and video doesn’t even come close to describing the skill these kids possess; too many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ for one weekend. Seeing amazing skating from young rippers…it’s hard to describe. I think about Eugene, I think about the talent coming out of this town. Yeah, we have skaters who kill it, but not at such a young age. I think, “Why are these kids so good? Where did they learn such good board control?” And then I remember many of these kids come from places with amazing skateparks and I think, “If you build it…”
Tactics sends off employee with a BBQ
posted Monday, September 14th, 2009Drew Banks is a long time Tactics employee who often gets the bug to get out of Eugene. In the two years I’ve been here, Drew has gone to Japan, London and Northern California for extended times to work, skate, and enjoy life.
Drew recently decided to tackle the East Bay and is moving to Berkeley at the end of the month with plans of going to school, filming, and skating. With the amazing Bay Area skate scene around him, we’re excited to send Drew off on his next adventure and hyped to see him come back…he always does.
Tactics had a bar-b-que this past Friday to bid farewell to Drew and as the sun set over Eugene, Tactics employees, friends, and family enjoyed good tunes, great food, and even better company. Check out the photos below to see who make this machine called Tactics run smoothly.
