by SKATEPARK MARK

illustration by JOSH QUICK

In Missoula, Montana, through seemingly impenetrable concrete, love grows at the Mobash skatepark. Our local skate community is flourishing and turning into one big hardcore family. Before the park was built, skaters seemed almost homeless. Their kick flips, hard flips, pop shove-its and tail slides went unnoticed and un-stoked upon. Today, local kids have somewhere to go and get gnarly while feeling safe, encouraged, and supported. Mobash has given many roving kids a stomping ground and has unearthed a treasure trove of talent.

When I was a kid we didn’t have a skatepark to shred. My high school days (and nights) were filled with standing around the Bi-Lo parking lot. My friends and I would meet up there and remain there. We had nowhere to go. Nowadays the skatepark provides a less intrusive option for teenage congregation and while standing around isn’t going anywhere (literally) at least now the rippers in the crowd can crush skate tricks in a more hospitable environment.

Mobash is the only skatepark in town and is the sole destination for skateboard enthusiasts of any age, background, or ability. While new faces are always a welcome sight, the familiar ones – the die hards – are the ones I most enjoy seeing. Their passion, measured not by ability, but by dedication gives the park a personality and a heartbeat. Two skaters who pump more Mobash blood than anyone are Ben and his brother Edge. I love these guys. They’re being raised by their grandma, but live at the park. Ben has tons of natural ability and wicked kick flip, while Edge is teeming with skate swagger and looks like something out of a Hollywood movie. Whenever these guys show up it’s a cause for celebration and when Ben finally throws down a back tail slide and Edge nails the step-up our entire skate family will be very proud.

Last month, the 7th Annual River City Roots Festival swamped the streets of downtown Missoula. Thousands of local folks, me included, came out to eat, dance, drink and be merry. The scene was serene and I was happy to just stand around and soak it up. My five-year-old daughter, on the other hand, was not. As she tugged insatiably at my sleeve an old Willie Nelson lyric came to mind, “still is still moving to me.” It seems that when satisfied where we’re at, life has the ability to slow down and become wonderful. As the inclination to roam diminishes we feel closer to home and that’s exactly what’s happening at Mobash. The park that once evoked feelings of fear and distress is now cozier. The people there who once seemed strange are now like brothers and sisters. The skatepark is growing roots and feeling more like home.

With this, the last column of the season, I’d like to give credit and recognition to The Mobash Family. So, without further adieu, big ups to Jake, Ray, Marcos, Dre, and Sarris, you’ve been wonderful interviewees. Thane, you’re super sick and rep Sentinel (my high school) very well. Ben, thanks for going to my website. Edge, you’re the best punk I know. Syd, your bag of tricks is big and getting bigger bro. Emmie, you’re our Skatepark Mom and have amazing kid(s). Austin, where have you been? Eric, you’re qualitative superiority dude. Liam, you’re a natural leader. When you rallied everyone against that belligerent bum it gave new meaning to the term gang mentality. Fe, you’re my iron. Kevin, thanks for the roll-in and Travis, thanks for being my friend on Facebook. Whoever else I forgot to mention, you can find me at the park and collect a sincere apology. I love you all.

words and photos by Skatepark Mark

As the summer rolls around, the bitterroots atop Mount Sentinel bloom and the adventure of skateboarding in Montana begins anew. With inspiration popping up everywhere, I focus on Missoula and the most local skater in town, Dre York.
Half Blackfeet and half Crow, born and raised here in Missoula, Dre is a true native. His clothes are tattered, layered in a wild yet harmonious ensemble that sings of experience. Buttons, bandanas, scars and tattoos adorn him and wouldn’t be all that uncommon if he didn’t skate like a pure genius. While others congregate in circles, watching each other attempt flip tricks, Dre is riding free with a natural purpose that plays tricks on the terrain and the eye. Dre and the skatepark fit together perfectly.
Global media and the Internet have given skateboarding worldwide popularity. With so many points of interest at my fingertips, I was surprised when inspiration struck after watching a re-run of Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed.”
This Boston gangster flick couldn’t be farther from skating in Montana, yet Jack Nicholson’s first line, “I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me,” rang home like a bell. Dre’s skating embodies this notion to a T. Everything about him comes from right here, but what Dre does with his heritage makes right here matter.

Fortunately (for everyone), Dre differs from Nicholson’s character in that he is modest with manners learned from grandma and a wonderful sense of calm. With these tools, the environment that Dre contributes to has a far brighter future than the mess those Boston gangsters left their city in. Thank you, Grandma.
Dre’s skating style is an adaptation to the park. Using just the right amount of air to transition between inclines and abrupt edges allows him to maintain an elegant continuity that, when combined with his natural flair, makes for visual treat. Riding one set of wheels, either the front or the back, is called a manual and separates good skaters from great skaters.
Furthermore, a nose manual (front trucks) further divides the class. Dre is a nose manual master and as if landing wasn’t enough, he rides out of many tricks on his front trucks alone. I’ve been skating for four years and I can’t ride a nose manual more than a couple feet. How does he do that?!
Another gauge of greatness at the park is called the Cradle. Like a bowl turned on its side, the Cradle sits defying gravity, waiting for a skater to join in. While many skate the cradle, very few bring enough speed and agility to ride high onto its walls. Dre hits the cradle at full force and not only rides a high line around it, he actually gets inverted; a testament to bravery and science. Indeed it’s Dre the Cradle was made for.
The happenings at the skatepark are fascinating and typify the human condition. Parallels between skating and life in the bigger picture, such ideas as motivation, reward, companionship, adversity, pain, perseverance, failure, fame, glory, love, hate, creation, destruction are all on display like a bouquet of fables (waiting for me to expose them). When asked if he could be any fish in the sea, Dre responded with Octopus because of their camouflage, adaptability and the way they lurk at the bottom. What a perfect fit. By skating the park the way he does, Dre makes it his own. He’s a product and creator all at once and like an octopus, just when you think you’ve got him in your sights, he escapes in a cloud of ink.

BY: MARK Mullendore
PHOTO BY: Tyler WILSON

skate or die

It’s fall now, a perfect time for reflection.  And preparation.  Like a squirrel gathering nuts, I recollect the summer’s events, on a skateboard and off, hoping to extract a few lessons to see me through the winter.  As a way of learning, I experiment with the physical experience of skating and am always trying to make real the dreams in my head. This winter whatever I have learned in the skatepark will be tested on a similar stomping ground, the ski hill? Hope I have enough nuts?

This month’s article was to be about Marcos Castillo, a young skater from Missoula who works magic on a skateboard. His miraculous tricks appear to defy the laws of nature and border on the supernatural. Yet Marcos is human and has a broken foot to prove it. Without the action photos we had planned, the focus of our interview shifted to philosophy. For my part, with the skateboarding season in Missoula nearing its end, I began to think about skiing and wonder how well my new skating skills will benefit my old skiing ability.

Like many western Montana natives, I grew up on skis at our great nearby resorts and take pride in my knowledge of the secret stashes and the local lines. If I don’t ski as much these days, skateboarding is a contributing factor. But, the two sports are similar in many ways. In both sports, momentum moves you across a plane and the only way to slow down is to turn. Smooth meandering turns enhance stability and are a thing of outward beauty and inner joy. I’ve found that straight lines often terminate in epic failure. By turning, ever so slightly, the rider can avoid unwelcome “speed wobbles” and the muck they’re sure to cause.

Outdoor sports in general offer a combination of exhilaration and tranquility. They allow an escape from the stress of everyday life and a chance to focus on physical challenges and find peace of mind. What they require, in return, is commitment. In skating, as in skiing and a few other sports, commitment is sometimes compressed to a split second. I’ve always liked the term “skate or die.” In skateboarding there are times when, while rocketing across the pavement, bailing out is not an option. You must simply hang on for dear life.

Excellence in skating, and in life I suppose, requires a grand level of personal exploration and passion. The likelihood of injury is very high. After the inevitable fail, getting “back on the horse” takes both heart and mind. For someone who is a novice at age thirty-something, taking up a sport like skateboarding means a journey into the unknown. Can I launch off this obstacle and land cleanly over there? Will this quest produce a diamond or find only the rough? Discovery means following your instinct, that unexplainable result of preparation and circumstance, and trusting your heart, that source of strength that allows for perseverance and growth.

While the similarities in skiing and skating are substantial, there is one consequential difference worth noting, cost. Even kids from poor and broken families can usually come up with the price of a deck, two trucks, and four wheels. Special clothing, high-tech hardware, transportation, and lift tickets are not required. The cost of skiing is a higher order of magnitude and a barrier for entry. This simple fact leads to some observable differences in social structure between the skatepark and the ski hill. Ski hills, because of their exclusivity, have a more predictable crowd, while the skatepark is open to anyone from toddlers to pro skaters, and even to an occasional drunken bum sleeping in the bowl.

So, “what’s the worst that could happen?” This is one of Marcos’s favorite quotes and is something he gains confidence from. We all know what the answer is, yet we go on living all the same. The best skateboarders I have met share a love for the sport and would all certainly agree that the process of self-discovery is what really matters. So, with another summer of exploration under my belt, I feel prepared for winter and ready to pursue the perfect skiing experience.

BY: MARK Mullendore

PHOTO BY: Tyler WILSON

Huck carcass!” These are words of advice that Jake Spencer, a local skater with a schnozz reminiscent of the skating great Tony Hawk, offers to other skaters young and old.As a novice skater myself, I tracked down Jake and his skater bro, Ray Hertz, at Missoula’s MOBASH skatepark in hopes of discovering the secret to their skating ability. The skatepark turned me onto skating and these two guys have been there as models of skating excellence. Hopefully understanding their mentality will unearth what it means to “huck carcass” and maybe even unlock my inner skate beast.