To Seattle this weekend!.....and me and VIA correspondent Gerald Belmont are going! It's not Vancouver but it's close enough. When this was first announced, I pretty much dismissed it. I've never watched it on TV, and all the my favourite skaters are as old as me, not these young whippersnappers. The more I thought about it though, the more I wanted to hop in my car and check it out. Where did this urge come from?
I got a relapse of Slam City Jam fever! Between 1994 and 2005, co-incidentally held in early May, Vancouver was spoiled to have hosted one of the best skateboard contests ever, Slam City Jam. It was like having the Olympics here every year. At some point it was coined, 'The Gathering' a name which I thought was a bit hokey, but years later I bump into people and we wonder....'why don't we ever see each other?' Not only did Slam City Jam set the bar for skate contests to follow like Street League, it was an integral part of skateboarding community in Vancouver. If there was one person who made it much more than the circus coming to town, it was Jay Balmer who had many roles, including producer.
Jay went on to help EA build the Skate series, he now works at Microsoft Big Park as a game director. He took a moment between periods of the Canucks game to talk to me about Slam City Jam, Street League and exposing the world of skateboarding to Larry Campbell.
Why do you think Slam was so successful in Vancouver?
It was unique compared to other events in skateboarding. There was so many other things going on other than skateboarding. Sessions at Hastings Bowl, the BBQ's, and parties at night. Vancouver is such a great destination for skateboarders, everyone looked forward to coming here.
What were your favourite memories of the contest?
Probably the one that sticks out the most was taking Larry Campbell for a tour of Slam. We came from backstage and as we came out, kids were firing off fireworks in the crowd. It was chaos. He really enjoyed himself though. I got to show lots of skateboarders Vancouver, but it was awesome showing Vancouverites like Larry Campbell, skateboarding.
How do you think Slam influenced contests nowadays?
I remember in the earlier years the guys from ESPN checking out Slam. I think course wise, Slam influenced today's contests. It was something I really enjoyed doing each year, spending more money on it, upgrading it.
How do you think Slam was different than contests like Street League?
Street League is made for TV, Rob Drydek has a good eye and he's done a really great job at finding a way to make it exciting for TV. Slam was on TV, but it wasn't made for TV. Slam was different too because the goal was for it to sustain itself, to carry on forever in some capacity, if it didn't make as much money one year, we scaled things down, when it was eventually sold, the bottom line came into play and that was it.
Check Street League's website for more info!
