Probably the youngest team in the whole contest.  A fun mix of skating and goofing off.

Been seeing a lot of these guys in the shop for a while.  Really cool to see kids still skating a lot of the spots my crew and I grew up skating.  These dudes are lucky they didn’t get busted skating under the Georgia dome!

RAZZLE DAZZLE! These dudes killed it. Sick intro, skated in the rain, and they even had their own original track! Shout out to the Blaq Lamb!

One of my personal favorites, the Cartersville crew came through with some true raw street skating and crusty unique spots.  Going fast and making use of what you got is what skateboarding is all about and these guys definitely showed that with their entry.

Another loyal crew, always in and out of the shop, Salty Eskimo took home the third place honors.  They had some sick creative lines, and by far the crispiest most HD as fuck footage of the whole contest.  I could probably learn a thing or two from these guys on how to use my new camera!  Be on the look out for the last trick, its a doozy.

Wow.  Team Surya is gnarly.  Our 2nd place winners went the biggest and most technical at some of the most recognizable spots in Atlanta.  The whole team crushed, but Joey Robish really stood out, dropping some serious hammers, all in a days work.  You should all go check out their brand new video that just came out Better Days 2, it is heeeaaavyy.

It was a really tough call choosing first and second place, but after many viewings and second opinions from Ambush team riders we chose RNDB for first place.  Surya went big, but in the end RNDB went the hardest, skating all over town from Kennesaw, Marietta, Dunwoody, Roswell, Alpharetta and everywhere in between.  They skated all weekend with a huge variety of spots, hit parking garages while it was wet, took down some heavy gaps, and TC even grinded up the rail out front of the shop!  All the skating was complemented by great filming, editing, and the perfect amount of hijinx.  Be on the look out for this crew. I have a feeling we will be seeing much more from them for a long time to come.

Thanks again to everyone involved, this will go down as one of the most memorable contests in Ambush history!

IF YOUR ENTRY IS NOT IN THE POST, UPLOAD IT TO YOUTUBE AND E-MAIL TO MAX@AMBUSHBOARDCO.COM AND I WILL ADD IT.

Sign up here → http://bit.ly/YpQciT

Main Event: The Main Event takes place on Saturday, May 18, 2013 from noon to 7pm. Peep the video link below for a taste of what went down last year. Also, don’t miss the Pro Wakeboard Block Party takes place from 7pm to 11pm in downtown Acworth.

Ambush Boarding Company

(770) 420-9111

Creature CFSU Free copy came with the May issue of Thrasher. If you like big handrails, giant airs, high speed tranny skating and huge ditches this is the video for you! Definitely a bunch of jaw dropping material in this video! From David Gravette to Ryan Reyes to Al Partannen. This video is sick!

Transworld Perpetual Motion 25. Filmed and edited by Atlantas very own Chris Thiessen, this video is full of clean smooth editing and really great filming. A good variety technical tricks, handrails, gaps, stairs, and tranny. Not to mention a bunch of sick spots in various other parts of the world! Walker Ryan kills it. Jimmy Carlin kills it. And my favorite part, Julian Davidson. He really kills it!

Bones New Ground II. Not much to say about this video. Their team being so big the video is basically just a bunch of skating from a ton of guys that rip! Jaws, Dakota Servold, Moose, The McClung brothers and Ben Raybourn are all seen in this video. Plus, a ton more in the 2 montages.

The DeathWish video one of the newest and as of now think its my official favorite video so far this year. It has a great soundtrack, good classic VX1 filming, and a bunch of true legends. You can tell everyone in this video really pushed it to having a good part. My top 3 parts from this video are gonna have to be Erik Ellington, Moose, and Slash. Jon Dickson turned pro after the premiere in LA, so that should already tell you something about his part.

The newest of the new Ambig Modern Art. This video is free in the July issue of Thrasher. Short but very solid video. Matt Bennett killed it and Clint Walkers part is heavy duty. Also if you watch past the credits into the flow section you will see our very own Trey Abad CATNIP!!! Making the cut. Hell yeah!

But that’s not why we go there. We go there for The Masters. Ahh, The Masters Waterski and Wakeboard Tournament. The place where the world’s best water sports athletes compete for the most prestigious crown in their respective sports. The event is known just as much for its own history and the history that is made on the waters of Robin Lake.

Parks and Shane Bonifay at the Masters circa 2000

Ahh, the Masters Waterski and Wakeboard Tournament. The place where slightly tipsy women in skimpy bikinis spend their Memorial Day Weekends. The place where Nautique shows off their latest lineup of world class towboats. And, of course, home of “The Yumbo”.

The Ambush Edition Byerly Nautique Pulled the Wakeskate Competition Last Year

Nautique has been hosting the Masters Waterski and Wakeboard Tournament for 54 years of Callaway Gardens’ 61 year existence. For Ambush Board Co., this will be our 15th straight trip to the big event. That kind of longevity makes for a very sentimental experience. Now, we want you to be able to be a part of The Masters.

Nautique and Ambush Board Co. have teamed up to give you FREE tickets to the 54th Masters Waterski and Wakeboard Tournament. All you need to do is drop by Ambush Board Co. and request a pair of wristbands for the event. It’s that simple.

Become a part of the Masters tradition. Stars on the Water!

As you may have noticed, Spring is here. The weather is getting nicer, the days are getting longer, and there is pollen on EVERYTHING. I hate pollen.
It’s been making it quite difficult to get motivated to go out and skate, by the time I get out my allergies start to act up. Which sucks, cause it’s getting to be perfect skating weather now, and school is almost out.
Lee brought up a good point earlier, that this is the second best time of the year to skate only because of the pollen. Besides that, the weather is amazing and the days are getting longer.

Granted that not too much skating has been going on for me, we’ve been keeping up with our band, Space Orphan.
We played a show last Friday at the ARTS AGAINST HIERARCHY DIY art show at The Arts Exchange, downtown. It was quite an interesting experience, the Arts Exchange is this super run down, old building tucked away behind some trees off of I-20 East. It was a benefit art show with all proceeds going towards the building of the Atlanta Social Center, with free admission. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when we arrived there. It was a cool vibe, definitely not what I expected though. We hung out for about an hour, checked out some local art, and watched our new friend Josh Loner play an acoustic set in the main hallway for about 20 minutes. The guy has some interesting subject matter in his songs, and he was really nice too. He had a powerful voice, that dude could wail!

Once he finished, we set up and got to work.
We played in the hallway, quite a cramped little space for the three of us, as you can see below.

It was a bit difficult to hear ourselves since the sounds would all reverberate throughout the hallway, we were so close together that the drums and amps would kind of just blend.
It was a fun experience though, definitely glad we got a chance to come play. It’s always fun to get out and play for people, especially for friends and family, and potential new fans!

We’re looking forward to playing more shows and hopefully recording soon. As summer approaches, we’ll have more time to worry about getting out to skate and play music more. I’m excited for sure. We may have some videos posted soon, stay tuned.
Keep an eye out for news, things are only gonna get better from here.
*All photos by John E. Ramspott, here’s a link to the rest of the photos from that night, enjoy!

Speaking of skateboarding, we just got copies of Austyn Unlimited to give out with every Habitat board purchased at the shop. Personally, I can say that this was my favorite video part that was put out in 2012. Granted, Austyn Gilette is my favorite skateboarder, but with good reason. The guy has such good style and an amazing trick selection, it doesn’t get much better than that. If I were you, I’d come grab one of these Habitat boards and get a free copy of Austyn Unlimited with it. You won’t regret it. Here’s the video on youtube:

Yeah, it’s cool and all to watch it online, but it’s so much nicer to have the actual copy of the dvd. So come get one! We’ll be up here all day, every day!

Sorry for such a short post, I’ll have some more interesting stuff to talk about soon. I’ll leave you guys with some more music, enjoy this performance from DIIV on KEXP. Later!

As of lately, it seems like life has been going pretty well! Good vibes, good people, and good times! Tyler and I’s band, Space Orphan, played our first show on March 2nd, in Heaven at the Masquerade, and it was a fantastic time. We got to play at 9:00 pm and couldn’t have made it happen without you guys. Thanks so much to everyone for supporting us and coming out! Lee did a blog post a couple weeks back on it, check it out here.
Skateboarding has been slowly making its way back into my routine now that the weather is getting better, which is quite exciting. Time to get some clips, I hope you guys are ready for the 24 hour video contest coming up!

My photography has been slacking lately, I need to get back on that. We’ve really just been working on music, so it’s all good. Speaking of which, we are playing another show, this Friday! It’s quite short notice, but we hope you guys can come out!

The show will be taking place at The Arts Exchange, for the ART AGAINST HIERARCHY DIY local arts show. It starts at 7:00 pm, music will begin at 8:00 pm. There will be lots of art, some food, music, video art, big installations, performances, live/interactive painting, and great company! Come purchase some great art or just come hang out and enjoy all the works! Admission is free! All proceeds go towards the creation of The Atlanta Social Center. See more here and here. It would be awesome if you guys could come out and support us. We’ll be playing second on the list of bands that night. Be there or be square, hope to see you there!

Asides from that, I’ve been pretty busy, I’ll have to keep you guys updated with everything. For now, I’ll leave you with this, enjoy:

Later!

OFFICIAL RULES AND DETAILS BELOW

Atlanta has a huge scene of skateboarders of all ages and skill levels.  Working at Ambush and gripping all of these people’s boards makes you think “I wonder what goes on when they walk out the door. I wonder if they’re putting their new board to good use.”

Which brings us to the 24-Hour Video Challenge.  This is your chance to get out in the streets and show us how you skate, where you skate,  and have some fun while your at it.  So, check the video and official rules below.  See you there.

More about Travis on the Ambush blog.

Big Boi performing in Ybor City was sick! ATL reppin’. I don’t remember to much after that one. Overall, it was a short but awesome first Tampa Pro experience. I cant wait till next year! Now its back to normal life. My brain is still kinda fried so that’s it for now.