February, 2004
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Mitch getting ready to deependit
Since early last fall when a bunch of us old Ann Arbor area dudes started skating again, we've been hearing about how awesome the Modern Skatepark in Grand Rapids is. I think even the first day we skated Mason somebody asked us if we had been to GR yet. Now we know why.
The drive from A2 should be a little more than two hours. We went on a Sunday morning, leaving town at about 8:30 and arrived at the park just before 10:30. What can I say, traffic was light, and we did slightly over the speed limit.
We got to the mall and looked for the skatepark. Yes, I said the mall. It's called the Centerpointe Mall on 28th street. Now, the Vans park is in a mall which is weird enough, the Modern park though, has windows all along one side that face out on to one of the mall's hallways. It's kinda weird skating as mall-walkers and angst filled teens trailing behind their parents look on. Wes was pretty tripped out about it. My thoughts were that at least they put the pool right in front of the window so people get a chance to see the gnarly shit.
Back to the pool. The pool is (let me get out my thesaurus here), ok yeah, The Shit. It's got three sections, and I've heard it called a pistol shape. You'll have to make your own call as to what shape you think it is : ) Anyway, the shallow end is about 3 to 4 feet deep, the mid bowl is about 6 feet, and the deep end is 9 to 10 feet deep. Unfortunately, the shallow end has steel coping, but the deep end has what seems to be poured concrete coping all around (including the hips). This pool has as many lines in it as your left-over brain cells can come up with. The deep end is shaped so that your carves just go on and on, and carving all the way around the shallow bowls is definitely part of the plan. These bowls serve up a generous helping of speed, and leave you wanting to come back for seconds.
Stop reading and go skate this pool right now.
The Sunday morning session seems to be the time to go to Modern when you can not have to worry about getting snaked. There were few people there, but those who skated the pool with us ripped! There was this dude Jeff who was there with his son. His son was skating the "street" area (did I mention that there is a "street" area?), but pops stays in the pool. Jeff was busting out rocks in the shallow, 50-50s, backside slashers in the deepend, and frontside airs that made us forget about how sore our muscles were getting.
Jeff gets high
Mitch was a kid with a ton of style. He was probably about 15 years old. He carved the pool like Jed Clampett whittles a hickory branch: nice and easy, like he's just relaxing out on the porch. He flowed through the deep end, lapped grinds over the hip, and was just smooth. Unfortunately, when he was skating with us I had yet to get my camera out (but the overview picture at the top of this page has him skating). Sorry Mitch, we'll get some shots of ya next time.
The real stoker was this kid Jake. At fourteen years old, he's able to fully utilize the pool at Modern. From the second he dropped in, we started paying attention. This kid flew around the pool; a rock here, 50-50 there, layback on the hip into the deepend, the kid had class. He knew the guy who was working the door, and that guy was stoking him on. He kept yelling, and it turned out that Jake was just getting frontside grinds in the deep end wired. He hit a few and we all hollered. He split for the street area, but I went and got him before we left. I had to get a pic of that deep end frontsider. He was glad to oblige, and did it three times so I could get the shot. Hopefully we'll skate with that kid again soon.
Jake shows what pool coping is for
The guy who worked the counter seemed pretty laid back. Which is kinda how the whole park seemed. The atmosphere seemed less "corporate" than the Vans park in Novi. The Vans park is a bit cheaper to skate though, giving me the impression that the Vans park is to Home Depot as Modern is to Stadium Hardware. Not to say that the Modern park is some down home mom and pop outfit, but it seemed like they are more concerned with the skating aspect of the park than the sale of the merchandise. BUT, they do of course have their overpriced retail store right next door, so what the fuck do I know?
Oh yeah, a few last details. There is a large "street" area, with a big ol' wall ride and a three foot mini-half (so bring your fruitbooting friends and they can play over there). The vert ramp is a big'n. It's like 50 feet wide and 13 feet tall. We hardly hit either, the pool being such hot shit and all.
So get out of the glow of your computer screen and put some miles on the beater. This park will leave you with a smile on your face.
And did I mention that WE actually skated too?
-Trevor
