Concrete Wave set off to Ithaca for the third annual Slide Jam. Ithaca is the home of Cornell University and is located in the region known as the Finger Lakes. This quaint college town is home to some great hills. The first slide jam had about 80 riders and this year it reached almost 400.
Comet has been in the business of skateboarding for seventeen years and the Slide Jam is their way of showcasing the best of what the east has to offer. Folks came from far and wide. Louis Pilloni and Liam Morgan flew in from California.
The course was moved this year to Gun Hill. This run was different than previous years since you aren’t able to see the entire course. However, Gun Hill proved to be an excellent choice as riders hit speeds of close to 40 mph. There was an insane amount of urethane laid down on the road as riders squeezed everything they could out of each run. For most of the morning, the weather was decent. Not exactly warm, but no rain or wind. By the time noon hit, the rain started to rear its ugly head. It was on and off for a few hours and by the time mid afternoon hit, a number of riders had headed out. A few brave souls kept bombing the hills and charging the ramps. But no amount of rain or wind could dampen anyone spirits. The Ithaca Slide Jam had worked its magic. A huge thanks to the generous and hard working folks at Comet for putting on such a memorable event. There is no doubt that the Slide Jam nontest format is an incredible way to generate a huge amount of skate stoke. They truly set the bar.
INTERVIEW WITH JASON SALFI OF COMET
When you think about to original event that you put together three years ago – what were some of your reasons for doing it?
In year one, the main reason for doingthe Ithaca Skate Jam was to offer the east coast skateboard community a different style of event with a non competitive skate jam format. In 2012, we had 80 plus skaters show up and shred all day. It turned out that even in the first year the each was way beyond regional. In 2013, approximately 275 skaters registered for the event, we had more features on the hill and the energy level was way higher. We galvanized the non competitive angle, coining the word “Nontest” to describe the event. Our background at Comet stems from grassroots, underground skate scenes. You don’t show up at a back yard pool or a full moon mountain run and start having a best line or trick contest, you just vibe off of your homies and the level naturally elevates. The Ithaca Skate Jam is about friends skating with each other and having fun.
What things have you changed since the original slide jam?
In 2012, we were not that organized at all about putting features on the hill. We really owe a huge shout out to Ben Dubreil. He brought that launch ramp PVC pole jam thing that expanded a lot of minds. The 2013 features were rad but the hill was a bit short for everything that we packed into it. The 2014 event was on a hill with three times the space to open up the flow. The features are starting to get better. Every year the event gets more organized. We still feel like we are just getting started. Many of the improvements this year were made possible through a grant from the Tompkins County Tourism Program and partnering with the City of Ithaca.
Do you think the focus on just riding as opposed to competing is the future for skate events?
Competitive and non-competitive skateboarding have been around since way back. Skate jams are as much the future as IDF events and outlaws and just mobbing hills with friends are the future in downhill. The future is what we make up. It is all self-expression. What I prescribe for the future though is much broader. Whether it is a race, bowl contest, street league or whatever kind of skate jam, we need an ethos of responsibility for the earth and our neighbors, rooted in the ground, big or small, on wheels or not.[wc_product_slider_carousel show_type=”tag” category_id=”1145″ tag_id=”230″ number_products=”3″ carousel_type=”horizontal” carousel_visible=”3″ slider_auto_scroll=”yes” effect_delay=”1″ effect_timeout=”4″ effect_speed=”2″ align=”none” width=”620″ width_type=”px” margin_top=”10″ margin_bottom=”10″ margin_left=”10″ margin_right=”10″]
Events are ephemeral but they take a lot of energy, resources, and then what?
The future for events is to move away from a linear mindset. Our goal is to plan events that expand the community of skateboarders beyond who we know skateboards today and plan for the future use of all the materials needed for the event. This year we designed and built all of the wooden features for continued use from already used material. For example, the banks and platform from the euro gap are becoming the walls of our new wood shop. Events are better when they are self-contained. As in the past, we supplied food all day but more of it and added on site medical care free of charge for broken skaters so anyone who with minor injuries could avoid expensive emergency room visits and be in the mix all day.
Any final comments?
The Ithaca Skate Jam is possible through several people pouring their hearts and souls into making it happen. Everyone plays a role. Kadie Salfi is the archetypal mother, chief organizer and kitten herder. It is the woman’s touch that makes the event special. Number wizardry and binary code support by Pat Govang, Bob Rossi. Kaya, is the trickster full of last minute exuberance, gifts of art and design. Special shout outs to Mike Judah, our merry emcee and musical organizer, and the talents of DJ Double A and Eliot Rich. Mario Korf, Ira Garrison, Mclovin, the Comet Team, Aaron AFB Grulich, the volunteers, Mayor Svante Myrick for backing us, and The City of Ithaca and the Tompkins County Tourism Program for granting us the honor of stoking the people.
Story by Michael Brooke