After 8 hours of driving we finally arrive to Arizona for the first ever Street League competition, an event that was designed to eliminate any other Skateboarding contests made by non Skateboarders…or at least that was their initial approach.
Set in a massive stadium with a huge screen set on top of the course just like a basketball game made us think we were inside of a time machine that send us back to the 80’s when Skateboarders were more like rocks stars, I had images from my first Skate videos flashing inside my skull like “Savannah Slamma”.
When the competition finally started the “real-time Scoring” format designed to make every trick count rapidly separated the consistent Skateboarders from the others, the massive concentration of some of the Skateboarders was Clearly visible and when the time for the finals started the last guys standing were without a doubt the 7 best Skateboarders out there. An incredible determination from Nyjah Huston and Tory Pudwill along with the precise style of  Shane O’Neill quickly put them onto the verge of the winning line  finally crowning Nyjah Huston as the winner of the first Street League 2010 Arizona style. We had a lot of fun and here are some pictures and a little video of the contest, the second stop will be Ontario CA., so see you guys there !!

Results:
1- Nyjah Huston – 116 points
2- Shane O’Neill – 114.9 points
3- Torey Pudwill – 112.8 points
4- Sean Malto – 111.0 points
5- Chris Cole – 109.6 points
6- Chaz Ortiz – 102.2 points
7- Paul Rodriguez – 100.1 points

Super Suede.

Click on the picture for a bigger image of the whole course.

Torey checking the ledge before the contest.

Torey's insane 360 Ollies were perfect.

Finally, Nyjah well deserved 1st Place and its just starting !!.

It was just yesterday when I found myself driving north to Los Angeles for the Emerica video premiere “Stay Gold” taking place at a really nice theater in Hollywood ” Ford Theater blah bla”  a very spacious and comfortable building perfect for a memorable night of friends, skate and hammers…..and free beer. Got there 2 hours before the show and right into the VIP room with my Homie Eddie G. to slay some cold ones for the thirst.

STAY GOLD on the big screen.

After god knows how many hipster beers (PBR) we were finally ready to go up to the third floor to watch the video that on my opinion had created as much hype as the Lakai Fully Flared video premier…hmmm… well, almost. Little did I know, my mind will not be prepared for the visual massacre about to happen for the next hour or so.
Started with Brandon Westgate, His style reminds me one of my old time favorites “Cards” not only for the speed apply to every trick but also for the consistency when doing “make it or die” kind of tricks definitely my third favorite part of the video. When the time for Leo Romero finally came I was not on my right frame of mind specially when the tricks “UP” the hand rail started; Seriously man? shit, the k-gring up the rail was fucking amazing. I was just trying to recover from the craziness of all this shit when Andrew Reynolds part started and what can I say, just a different type of skating, the proper way to pop and float every trick; He just demolished every single spot he skated and definitely deserved the last part of the video.
Im not going to say anymore cause you need to go get the video when it comes out September 1st on Itunes, it is worth it plus you’ll be supporting the people that makes amazing videos like this one happen, so go get it !!
Here are some pics of the premiere.

Theatre entrance 2 hours before the premiere.

Eddie and lots of PBR

A little Sun Valley reunion with our old friends Jens Peterson and Bethany Conner Bagley.

Mario Rubalcaba's band "Earthless" before the Premiere. Iphones take trippy pictures...

]]> http://choncordia.com/?feed=rss2&p=488 http://choncordia.com/?p=483 http://choncordia.com/?p=483#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:06:14 +0000 choncordia http://choncordia.com/?p=483 By Gunther Estrada.

It was Friday afternoon and a drive that usually takes me 1 1/2 hours to San Diego took me 3 HOURS! and I was rolling down with American psycho’s girlfriend! Jesssssus! but that’s a different story (Thanks Eddie). Anyways I finally got in one piece to the southern edge of gringolandia to check out the 2010 Crossroads and ASR events.

Gunther and Daniel found a nice Peruvian flag inside ASR. Hell yeah !!!

ASR had to reduce its facility even more than last years event! what? who cares? oh yeah who cares, now we have Crossroads around the corner where all of the Skate brands have a legit portal to the retail side of the industry (Skateboarding only) that way they can feel like they are doing business with somebody that actually cares ya know?. The business as usual was followed by a best trick contest on 3 different stages and a whole bunch of tricks were done on all of the 3 sections.  We had a great time with our friend Daniel Falla “Legañita” that honored us with a visit once again and this time “Finally” introduced me to a chick!… Amy Gunther, yep we already share something (She actually has a boyfriend so back off piranhas!). The beautiful lady owner of KCDC Skateshop in NYC came to the other side of the continent to hang out with dirty, drunk, hairy immature dudes on skateboards and also to do some business deals.

go check out Her website….or die!
Overall really good times, free beer, cheap Hotel Honda room, and… thats it.

Amy Gunther and Gunther Estrada.

The amazing Sean Sheffey, Switch Crooked Grind.

Jeff Garza and Daniel Falla.

5BORO's Willy Akers, nose blunt slide.

Skateboarding Legends Kareem Campbell and Sean Sheffey.

It was a Sunny California day when we showed up at Gate 5 of the OC Fair to witness the Maloof Money Cup for the third consecutive year. This year the Street course had way more transition but the nice Street obstacles made up for it. After getting some drinks we went to watch the practice and take some pictures.

Torey Pudwill, Adelmo Jr., Ishod Wair and Matt Miller were killing it at practice; Adelmo broke his elbow later that day but not before  landing perfect Nollie Heelflips on the bump over the gap. Torey was doing perfect backside 360 full body Kickflips and later that day Corey Kennedy was landing every trick he tried.  We got the chance to meet Fabian Alomar on the second day. He is back in the game after many years, and if you don’t know who is Fabian you better check out  “20 Shot Sequence”, one of the best videos of the 90’s.

Alvaro Santillana, Fabian Alomar and Hali Estrada.

The Girls were better than last year and it was very refreshing to watch Alexis Sablone, Marisa del Santo, Lacey baker and  specially the winner Leticia Bufoni landing a perfect Backside Smith on the big rail. The Amateurs were incredible as always; Theotis Beasley was landing every trick with a perfect style, Kechaud Johnson and Tom Asta didn’t disappoint  and little Loui Lopez  was landing perfect Switch Frontside Bigspin Heelflips on the bump.

Tom Asta, Nose Blunt.

Steve Caballero and Christian Hosoi were there for the Masters demo along with Sal barbier who landed a perfect Backside Nose Blunt on the Volcano area of the course. We also had the chance to meet young Skateboarder Youness Amrani from Belgium, a super talented down to earth kid who was at the Maloof contest for the frist time; we are sure you’ll be hearing more about him in the near future.( Good luck in New York  man !!!) .

The Finals were unbelievable, Chris Cole  and Nyjha Houston had an amazing performance. Bastien Salabanzi was super solid and Torey  landed a Backside Smith to backside Kickflip out on the curved ledge….That was  fucking insane. At the end the $100,000 went to Chris Cole once again and it was very sad to watch Nyjha crying;  I imagine it was a tough decision for the judges, but politics always seem to get in the way.

Chris Cole , Back 180 Nose Grind.

Overall the event was amazing; the best Skateboarders in the world and surprise performances by Nelly, Ludacris and Lil John made the past weekend one to remember. We like to thank Brendi, Maya, Devin, Thea and Jennifer for all their help. You girls are  the best also Tanya of security and Kish at the fair entrance for the laughs. It was a fun weekend around friends and great Skateboarding. We can’t wait for the next event ;).

RESULTS:

1. Chris Cole 286.33 points $100,000
2. Nyjah Huston 281.67 points $40,000
3. Sean Malto 281.33 points $25,000
4. Torey Pudwill 274.67 points $15,000
5. Tommy Sandoval 260.67 points $6,000
6. Bastien Salabanzi 258.67 points $5,000
7. Ryan Decenzo 255.33 points $4,000
8. Justin Brock 250.33 points $3,000
9. David Gonzalez 246.67 points $2,500
10. Billy Marks 239.67 points $2,000

Here are some more pics and a small video of the contest; Enjoy :). CFL.

Torey, Backside 5.0 to back Tail.

Hali working hard :/....

Ludacris performance; can you be closer???

Taylor Bonin, Brittany Donahue and Sophie Molinari right before Nellys performance.

Alvaro wishing Nelly wasn't there, he was waiting for "BRUJERIA"

Ishod Wair, Backside Nose Blunt.

Gunther was working hard too while Steve Caballero and Corey Kennedy were watching the finals.

Adam Dyet, 540 Melon Grab.

Torey Pudwill and Gunther Estrada after the finals.

Johnny Layton, Switch 360 Kickflip.

David with his Best Trick $10.000 check after landing a 50-50 Kickflip out on the rainbow rail.

And last a very nice pic of the big wheel on the OC Fair....good times.

]]> http://choncordia.com/?feed=rss2&p=477 http://choncordia.com/?p=463 http://choncordia.com/?p=463#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:31:17 +0000 choncordia http://choncordia.com/?p=463 The Bright Tradeshow started today in Germany’s largest city, Berlin :) and our Sales rep Dino Vallas will be there with Choncordia AM Leon Horn. Dino will be taking wholesale orders so if you are interested in getting Choncordia products for your store please contact him at (0049) 17620695180 for the new Catalog and more information. We will be bringing you pictures and a complete review of the Tradeshow on Sunday. CFL !!

The Transworld Skateboarding magazine had its yearly gathering to pay tribute to the most relevant skaters in the year 2009. The Transworld Awards took place at the Avalon club in Hollywood California, Along with the Premiere of their new video “Hallelujah“,  the Choncordia Family was there to bring you some photos and the results by category of this renowned event:

In general the event was ok but we have seen better organization in the past, the communication with their special guests and also the winners at the time of picking up their prices wasn’t the best and they were nowhere to be found for long periods of time. However, I have to say everything changed for the better when they announced the award for Skateboarding legend of 2009, and the winner was….Matt Hensley.

Gunther Estrada, Matt Hensley and Hali Estrada.

We were stoked for Him, since He is probably the biggest inspiration we had as kids when all this started in our lifes. I think its was a well deserve award and a long due one. We had the fortune to received from John Lucero’s hands limited edition Hensley boards that are already hang on our wall at the Choncordia Headquarters…the wall is looking good!. Right after the awards was the world premiere of HALLELUJAH, Tyler Bledsoe killed it and Torey Pudwill raised the bar once again, his part is amazing; After the premiere we went upstairs for the party, It was a great night and here are some pic’s, enjoy!

Matt Hensley's Speech

Danny Way, Matt Hensley, Pat Duffy and Brian Schaefer after Matt's speech.

"I FUCKING DESERVE THIS" - Lizard King.

Marco Gomez, Rodrigo Petersen, Hali Estrada, John Lucero and Gunther Estrada with the Limited Edition Hensley Boards, Thanks John !!!!.

]]> http://choncordia.com/?feed=rss2&p=456 http://choncordia.com/?p=451 http://choncordia.com/?p=451#comments Thu, 13 May 2010 08:24:52 +0000 choncordia http://choncordia.com/?p=451 Ok kids, it took sometime but we will be taking the last pictures for the new catalog in the following weeks with new Tshirts, Jackets, Pants and accessories plus a new  Girls section with Fur Jackets, Tracking Jackets, Tshirts and Hoodies in many colors :). We will be posting it soon,  so make sure to check back to see all the new stuff . CFL !!!!!

Brittany Donahue in the middle of Poppy field California wearing the Supernova Jacket and the Ritham Beanie :).

In an enormous city like L.A., you have to get out every once in a while to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Since the forecast said it was going to rain in SoCal anyways, my friend Anthony and I decided to go on a roadtrip to good old San Francisco. The drive was quick and we made it there before noon. Thanks to the guys at FTC skateshop, we were able to find the famous spot “3rd & Army” right away and filmed our first SF footage. Unfortunately, this was the only good spot we were able to skate during our two day visit, since there are simply not as many spots in SF and the parking was ridiculous. Yet, the trip was a lot of fun and after all, Skateboarding is more about living a lifestyle and enjoying every moment than filming “hammers” all day long.
I hope you enjoy the clip! Filmed and edited by Anthony Conard.

The Premier for the first full length LRG video “Give me my money Chico” took place at El Rey theater in L.A. California, the Choncordia crew was there to celebrate and to enjoy the talents of LRG’S eclectic team riders. A very close friend of ours Adelmo Jr. had a very nice part on it and it was very rewarding to see him Skating  with his very unique style a very solid part on the video. Rodrigo Petersen demonstrated that all of the coverage that he has been getting is well deserve, with a solid and strong style this mega pop master got the opening part of the video. Chico Brenes really gets better as the years go by, I think I heard that statement before and is very true, his part had a perfect combination of technical tricks and smooth style, definitely a classic for all of us. The video showed a nice consistent theme very LRG like, a good editing work and a team more than solid, the closing part went to Rodrigo TX with very technical tricks and combinations that only he can execute, he is a gnarly dude. Followed after the video, free drinks, music and more free drinks, here are some pics.