Events – The Choncordia Skateboard Co.

JUN 14: Battle at the Berrics Finals

By Hali Estrada.

Once again we had the chance to witness one of the best S.K.A.T.E games at The Berrics. The night started with Eric Koston and Luan Oliveira followed by Cody Cepeda and Sewa Kroetkov. This guys are seriously amazing, trick after trick they blow our minds until there were only 2 standing. The final was Cody against Luan, go to the Berrics website to check for yourself, we don’t want to tell you who was the winner ;). After the game we had a great time at the after party hanging around and drinking some beers with everybody at the DC Suite inside the Berrics, it was an incredible event and we certainly can’t wait to do it again, Skateboarding is great !!! :)

full of wristbands

With Costa Rica, Brazil and Chile after the game.

The calm before the game.

Eric Koston and Hali estrada at the game after party.

The New VUlcanized Nyjahs

MAY 10: DC Shoes “Defy Convention” Book Release Party- 20 Years of DC Skateboarding in Pictures

By Hali Estrada.

DC Shoes just released their Book “DEFY CONVENTION” 20 Years of Photography curated by Mike Blabac. We have the chance to go to the release party and to take a first look at this great compilation of the best photographs DC had in 20 years. The book is amazing and we highly recommend that you go get it ASAP, if you like Skateboarding as much as we do this book is a must have in your Library. We had a great night surrounded by so many talented people, we can’t wait to do it again.

OCT 17: Los Garbage Art Show

Los Garbage Art Show is coming on OCT 19th to LBCSkate Store in Long Beach, Don’t forget to mark the date and come check the talents of Gunther Estrada, Lou Barberio, Faceless, Kevin Ronner, Tom Tate, Froilan Ascano, Alex Wasbin, Andrew Sprigle, Matt Loomis, Rick Garcia, Jen Koottarappallil, Mike Jorgensen, Erick Fisher, Kortni McAbe, Carlos Rivasplata and Gustavo Neves. Music by DJ. BethB. and Live Music :), PBR is free so don’t forget to come and check it out !!!!

JUN 21: Skateboarding Day ???

By Hali estrada.

I’ve been Skateboarding for almost 25 years now and during all this time only injuries made me stop, like in 1997 when I Hyperextended my knee fracturing my femur a tearing my ligaments, the Doctors said I wasn’t going to be able to Skate ever again but I was back on my Board after 5 months and Im still Skating to this day. Growing up we never had a “Go Skateboarding Day” and I think that if Skateboarding wasn’t as popular as it is now a “Go Skateboarding Day” wouldn’t exist. Go Skateboarding Day is EVERY DAY, at least for me.

June 21st had a different meaning for me growing up, June 21st is my Dads Birthday. My Dad was born in 1944 in Tacna, a South Province in my home country Peru and he moved to Lima (The Capital ) when he was 4 years old. He went to school in Lima and after High School he got a daytime job to pay for his University classes where he met my Mom, they got married after a while and they had 3 kids, I was their first child.

My Dad is a great man, he might have a masters degree in finances and a 10 inches thick resume but he is way more than that; My Dad is a funny and creative man; He made a Styrofoam cutter out of a battery and a little cable to make us Styrofoam planes when we were kids; He draw a huge Spiderman in our room and let us draw whatever we wanted on those walls too; He grabbed a piece of thick wood in 1987 and made us Skateboards heavier than life, later in 1991 he covered with Fiberglass a home-made board I broke in an early attempt to make a board with Concave; He recovered my stupid $120 Reebok Pump sneakers after I got robbed; He loved to play the guitar ( Until I broke it, sorry Dad); He likes mysteries and UFO’s; He loves books and he reads a lot; He has a huge library constantly growing and he has one million stories to tell…So to me he is an inventor, a painter, a comedian, a carpenter, a musician, a handyman, a hero and more than anything a dreamer, he bought a doorbell and the bell before even owning a house.

Our parents always supported us when it came to Skateboarding and Im grateful to had parents that let us be who we wanted to be and let us follow our dreams even if they took us far away from them. So today being my Dads Birthday and also the so called “Go Skateboarding Day” I was thinking that birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and every other kind of “Special Day” doesn’t mean that all the other days are not special or important. Every single day is Go Skateboarding Day and we grow older by the second so lets celebrate today, tomorrow and everyday. Happy Birthday Dad !!!! ;)

APR 11: Waiting For Lightning Premiere

By Hali Estrada.

Yesterday we woke up early to get a coffee and Skate in Costa Mesa until 4pm when we started driving to pick up Gunther and head to Los Angeles for the private screening of what I want to say is hands down the BEST DOCUMENTARY about Skateboarding that I’ve ever seen: “Waiting for Lightning” directed by Jacob Rosenberg. The documentary showcases the life of Danny Way taking you back to his early childhood and his beginnings in Skateboarding, his progression during the years, his innovation and motivations and his contribution to Skateboarding to this very day; redefining what is possible and evolving constantly.

“Nothing’s too gnarly” when it comes to Danny Way and we know that since we saw “Shackle Me Not” back in 1988 and Hokus Pokus in 1989; videos that changed Skateboarding and were extremely influential for every Skater at that time. After Hstreet Danny was part of “Plan B” and along with the rest of the team and under the management of the great Mike Ternansky they raised the bar again with their first Video “Questionable.” Danny not only showed everybody that he was amazing on a ramp but also an incredible fearless Street Skater. In the documentary, the story goes on describing Danny’s progression during the years all the way to his jump on the Great Wall of China.

There are no words to describe how inspiring this documentary was to all of us. We just stared in awe as the documentary unfolds Dannys unique way of seeing Skateboarding and how he got to the point where he had to create something new because he had already done it all. His determination and creativity go hand in hand with his unbreakable passion for Skateboarding and his humble personality. Danny Way is the Best Skateboarder in the world and he keeps creating new stuff and new ways to innovate….. As the documentary reach the end everybody started clapping and screaming and by everybody’s surprise Danny wasn’t done yet.

The final part was fucking amazing and I don’t want to ruin or spoil the documentary for anybody. The only thing I will say is that Danny has already built a new structure in Hawaii and you won’t believe your eyes when you see the tricks that he can do on it…. They posted a teaser a few hours ago so maybe this will kind of help you understand what I’m talking about.

We had an incredible night with all our friends and needless to say a very inspiring one. The video will be out at some point this year so you must get it as soon as it comes out; you won’t regret it. Thanks to everybody who helped us attend the Premiere and especially to Dina Rosenberg with BWR, thanks for all your help.

Here are some pictures , enjoy :). CFL.

Ken Block, Danny Way and jacob Rosenberg.

Danny Way and Christian Hosoi.

Jacob Rosenberg and Hali Estrada.

Guillermo "Pajarito" Rendon, Jesus Olcese, Danny Way, Giancarlo Zavalaga and Hali Estrada

The master of the 360 kf, Jason Lee.

Matt Hensley and Guillermo "Pajarito" Rendon in the after party at The Roosevelt.

Felix Arguelles and Hali Estrada.

New Zealand is closer than you think. Kate Anderson, Hali Estrada and Libby Beattie.

Guillermo and Sal barber holding the original H-Street poster for Hokus Pokus sign by all the Team.

Guillermo "Pajarito" Rendon, Rodney Mullen and Jesus Olcese.

Colin Mckay and Jacob Rosenberg.

Grant Brittain and Guillermo "Pajarito" Rendon.

JAN 09: Still Life with Wood and Haroshi

By Hali Estrada.
Photos by Gunther Estrada.

I think the best parts of living in California is having the opportunity to skate some of the most iconic spots in history and to watch first hand the progression of Skateboarding literally happening in front of our eyes; add to that the advantage of being only 10 to 40 minutes of the latest video premieres, contests, events and art shows and you will understand why we love living in sunny California.

Last Saturday we attend not 1 but 2 Art shows in just one night. Around 8:30 we were on our way to “Still Life with Wood” at the AR4T Gallery in Laguna Beach. “Still Life” showcased a collection of classic pictures from some of the best Photographers in Skateboarding; Grant Brittain, Dave Swift, James Cassimus, Miki Vuckovich, Jon Humphries and Atiba Jefferson.

Gunther Estrada, Grant Brittain and Hali Estrada.

We got the chance to meet Grant Brittain and after talking to him for a while he told us that in the mid 80’s he met a Professional Peruvian Skateboarder at Del Mar Skatepark; we thought it was Eddie Reategui ( Eddie was the first Peruvian ever to get Pro status in the States back in the 80’s ) but he told us that it wasn’t Eddie, it was somebody else but he couldn’t remember. We were very intrigued about that so its our job now to find out who this mystery Skateboarder was. After saying goodbye to Grant and getting a glass of wine we were on our way to Los Angeles to meet up with Alvaro, Ken and Diego for the Haroshi exhibition.

Huf and DLX partnered with Japanese Artist Haroshi to exhibit 5 of his sculptures, we knew about Haroshis art for a long time and we were looking forward to see it in person. Haroshi crafts his sculptures from recycled Skateboards and the detail of the each piece was incredible. Starting with the Spitfire wheel we were slowly walking around each sculpture trying to figure out how he did it, specially the intricate fire hydrant which Torey Pudwill ollied right before we got there. Tommy Guerrero and Ray Barbee were playing some great tunes, this guys are not only great Skateboarders but also very talented musicians, seeing them took me back to the Powell era and made me remember that Stacy Peraltas documentary about the Bones Brigade is gonna be ready very soon, we can’t wait to see it ;). In conclusion we had a great night with all our friends and we probably we’ll be doing it again very soon; here are some pics from both shows.