I miss Slap Magazine.... the actual print version. It was a stylish representation of skateboarding and the culture built around it, that has had some obvious influence on more recent skate publications. I still have the January 97' issue that features an AM JAM with triple O.G, Judah Oakes, getting beastly on a rail at a Vancouver staple spot. I once saw Judah land on his board so hard, after doing a huge transfer at the old Clubhouse skatepark, that he basically put his footprint through the tail. He's power and style crammed into one humble package.... kinda like another old friend I found lurking in the pages of the same magazine....
... Stevie Denham ! Blasting out of the quick quarter at the new( at the time ) Ladner skatepark, curiously referred to as "Seattle Stevie". Not sure what accounts for the mistaken nickname, but Steve must have been stoked to get a photo in Slap when he was just a shirtless teenager.
Judah and Steve are two of the first people I met when I moved out west to Vancouver in 1995, and they're both still ripping with no end in sight. Love those guys.... definitely going to post some more of their old coverage as I come across it. Props to Slap for giving international exposure to lesser known Canadian skaters, and for just being an awesome magazine.
...something familiar about that Stevie photo.... maybe I'll ask Geoff Dermer....
DUDE, I MISS LADNER PARK!
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