Slam City Jam, the (former)North American Skateboard Championship, holds a special place in the hearts of not only Canadian skateboarders, but skaters worldwide who remember the heyday of one of the most legendary contests of all time. Starting in the early/mid 1990's and switching venues a few times until fading out somewhat awkwardly in the early 2000's, Slam definitely went through some drastic changes... but it could be argued that the golden era of stoke occurred in the late 90's/very early 2000's, when the contest was held at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum (with a 1 year bop over to the not-so-great BC place for reasons unknown).
I was lucky enough to get a gig filming the contest for Skateboard Canada Video Magazine from 1998 onward, which I did my best to perform while also enjoying the endless amounts of night time fun to be had in downtown Vancouver during Slam weekend. Filming with a raging headache was an acquired skill. It smelled like booze and sweat on the decks of the ramps. I remember stickers, lots of stickers everywhere. I missed some tricks. Sorry Mike.
Part four of Stuck In The Past is a hi-light reel of my last years filming Slam City Jam on my old Hi8 Canon, before making the switch to digital in late 1999. It's not easy making a short edit from over 8 hours of footage, but I hope you enjoy this look back at some of my favorite clips from two amazing weekends in the late 1990's. - Adam Cassidy
Stay tuned for part five of Stuck In The Past, coming soon !
Dope man..
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