Damn am contest: 3rd lair, Minneapolis, MN.

THE DAMN AM SERIES is getting bigger every year, with skaters coming from all over the US and other countries to compete and try to make a name for themselves. Hosted by Hawk Clothing and Adio shoes, Brian Schaefer and the SPOT crew were there to put the contest on and, as always, did a killer job. Mark from the 3rd Lair park knows how to host a contest. Not your typical skatepark owner, there are no hassles at his park and free adult beverages throughout the weekend to make you feel at home.

Minneapolis being Navarrette's hometown, I had to call Darren up and get him to fly out for the week. Contests are overwhelming, with 120 arias entering and three days of lurking at the skatepark. That's where the free beer, the bowl in the park, and the dunk tank come in handy. Lurkers included Hawk Clothing's Rodney Rude, some Floridian rednecks and Minnesotan mullet capes; there was plenty of shenanigans going on throughout the day aside from the skating. Fobia skateshop hosted two after-hour parties at the shop on the nights of the contest. With kegs, DJs, pool tables, handles of booze and no age limit, a few participants like Abdias Rivera were drinking 'til the early morning and heavy puking within hours of their first contest run. Welcome to the contest scene--good to see there are some up-and-comers who will be holding it down in the future.

I am going to cover the contest like a skate nerd, so don't worry about it--but it's been a month since and I've been to Arizona and Oregon, so I already forgot what went down. If you're that worried you should have taken the Dog and checked it yourself. This Damn Am contest was a fun time for everyone who was there. Hot mom/ barely legal dunk tank, free adult beverages, free jacked-up haircuts--all sorts of nightlife. A number of pros made it out to check the action and to skate--Nesser, Sumner, Kenny Anderson, Navarrette, Montoya, and Charlie Thomas. Some of the standouts aside from the top 10 who didn't make the cut but ripped were Josh Perkins, Ernie Torres, Jose Rojo, Abdias Rivera, and Emmanuel Guzman.

THE FINALS WENT OFF and it looked like anyone could have taken first; it came down to who could keep the board on their feet and maintain their lines. In the end, Pennsylvania's Andrew Cannon, who qualified first in the top 30, held it together and came up the winner.

Since I had the Vertical Vampire in town, I extended my stay for a few days. The two of us kidnapped Emmanuel Guzman, preventing him from going back to San Jose in order to hit up Navarrette's old stomping grounds. Darren's got the best spots to eat and knows all the cheap beer joints in town--on any given night you'll be locked in some bar after hours shooting pool and drinking free PBR. Aside from the night-life, there's a grip of things to skate; with the likes of Emetic Pratt, Nesser, Seth McCallum and a list of others, that shit's been hit up.

A few months out of the year Minneapolis is under a lot of snow and the temperatures drop to 20 below. But the summers are hot, and people are ready to defrost and skate at all hours of the day/night. With the addition of a Grindline concrete skatepark at the YMCA about 15 minutes outside the city and another concrete park in the works, there's plenty of variety to skate.

So next year, put down your Playstation, grow a mullet, grab your board, a beer funnel, and some mirrored Oakley blades ... and just go see Minneapolis for yourself!

MINNEAPOLIS DAMN AM TOP 10

1. Andrew Cannon

2. Evan Mirschel

3. Nate Compher

4. Danny Cerezini

5. Grant Taylor

6. Josh Mohs

7. Jason Barr

8. Tyler Bledsoe

9. Anthony Shetler

10. Anthony Schultz

ADIO's Best trick: Trace Saylor, switch frontside feeble big rail