Run to the hills: three days in Carbondale.

Thrasher and HRC Productions put together the first ever Bummerpalooza. Five-thousand skaters invaded a town of 1,100 people and went berserk. It rained. We promoted it as the best week in your life, and it was. The cops loved us, everyone in town sported the pentagram, and, well, let's just say if you weren't there you gooned it.

THINGS THAT SUCKED

* JASON JESSEE * RAIN AND MUD * NUDE DUDE * HUGE HILLSIDE FIRE * KOOKS YAPPIN' BUT NOT SKATIN'

THINGS THAT ROCKED

* ERIC KOSTON * CAMPING * BB GUN RUN * FREE BEER! * TONY ALVA * COPS * NO HELMETS * CHICK FIGHTS * CHRIS SENN * NO INJURIES * MUDSLIDES * THE KID THAT STOLE THE COP CAR AND RAN IT INTO A HOUSE

HEAD ON IS HOW the Hell Ride Crew goes about their business. Why wait? Get it over' with. For the first Carbondale Run I got together a road crew of new races and old ones to go to the King of the Road head-on with a smash in the radiator. We drove out from SF and fucked off the whole way, hitting everything in between and some shit that ain't. This spread here is for my land crew and road muscle. Thanks lot coming, especially if you came more than once.--Jake Phelps

PETER AND THE FIGHT

Some drunk dude pissed in a trash can under the compound Peter then picked the can up and dumped it on his head, so the dude started a fight with Peter. Since Peter can't defend himself due to his wing injury, Sam Hitz came to the rescue. Sam fought three or four dudes by himself. He won. The drunk instigator was left bloodied and battered. See photos.--SS

FUN WITH GUNS

It started behind the Volcom compound Remy brought out his pellet gun and proceeded to shoot cans with Navarrette, Alex Horn, Luke, Tershay, and myself. We all took turns shooting--you shot until you missed. With this in mind, the rotation went pretty quickly. Even the chief of police got involved. He hit the hardest can first try. Since he got involved, we quickly felt like we had established a bond and we tested what we could and couldn't do, since it felt pretty loose. As more people gathered around and wanted to take aim, the rowdiness increased. The crowd and the desire to shoot something mixed with the consumption of beer turned into a friendly game of "Be The Deer."

The cans were set up behind a small fence. The idea was to hop the fence, run by all the cans, and get away without being shot. Mic-E was the first deer, and also the first to take a hit. He started his run and quickly jerked as the pellet struck him in the back. With one pump, blood was shed on the first shot. The game was instantly a hit.

The crowd quickly turned into a mob, all jostling for a chance to shoot a friend. Everybody had to do it, and almost everybody came away with some sort of wound. Manchild from Florida was the first to experience true pain. What started as one pump turned into five--and suddenly pellets were no longer just breaking the skin, but lodging themselves in flesh. His was so deep that Tim Garner pulled out a pocketknife and performed some camp surgery. Manchild gritted his teeth and dealt with the pain as Garner dug deep, but it was to no avail. The EMTs gave it a try next, but they also failed. The pellet is there to stay. After a couple more lodged pellets and an increased presence of the law, the gun was put away--but everybody involved, wounded or not, walked away from being part of what was the true Carbondale Run.--SS

THIS PART OF THE STORY goes like this: Any of you fuckers that think you can pull off a contest better than we can, think twice. 'Cause we got the mag--and without our mag you got jack. Without coverage of your shit, say goodbye to your sponsors. Next time you talk shit about the mag, we're coming for you, fuckers. Think about it. We did it for fun--not points, trophies, or wine tasting in Europe. Skate or die.