SK8 'TILL YOU DROP SKATEBOARDERS SPEND HOURS LEARNING DIFFICULT TRICKS, MAKING GREAT FRIENDS.

Byline: MARK KELLAM Valley News Writer

Thirty years ago, skateboarding meant taking a spin to the corner drugstore. A big trick was a wheelie or some air off a sidewalk.

But that wouldn't cut it on today's streets.

Skaters from throughout the Valley go to skate parks every day to learn new tricks -- such as turning their boards in midair at the tops of ramps, jumping over square structures called boxes or sliding on the bottoms of their boards on metal railings.

Pedlow Skate Park in Van Nuys recently reopened after two new features were added, said Abby Stackhouse, park director.

The park, located at 17334 Victory Blvd. in Encino, now has a snake run and a peanut-shaped bowl. Bowls are also sometimes called pools. The park was increased in size from 7,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet.

The snake run allows skaters to roll into the feature on one end, glide around the winding walls, turn on a wall at the end and, if they have enough speed, roll back out to where they started.

The peanut-shaped bowl has two levels. Skaters roll into the pool and descend to a depth of five feet to six feet, then go down farther to a depth of 10 feet to 12 feet, roll up and turn on the wall at the deep end, and then head back up to the shallow end. Again, if they have enough speed, they can roll back up to the top.

Shai Malka, 13, of Encino said he enjoys grinding the rails at the park. He jumps with his board on top of a rail. The board's trucks, or T-shaped metal pieces that connect the wheels to the board, scrape on the rail as he grinds. He also enjoys a slide -- the same trick, but with the bottom or deck of the board riding along the rail.

While Malka likes coming to the Pedlow Skate Park, he prefers street skating. Skaters go to places such as high school campuses and do tricks on rails and stairs. ``You get to do things on stuff that's not built for skating,'' Malka said. ``It's a challenge.''

He explained that many skaters go to skate parks to learn and master tricks, then head to the streets to show off what they've learned.

Jasper Jorgensen-Hansen, 8, of Sherman Oaks is just starting to master some tricks at the Pedlow Skate Park. He enjoys riding off the box and doing kick turns on the single ramps, called quarter pipes. ``It's fun and it's active,'' he said. ``It feels great.''

Mark Kneyse, 28, of Van Nuys zooms throughout Pedlow Skate Park doing aggressive in-line skating. Like the skateboarders, he was doing grinds on the rails and different jumps in the pools.

``I've done it for about 10 years,'' he said. Working as a freelance cameraman for TV shows keeps his schedule flexible enough that he can head down to skate parks fairly often.

What do women he dates think about his passion for this aggressive sport? ``They don't want to hear about it,'' he said. ``But I've never had to call them and have them take me to the hospital.''

Cory Minderhout, 14, of Sherman Oaks has been skateboarding for six years and was one of the fastest skaters at the Pedlow park recently. He did tricks such as frontside-air jumps -- jumping into the air at the top of the pool wall, turning and heading back in. He also likes to do ``rock `n rolls'' -- riding his board to the top of the bowl and stopping to let the board balance on the flat surface, then popping the board back into the bowl.

Minderhout said he prefers going to skate parks to the streets. He really enjoys ``carving'' around the pools -- leaning and cutting into his turns on the pool walls, gaining a lot of speed. He said that's difficult to achieve in street skating.

Pedlow Skate Park, which is operated by L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks, is open from noon to dusk Mondays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to dusk Saturdays and Sundays.

Skaters come from miles away to the Burbank Skate Park, located at 1625 Valley St. according to Mike Graceffo, Burbank city recreation coordinator who overseees the 10,000-square-foot-plus park.

``People come from Canoga Park, Thousand Oaks, Santa Monica, Glendale and Pasadena,'' he said.

On Friday evenings, there is often a barbecue for the skaters, and occasionally there is an impromptu contest, Graceffo said. He hopes to put together a youth skate team and a skate camp in the future.

One of the skaters recently at the Burbank Skate Park was Tommy St. Angel, 13, of Burbank, who said his favorite trick is ``ollieing.'' To ollie, he jumps off the edge of a bowl wall -- keeping his feet on his board -- and lands inside the bowl.

Another skater, Felix Alvarado, 15, of Burbank, said he likes skate parks because of the camaraderie among the skaters. ``People cheer you on here,'' he said. ``Plus, the cops don't bust you when you're in a skate park.''

Some of the skating stars who have skated at the Burbank park in the past are Tosh Townsend, Jeremy Wrap, Justine Eldridge, Shiloh Greathouse, Chad Fernandez and Mike Ogas, Graceffo said.

The Burbank Skate Park is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, and from 1 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays.

The Sunland Skate Park recently had a demonstration by professional skaters including Danny Montoyo, Rob Gonzalez, Brian Brown, Rodrigo Peterson and Ramone Black. Colin Gillies, a former pro skater who now owns a skate shop near the park, coordinated the event.

The Sunland Skate Park is designed for beginning skaters to develop their skills, said George Watson, who oversees it. ``It's not supposed to be a commuter park,'' he said. ``It's more for local kids.''

Arturo Arnold, 20, of Burbank, was doing tricks on rails before the demonstration at Sunland Skate Park. He used to skate frequently when he was 13 to 18 years old. He was even sponsored and took part in competitions. After high school graduation, he started playing semi-pro football with the California Dolphins, based in North Hollywood. The time requirements and fears of injury kept him from skateboarding for about two years.

Recently, however, he started getting on his board again. He still plays with the Dolphins, primarily as a running back, but his love of skateboarding drew him back to the rails and pools.

Another skater at the Sunland park was Anthony Perry of Sunland, known for his many tricks, including frontside-air jumps between two quarter pipes which create a formation called a hip.

Perry, 18, who also often grabs his board in midair, graduated from high school this past spring. He goes to the Sunland Skate Park about three times a week. This fall, however, he will focus on attending the Universal Technical Institute in Rancho Cucamonga to become an automotive-repair technician.

The only girl at the Sunland park on a recent afternoon was Katelyn Hammond, 16, of Sunland. Hammond, who also likes dirt biking, said she considers the boys at the skate park her friends and tolerates the playful ribbing she sometimes gets from them.

The Sunland Skate Park, operated by the L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks, is open from noon to dusk Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to dusk Saturdays and Sundays and 9 a.m. to dusk on holidays.

The San Fernando Skate Park, located at San Fernando Road and Workman Street, was closed for more than a year and just reopened last spring, said Carmen Riquelme, city of San Fernando recreation specialist who oversees the skate park.

It originally opened in 2001, but regular repairs weren't done, and it had to be closed. With grants from outside sources and extra funds from the city, the 10,000-square-foot park re-opened, including a pyramid box. It features a half pipe, which is two quarter pipes put together, making a half-tunnel effect. There is also a three-quarter pipe, or two quarter pipes put together with their high ends back-to-back. The skater runs up the wall of one quarter pipe, jumps the abutted walls and glides down the wall of the other quarter pipe.

Daniel Varela, 14, started skating about two years ago. The freshman at San Fernando High School said he began skateboarding because his friends were doing it.

Ricardo Perez, 20, of Pacoima has been skating for eight years and says his brother got him interested. He tries to skate every day after work -- he works full time in refrigeration -- or on his days off.

Before the park opened, he was mainly a street skater. Now, however, he tries to come to the park as often as possible.

The San Fernando Park is open from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturdays.

-- Valley News writer Alejandro Guzman contributed to this story.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jasper Jorgensen-Hansen of Sherman Oaks rides a quarter pipe at Pedlow Skate Park in Encino.

(2 -- color) Tommy St. Angel of Burbank ``ollies'' with his board into the pool at the Burbank Skate Park.

(3 -- color) Arturo Arnold of Burbank grinds a rail at the Sunland Skate Park.

(4 -- color) Katelyn Hammond of Sunland does a kick-flip with her skateboard at the Sunland Skate Park.

(5 -- color) Cory Minderhout of Sherman Oaks inside letter ``D.''

Mark Kellam/Valley News

(6 -- color) Daniel Varela does a jump, as his skateboard flips beneath him, at San Fernando Skate Park.

Alejandro Guzman/Valley News