Where do I even begin? I’ve spent literally days and nights at this place…I love it so much I skated across the country for it. You can go there for 15 minutes or 15 hours both have potential to be equally potent visits…
LIMITLESS…
Some skate park courses are truly limitless.The designer cracks the code and if you have the abilities another addition presents it’s self every visit, that is if your searching for it.
I search for something new in each of my Plaza visits. Sometimes it’s the tricks sometimes it’s finding a new line. Sometimes Chris Haslam is there sometimes Malik (Steezy) Walker is there or Rory Whyte or Old Spinner or Chen or Kai & Eric (Rory’s son haha ) or Landon to name a few of my favourite Plaza locals.
I first heard of The Plaza in 2004 when such a thing was unheard of ( If DC/Dyrdek’s Kettering Ohio plaza wasn’t the first, The Vancouver Plaza was the 2nd by just a few months) There wasn’t Instagram or such things at that time making it a year or so later until I first saw footage of The Plaza.
It was a line Marcus McBride does in an FTC video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6zrGCopCnE ( 4:50)
That’s definitely the kind of skating I like, Uncle Marcus switch backside flips the hip (which was brick at the time) that on it’s own if you know the dimensions is insane. He also does a beautiful bsts to fakie at top speed and nollie bs 180s the 7…
The Plaza looked no different than a street spot,especially in Van where lots of the OG street spots were/are under bridges…I wanted to jump into the screen and skate The Plaza upon first sight. 4 years later I finally found my self there on a stop over flying to Seoul with my dear friends Russian Bartman and Phil Song…
I can tell you some things about that session…first and foremost I was shocked and humbled at how rough the ground was . The epoxy formula for the first Plaza surface was botched,there were thousands of primo-dents and cracks everywhere and certain areas were just crumbling…
I recall doing some skate tourism at Hot Spot later that day and noting how it was smoother skating Hot Spot then inside the Plaza…
“Inside” as the bridge above The Plaza certainly gives one the feeling of being inside of something.There’s just something about a skate park under a bridge.
FDR,LES,BURNSIDE,THE PLAZA not “a Plaza” THE Plaza.
The sound of The Sky Trains make the experience of skating The Plaza like nothing else. From 5 am to 1:30 am there will increments when the skate sounds become muted out… at times it can feel hypnotic, you could be mid line and all you can hear is the sound of the train and the rushing wind…
The Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts keep skaters in the shade on blazing hot days and provide shelter ( to a certain extent) during rainy ones (which are plentiful in The Pacific Northwest )
THE PLAZA GODS…
The Plaza definitely had it’s eras… and has always been abundant with very strong high level skaters. I can’t name them all as I don’t want to keep you too long. Wade D,Paul Trep, and Spencer Hamilton first and foremost I feel in the early Plaza days that trio just blew minds at Plaza everyday. I’ve seen Trep sw bs smith the handicap out rail from the high side and sw back lip the 7 rail like it was nothing… Then came other Plaza rulers some of my favourites would be Zach Barton, Cotton, Will Blakely and Jeff Matheson and in present day I would name Steezy Walker as the mayor of The Plaza I call him “King Malik”
R-RATED
In Toronto we have more street spots yet not as many skateparks as Vancouver. Our biggest and best park would be Ashbridges (AB) I often describe AB as a “PG-Rated park”
You have tons of kids, scooters, and parents it’s a safe, wholesome, skate focused environment. Ashbridges is also tucked away in a giant field beside a sewage treatment plant with the hustle and bustle of the Toronto core several kilometres away.
I would say the Plaza is the opposite… I’ve arrived there for early morning sessions and have been confronted by horrifying messes. With the world renowned Main and Hastings just a block or so away and the condensed Vancouver Downtown core all around the shenanigans around The Plaza never cease. For the most part the skaters keep law and order but what happens when all the skaters go home to rest? They wait in the shadows until the last skaters leave and by around 2/3 am The Plaza becomes a drug heaven abundant with dark nooks and crannies to do what they will…Not that us skaters all live a saintly existence there’s something about the Plaza that brings out skateboarding’s dark side and keeps it there.
One night back in 2016 I had skated Plaza until sunrise…The things and people I witnessed around The Plaza that night… I remember sensing they were annoyed that I just wouldn’t give it a rest and by around 4 going on 5am as the world brightened they had all left and I remember witnessing the most glorious sunrise I had ever seen to this day and had the park truly to my self for hours. It wasn’t out of stubbornness or dis compassion… I just couldn’t stop doing laps.
The Plaza can be a very filthy place yet I love it . I am The Plaza filth…walking into Fresh Slice with blackened hands and dirt sweat and dust all over my clothes is a mark of honour to me…
In closing I’ll share a joke I once told to Rory Whyte mid session (oh the way he laughed just made my day)
“Rory earlier today I wasn’t at the Plaza and I asked my self… what am I doing with my life?”
That sums up how much I love The Plaza thank you so much Vancouver Skate Plaza and all the locals.
My favourite trick (Suski grind) on my favourite obstacle (The Wedge) at my favourite “skatepark” shot by the magnificent Ty James
Pushing Canada 25 