Many of you who read Concrete Wave have probably seen the noteworthy pieces and advertisements from Honey Skateboards. Honey is run by a super nice guy (sorry, no “sweet” puns allowed) called Mike Mahoney. I’ve known him for a number of years now and he’s taken his passion for woodworking and skateboarding and created something quite magical.
Every now and then Mike and I will speak and I find myself agreeing with a lot of what he says. His insights, like many of the people who are involved with CW, are of great value. I spoke with him a few days ago and said - “Mike, this is such a good idea, I am going to blog about it!”
His idea started with the way most ideas start - he was inspired by something he saw. In this case, his jaw dropped when he caught a few minutes of footage at the Kona Skatepark. “Ah, yes, the snake run at Kona” I said. “It’s truly amazing” said Mike. “Damn right it is!” I replied.
From here, our conversation really took off!
“Skateparks need to have all kinds of terrain and there should be a real push for more flow. I mean think about how many longboarders are out there who could be riding in parks?”
“Rails and ledges are fine and we can’t discount bowls either. But the fact is that a lot of skaters would probably have a great time just charging down a snake run!”
Oddly enough, vert, street and snake run can coexist peacefully. There is a skatepark out in Burnaby (near Vancouver) called Bonsor that has a snake run. It’s not huge, but it’s freakin’ dynamite. Anyone, no matter what level can enjoy this snake run.
I am not going to spend another 5000 words on why we need more skateparks. We do. I also not going to castigate Rob Dyrdyk and his myopic vision - he is providing skaters with something beneficial - but like many in this industry, he refuses to let go of rails and ledges.
So, here is what I’ll leave you with: wouldn’t it be great if the next 200 skateparks that were in the planning stages HAD a snake run? Can you advocate for a snake run? Well, if you’re reading this, chances are you probably could…and it would truly benefit skateboarding…ALL of skateboarding!
Tip o’ the hat to you Mike Mahoney!
Want fun?
Get a snake run!
