Pancakes and Skateboards!: Skateboarding in Maui 101

It all started in Maui for me. When I was just a young lad I laid my eyes upon my first "big deck" skateboard. It was a Hobie and I had to have it! Well that never happened, but shortly after I arrived at home I sought out the only local shop at the time about to stock skateboards and I ordered a Madrid Beau Brown. I still have that hot pink beauty. I knew one day I'd be back as all things come full circle.

So here's our eight days in paradise, skateboarding, enjoying the plethora of natural food stores stocked with vegan goodies and easy to find restaurants with tasty vegan dishes on their menus.

Eight days is never enough, but we did what we could to make the best of every moment!

We stayed in Kihei and I would gladly suggest you do the same!

One block from a beautiful beach park, a natural food store, a shaved ice stand and one mile away from the closest skate park. Perfect! Down to business...

I wouldn't say I was surprised to see the locals on their boards in their flip flops and their bare feet, but I was most definitely taken back by the amount of hardcore barefoot shredding going on at Kalama Skate Park in Kihei.

Kiwika was at the park daily shredding it up in barefoot mode.

Big transfers

Front side air.

Front side slasher.

Pi'ilani helped us navigate some of the other parks in our first few days on the island.

Pi'ilani came along for the trip over to Pa'ia to check out Nalu Pokahu Stone Wave Sk8 Park which is part of the Pa'ia Youth and Cultural Center.

Transfer to tail stall

Another shot of our friendly local BMX guru Wesley and his girlfriend Maikalani

We met Justin on our first day at the Kalama Skate Park. I knew by the "Crass" tattoo on his elbow along with the Black Flag, Misfits 138, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap topped off with two of the most wonderful G.G. Allin tattoos that we'd hit it off just fine.

Of course we skateboarded EVERY day, but it wasn't all skateboarding...

We were lucky to meet up with Conner from Cali who spent the majority of his time on the island at the skate parks as well. Yes that's a "Deebo" t-shirt!

Aside from the obvious, here's a small reminder that we weren't in Winnipeg.

The people of Maui appear to take pride in how relaxed the atmosphere is on the island in comparison to the mainland. This Pit Bull waking from a nap on the top of the mini ramp in the middle of a skate session backs up the idea of a relaxed atmosphere 100%

Bronson was another local from Kihei that ripped it up via bare feet, but that was just warming up for him.

When he wants to get down he laces up his runners and puts in some work. Check out his sequence shots in earlier posts.

Even though I met Kip on the mini ramp, he had a style that had "bowl skater" written all over it.

I was correct. Kip was ripping up the bowl every time we dropped by in the evening.

Here's a shot of Mike with a big melon grab. This was his version of "taking it easy" due to a bad wrist injury. Amazing.

Once again we bumped in to Maikalani.

For those of you just dying for more double rainbow action...I give you Mike Ranquet with a mean lien to tail at Stonewave.

For those of you who are a bit older and are die hard snowboard fans, you'll recognize the fact that before there was Shaun White...there was Mike Ranquet. This snowboarding legend is currently running the skate park and pulling off this care free looking smith grind less than a year after a hip replacement. Now that's gnarly!

The sun sets early in Maui, but two of the skate parks come equipped with lights to keep the sessions going till closing time.

Cory with a rock fakie

There are many places on the island to buy skateboards as many retail stores, surfboard shops etc... carry a selection of long boards and skateboards. It was evident to us that there are two shops of choice for the skaters. One of them being a surf shop Called Hi-tech which did have a small room well stocked with skateboards and skateboard related gear.

If you're looking for boards as long as the sidewalk....

...or the best conspiracy theories on the island, then this surfboard shop stocked with skateboards might be just what you're looking for.

If you're down for the core skate shop that only sells skateboards and skateboard gear/clothing etc... then check out One Eighty Board Shop Chris runs the place and he does what he can for his team and a few other local skaters. We missed meeting a couple of the guys from the team as they are currently on the mainland for school etc... One of them being Ryan Spencer who has been gracing the pages of Thrasher and Transworld lately.

We were fortunate enough to meet up with one of his team skaters Darren who we got to see rip up the park, but unfortunately didn't grab any pictures.

However ...we were lucky enough to catch Johnny at Keopuolani Skate Park

Johnny over the bank.

Johnny with a disaster on the 1/4 pipe.

We had the pleasure of meeting another local skater (Tommy Kono) that I mentioned in an earlier post. Tommy is also hyped on One Eighty and was the one who convinced us to go check it out.

If you're in to lifting weights, Tommy's name should sound familiar as he's named after his grandfather Tommy Kono who just happens to have set 26 world records in 4 different weight divisions, won three Olympic medals and remains one of the most versatile weight lifters of all time!

Tommy's grandfather has been dubbed one of the greatest athletes of all time, which makes sense that someone of the same bloodline is so dedicated to his love of skateboarding.