Westbound Boarder

Well that’s a wrap and what a skate week it has been here at Westbound. I am off to the grand ole state of Utah this morning to make my rounds with the ladies and gents of Arkade Magazine (oh and attend an old friends wedding ;)) These guys rock as they are all about promoting a snowboarding culture and you can find their mag all throughout local pizza, coffee and snowboard shops all throughout the NW - but more about Arkade next week. Be sure to check em out!

This week has been cram packed with all kinds of skate resources, so if you missed any of it be sure to check out our recap.

• Want to learn to skate, but need to invest in your very own board first? Check out our article on How to Buy a Skateboard for the First Time! to find out exactly what you should be looking for in your new skate.
• Westbound Fav Sk8 Shops. WARNING! These shops are super sick, based in Portland and they even sell their goods online!
• Have a skateboard, but don’t know how to use it? That’s OK, freshen up on my skater-tips for beginners.
• Practice really does make perfect and before you know it, you will have already perfected the most basic (albeit, stylish and impressive) skate tricks. Read on for Westbound’s tips on how to improve your skate resume!
• Whether you live in the Golden State where skateboarding was born or in the Beaver State where there are more skate parks than trees, check out the respective local skate park hot spots. Westbound has the skate park recommendations for both the greater Los Angeles and Portland areas.

Until next week, let your new skateboard roll!

If the parks in Oregon were not enough for you, check out our SoCal skate park picks. If the peeps at California Girls Skateboards like them, they have got to be legit, right?!

• Santa Monica: The Cove is more than a skate park. It is actually where skateboarding was born. Located in the Dogtown area of Santa Monica this is where sidewalk surfing transformed into what street skating has become 40 years later.
• Lake Forest: Luck enough to live in Orange County? Check out the Etnies skate park all the way down in lake forest.
• Burbank: The Valley Skate Skate park is without a doubt a park for beginners. So grab your skate and get-a-learnin’.

So here’s a little somthing for everyone and in every corner of SoCal. There really are no excuse not to check out a skate park near YOU!

For those of you who are old pros or now ready to hit the skateboard park, here is a list of Westbound’s favorite skateboard parks in the grand state of Oregon!

• Burnside: The most well known. You may recognize this one from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, he ranks it one of the top 5 skate parks altogether.
• West Linn: It’s great for the pool lovers and is known for its large and fast bowls. (Plus it is in my hometown, so check it out!)
• Lincoln City: Ranked 9/10 by Thrasher Skateboard mag, this one is a must visit.
• Tualatin: This park maybe super flat, but a great place to learn and get comfortable in the park.
• Newberg: Sorry Lincoln City, but thrasher ranked this park an 11/10. Just when we didn’t think the Oregon skate parks could get any better, they have!
  

Skateboarding may have been invented in Andrea’s state of California, although Oregon genuinely boasts a much higher skate park per capita than Cali does. So check out Skate Oregon if the skate parks we have listed are not close enough to home for you! Let us know what you fav skate park is, by leaving a comment!