The Grotto Lotto Contest 2018 Photos
During the long Portland winter months, many nights are spent in our skatepark, The Grotto, as a refuge from the persistent rain. Deck chatter often turns to talk of out-of-town rippers who would enjoy the park and sessions we would like to see go down. These talks sparked the idea of doing an invitational contest with some of our favorite skaters. As we all know, skateboard contest can be equal parts awesome and suck. We see The Grotto Lotto as a non-test, an extended practice, per se—a chance to do some ripping with some of your buds in a unique park without the distractions of self-obsessed kids and energy-drink chicks.
When we compiled our list we expected a very heavy session and some awesome vibes, but we had no idea the level of skating that was possible in our park. The variety of skaters combined with the communal hype brought top-notch maneuvers to every obstacle. The energy was through the roof and everyone was cranking it up and without the distraction of posting tricks and checking the feed—camaraderie and focus were at a level rarely seen in our social media-obsessed age.
This weekend was about as epic as it gets—a warehouse packed with friends smiling, shouting and smashing boards. I am very thankful that skateboarding is full of so many amazing humans and I feel honored to have had some of them in our home, giving their all in our skatepark. Thank you to those who came and shared this weekend with us; you’ve created some cherished memories. —Silas Baxter Neal
The brains and brawn behind the contest: Matt Irving, Silas Baxter-Neal, Nikhil Thayer and Joey Pepper.
Grotto grab-bag sponsors: Thrasher, adidas, Poler, Stumptown Roasters, Spitfire, Stance, Bones Swiss, Levis, Sizzle Pie, pFriem beer, Tactics, Kool Pool, Yeti Yoga, Skateboard Veteran, Maple OX, Thunderbird, Habitat and Drink water. Jeez… usually you just get some free stickers, a koozie and a trucker’s hat
Young MCs, Rob Welsh and Sal Barbier
Neighbor, key holder and Fixer’s finest, Ultimate Phil and his son Silas
Rattray and Ivor doing an eco-friendly drive-by, Oregon style
Sucui, hair check
Nailed it
McCrank was a little under the weather, unfortunately
Kenny A, the perfect man is the perfect judge for the event
411 friends but basketball foes, Kurt Hayashi and Vern Laird
DLX vans mean, “here comes trouble”
Jalden and Daan 18
Milo and Justin—rad dad!
Biebel, we need a little help here. Get Janoski on a program in LA stat!
Dan Plunkett, all-around ripper and epic human
The judges: Kenny A, Parts, Cairo Foster and Karl Watson
Austyn Gillette coming in hot, Mach-10 back Smith
Welsh and Sal on deck . Photo: Morford
Busenitz always going for broke
Textbook back lip upstream
Robbie Russo, nosegrind pop in hella far north of Pedro
Mickey, double carb recharge
Sizzle Pie keeping everyone fueled for the weekend
Janoski, switch crooks on the China Banks obstacle
Wes and Zenith in the house
Heartbreaker Joan Wilder and her handlers
Josh Matthews, nonchalant kickflip crooks
Brad Cromer, clockwork-like precision on a frontside 360 kickflip
Matt Gottwig, kickflip back tail
The squad live streaming the Vans Pool Party. Thought they wouldn’t?!
Pier 7 alumni: Nikhil, Wu-Welsh and Cairo
Jake Anderson breaking the ice the hard way Photo: Morford
Grotto Lotto shirt details Photo: Morford
Silas popping bottles, serving up some Sunday-morning mimosas
Semifinalists—major firepower!
Vincent, heavy-duty switch bluntslide.
Busenitz, back tail over the “bench”
Joey approves of the park annihilation
Austyn, savage back lip from the QP to the vert wall
Parts showing his love for the Big Dog!
Zered, chink-chink grind off the quarter onto the vert wall Photo: Morford
Austyn was a force to be reckoned with! Switch back noseblunt Photo: Morford
Raney is no stranger to the vertical terrain Photo: Morford
VA, switch frontside tailslide Photo: Morford
Wes, lipsliding his life away Photo: Morford
Zenith getting his shred on during the practice runs
Hi, Jim. Bye, Jim
5Boro alumni, Andy Pitts and Ben Wall
Huf team power meeting
Zered and Frank, it must be an East Coast thing
Barker Barrett and Ryan Wilburn—legends
Kids gone wild! Matt Milligan tries to wrangle his daughter
Kaspar and Jascha Muller
Master lensmen, Scott Pommier and Bryce Kanights
Hunter, Janoski and Brent Atchley
New rule: filmers only wear white Ts
Tailgate party: Scott Johnston, Nikhil and the fam
NW local and masterlensman, Jon Humphries and his son Arro. Nice shirt, kid
“Only if it was a guitar”
Hewitt’s new shape. What a nightmare…
Finals list
Daan taking a breather…
…before dishing out this front crooks to fakie. Daan absolutely destroyed the vert wall both days
Raney, TX-sized backside boneless off the wall Photo: Morford
Sucui, kickflip backside noseblunt. You know he landed it Photo: Morford
Austyn, fakie flip Photo: Morford
Lindsey Holmes from MapleXO made the contest trophies out of recycled skateboards
Spanky got an award for all-around shredding
Daan won the best trick
Top-three: Raney took third, Sucui scored second and Austyn grabbed the first place spot. Congrats, guys. Can’t wait for next year’s Grotto Lotto!
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Grotto Lotto 2019 Photos
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