Thrasher Magazine

The summer scent of Coppertone wafting through the air, a lonely Band-Aid floating gently by, the delighted screams of children sliding down fiberglass chutes, plunging into blue pools below—to the average asshole, this is what comes to mind when envisioning a water park. But to a skateboarder—scaling chain-link fences, precariously climbing over razor wire, hiding from cops and security guards, watching our friends dive headfirst into drained tanks—that’s what pops into our heads. H2O is our common enemy and a bone-dry water park must be skated at all costs. So when we saw that Wet ‘n’ Wild Palm Springs had been drained, we damn sure barged it for a sunset session! Who in the hell would have guessed that our renegade mission would end with us catching some carves with one of the new co-owners of the park?

It ain’t wet but it’s definitely wild! Chris Gregson teeters on the edge with a bluntslide—gnar factor 11

Tom Remillard, frontside air in the danger zone


Hawk down!


Leave it to Kevin Kowalksi to find an imaginary loop—corkscrew 360, tranny to tranny

Kowalski, over-vert crail at the end of the ride

Of course Jaws found the biggest drop—and then did a 30-yard manual into it


Tristan Rennie, nosegrind tailgrab before cooling off


What started as some light trespassing turned into a week-long permission session. The powers that be rolled out the red carpet for a week of slams, jams and NBDs. Some of the gnarliest transition skaters of our time ventured out to the desert to try their luck at the Pacific Sun—a 300-foot funnel complete with a mini-mega roll in. The park is being renovated and the Sun will soon be torn out, so this was a for real Holy Grail quest with the timer ticking. No excuses—get some! The session wasn’t just confined to just the funnel, though. We were given free reign to skate anything we wanted—and you better believe we did! The street dogs sniffed out the ledges and rails and the tranny lords terrorized the tunnels. Conquering the main attraction was on everyone’s bucket list, but few overcame the mental barrier to do so. The entire week was epic but the days Tony Hawk showed up were a true spectacle. Entire families watched as a 50-year-old man took the slams and eventually conquered a loop in the wild. Thought he wouldn’t?! Our time in Palm Springs was made possible by taking a chance and luckily finding generosity on the other side of a No Trespassing sign. You never know ’til you barge.

Provost provides paradise with a Smith

Daewon palms it while T-Puds kickflips. Thank you, guys

The loop wasn’t hard enough, so Kevin threw in an inverted ollie. Must be nice...



No coping? No problem. Lizzie, backside boneless