Thrasher Magazine

Pedro with his hand on the pulse of three decades at Burnside, frontside invert

The Spitfire team made the pilgrimage up to Burnside for a weekend of fast lines and good times under the bridge. After three decades, the park is still the blueprint for every DIY that followed—the one that set the gold standard for how skater-first projects should be. Even with the DLX van being stolen from its homebase in The Bay, you couldn't stop the guys from hauling up to Portland’s hallowed and soggy ground. So Spitfire captain John Alden got the keys to Big Blue, loaded it up with some of skateboarding's heaviest artillery and headed north. The team spent two days skating with the BBQ fired up and plenty of cold drinks to keep the session lit. They also wanted to pay their respect to the blood, sweat and beers that have been poured into Burnside since its inception.


Peep every air and invert then start planning your own trip up

GT is all gas and no brakes—backside 270 over the hip through airbrushed clouds

Mason puts his SOTY powers to use with an upstream gap to lipslide

Raney will get upside down in any pit at anytime—invert to fakie

Simon Bannerot slashed himself into a tight spot. He even rang his dome on the top

Ronnie flipped his eggs on the big skillet. Thought he wouldn't?!

TNT unveils a new one for the crew—alley-oop late shove


Simon gives a nod to Neil and plants a Good Buddy in the big bowl

Simon, 540 O on a cement wave

Psychodro pays homage to the one and only John Cardiel with an ollie in off the truck trailer

GT goes where eagles dare—frontside flip on the big wall

Had to pay our respects to our guy Hambone on the way out. RIP, Joe

On top of frequenting the park for years, Spitfire recently made a Burnside collection of wheels and shirts with proceeds going to fund future builds—as a real DIY is always under construction. Thanks, Red, Marty, Sage and countless others who have put in some major work over the past 31 years to put Burnside on the map as the greatest DIY concrete destination in the world.