Long drives.
Bumpy roads.
Sticky fingers.
Dutch Masters.
Cold beers.
Old friends.

New York.

The second annual Slickest Blader Competition at Oil City Skate Park in Oceanside, Long Island went off without a hitch. Dax DaSkater (Facebook handle) organized the event to give skaters an opportunity to show their skills and make some cash before summer street season in NYC starts up again. Bladers from all New York boroughs, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania showed up to turn up.

NY Legends Dave Lang, Robert Guerrero, Ramelle Knight, Anthony Soto, Angelo Ferrer, and Ariel Surun came out to support the NY scene and throw down for their city. Guerrero and Surun ran tandem lines all night, showcasing some of the smoothest and most consistent blading I have seen in a while (let alone at an indoor park set on an industrial reservation).

Hector “Happy Feet” Rodriguez, best known for his ability to switch up faster than a girl at a slumber party, took first place. Social media stabs at Happy for his nearly impossible trick vocabulary and calls him a dancer rather than a skater — but if you were at this year’s competition you would know otherwise. The man pushed obstacles to the limits, laced improbable tricks, and was completely consistent while doing so. As I was snapping, my jaw and camera dropped when I saw him SLIDE a disaster alley-oop soul to full cab alley-oop soul to 360 top soul to alley-oop soul with a perfect dismount.

Mind. Blown.

Sponsors for the event included iRollNY, Sk8r4Life, Kore, Flip the Script, Hellions Clothing, Oakcity Skate Shop, Frequency Apparel, Beyond the Ledge Wax, Just Live Productions, and Michael Kazberuk Tattoo.

Photos and write up by Sam DeAngelis