HAROLD HUNTER WEEKEND 2018

6/5/2018

Harold Hunter Weekend went down from May 31 - June 3 in NYC. Huge thanks to presenting sponsor adidas Skateboarding and primary sponsors G-Shock and Skullcandy for helping make it all happen. Nearly $60,000 was raised to support HHF programs for 2019.

The official HH Weekend recap video was filmed by HHF Filmer Project interns Muhammad Floyd, Emmet Padgett, Gustavo Morla, and Arianna Gil along with mentors Ray Mendez and Mike Sassano, and edited by HHF Filmer Project mentor Andrey Piontkovski.

This year's extended HH Weekend was packed with six events over the course of four days:

The Eurasia Project photo show featured images from skate photographer Patrik Wallner's photobook chronicling his travels and his companions under the name Visualtraveling, exploring 101 countries across Europe and Asia throughout the last decade.

The Skate Industry 101 panel discussion hosted by adidas, The Boardr, and G-Shock was moderated by Steve Rodriguez with guest speakers including Jorge Angel (The Boardr/Excel Management), Blair Alley (Transworld), Joe Manteleone (Dickies), and Matt Milligan (adidas Skateboarding) with a few extra gems from Giovanni Reda.

HHF x HUF dropped a full capsule collection with a party at the HUF NYC store that showcased photography by HHF alumni Dominic Ming, Orlando Gil, Christian Moses, and Juan Aranzazu.

20 local skaters received support from HHF paying their entry fee to skate the Boardr Am NYC contest. The winner of the HHF Wildcard Division of Boardr Am was Brandon Johnson. He’ll receive an all-expense paid trip to attend the Am Getting Paid contest in Montreal, Canada with the rest of the Boardr Am 2018 contest winners in September. HHF's Nicholas Ramos took 6th place.

THEY Skate an "all gender skate jam" at Performance Space New York in collaboration with Unity Skateboards drew a small crowd of gender fluid, trans and female skaters to the BRUJAS Training Facility.

The Harold Hunter Day XII Skate Jam was held on June 3 at the Coleman Oval/LES Skatepark. HHF Legacy Program participants were presented with full scholarships to Woodward courtesy of sponsors Dickies (Nicholas Ponce, and Rashard Peppers) and Fools Gold (Aaron Saldana).

The best trick contests were judged by guest judges Vincent Alvarez and Jamie Foy of the Dickies skate team along with local Eugene Kang of Terminal skate shop:

G-Shock Best Trick:
First Place - Gabriel Kwiatkowski - fakie frontside shuv switch 5-0
Second Place - Brandon James - halfcab smith grind 180 out
Third Place - Dylan Nieves - 180 switch 5-0 the hardway

SkullCandy Best Trick:
First Place - Kaue Cossa - Kickflip Backside Noseblunt
Second Place - Gabriel Kwiatkowski - Crook big flip out
Third Place - Brandon James - 50-50 to 50-50

Zumiez Destroyer Award:
Carlo Carezzano

Adidas Best Trick:
For the second year in a row, the guys from The Boardr came through with a custom built obstacle to add maximum excitement to the grand finale of the 12th annual Harold Hunter Day celebration. After the success of last years step-up ramp, the crew one-upped themselves by adding a handrail that turned the famous LES double-set into an insane gap-to-rail that made the locals sweat as they skated up to it. As usual, once the first guy landed a trick, and the money ($1500 in cash) started flowing, the skaters figured out what was possible and proceeded to shred the rail for the next 45 minutes. It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend of friends coming together to celebrate the life of the legendary Harold Hunter.

For a taste of the action and an edit of the skating at the HH Day Skate Jam, check out Blair Alley's coverage on TransWorld SKATEboarding.

Photos by Gunars Elmuts: