Portland’s Burnside Bridge is scheduled for a pretty significant rebuild in the next year or two, with construction expected to close it for several years. While this may cause some minor inconveniences for the local community, for skateboarders, it’s much heavier, as skateboarding’s beloved Burnside Skatepark will also be affected.

Friend of TWS, ripping skater, content creator and all-around epic human, Zack Dowdy took it upon himself to roll up to the famed DIY to dig a little deeper and learn more about what the future looks like for this historic slab of cement. He basically made a mini documentary about Burnside’s current situation and it’s super interesting. Check it out:

The DIY spirit at Burnside has thrived for decades, inspiring countless similar projects across the globe and unarguably producing some of the heaviest skateboarders in the game. Not just anyone can step to the daunting walls of this place! Just being there and taking it all in has the potential to give you the chills. 

But unfortunately, when the Burnside Bridge was originally built in 1926—long before Mark ‚Red‘ Scott and his crew started building under it in the early ’90s—modern earthquake safety regulations weren’t in place. By today’s standards, the bridge is a serious safety hazard for the surrounding community, especially if an earthquake actually hit! Pure chaos. 

Related: TWS Vault: Jason Hernandez Ep 21 | Burnside „Are You Alright?“

It’s all pretty heavy. Burnside is so much more than just a skatepark—it’s a straight-up historic landmark in skateboarding! And while I fully understand the importance of the bridge reconstruction for the safety of the community, the actual thought of Burnside not existing—or even closing for multiple years—is sort of hard to fathom.

That said, everything is still up in the air for now. This is obviously a massive project with countless details that still need to be worked out. However, meetings are taking place, planning is underway, and soon enough, we’ll know what the future holds for Burnside. Keep those fingers crossed! 

Related: Brent Atchley At Burnside

I’m stoked Zack was able to catch a few lines during his visit. If anything, let his video (and the news in general) inspire you to get up to Portland and see this historical place yourself! It should be on every skateboarder’s bucket list—no questions asked. Thanks for the info, Zack! We’ll do our best to post more as we learn more all the same. 

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Franky Villani and his musician buddy, Eyedress (who just happens to be a 5x platinum recording artist, according to his Instagram) have teamed up on a super limited, all-white colorway of Franky’s New Balance 417. The shoes drop this Friday, August 20th on Eyedress‘ website. Get a closer look below:

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I wasn’t totally familiar with Eyedress, but after doing a little research, it all makes sense. Not only is his music right up Franky’s alley, but Villani has even been featured on one (maybe more?) of his tracks as well. These two are collaborating on multiple levels and it’s rad to see. 

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In fact, this collaboration actually stemmed from Franky skating to Eyedress’ music. Being a skateboarder himself, Eyedress noticed Franky using his music and hit Franky in his DM, and, well…the rest is history. 

The shoes look ice-cold and super clean, stamped with some subtle Franky art on the back upper section of each shoe. Folks seem pretty pumped about them in the comments, gladly letting Villani and Eyedress that they’ll surely be copping a pair or two. Can’t beat a classic, all-white pair of NB# though, right? Right.

Related: Franky Villani Drops New Clips to Celebrate Launch of New Balance 417 Low Pro Model

Again, the shoes will be available this Friday, August 20th on the Eyedress online store. Not sure if shops will be getting these or not? But if you want a pair, tapping in here on Friday is your best bet! Congrats to these two on another rad collab. Slide your feet into a pair and start cooling off—summer is almost over! Let the shorter days and longer sessions begin. 

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From backflipping into an empty bowl to literally punching himself in the face, all eyes were on Greyson Fletcher at the first-ever Rockstar Energy Open this past weekend. Greyson charged through each of his runs with the fearless, borderline barbaric style he’s known for and put on quite a show, to say the least. Just check out some of these clips:

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If you’ve ever met Greyson, you know first hand that he approaches everything in life—on and off the board—with an insane amount of intensity. Full speed. No stop signs. No rules. No nonsense. He gets this spark inside of him that I don’t even think he can contain and leaves it all out on whatever wild terrain he’s skating. 

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All that energy is insanely infectious, too. You can’t pay for motivation like that! It’s all natural for Greyson. The dude is simply fired up! And he’s not afraid to show it. His runs are loose and impressive—full on freestyle attacks! It’s impossible to look away. You never really know what’s coming, but you know it’s going to be insane. There’s only one Greyson Fletcher. He’s a beast! 

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He had the crowd (and all participating skaters) on the edge of their seats literally every single time he dropped in. Or, in some cases, backflipped in. And he didn’t hold back. Boards flying in the air, Greyson flying in the air…it was pure chaos in all the best ways. 

Related: The Rockstar Energy Open is Coming to Downtown Portland, Oregon this August

The Rockstar Energy Open was the first of its kind and hosted some of the heaviest, hungriest up-and-comers in the game, along with plenty of familiar faces and even Olympians. Everyone who skated the contest—including the skate shop portion—absolutely killed it. 

But again, in my humble opinion, seeing Greyson do his thing was a major takeaway. I guess sometimes you don’t need to be standing tall on the podium to steal the show. Raw skateboarding (and, well…some goofy antics) are the perfect recipe all the same. 

Peep the Rockstar Energy Open results right here!

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Spitfire’s newest collaboration with Skate Like A Girl is here featuring a variety of wheels and apparel designed by artist (and ripping skater), Sam Bolton. They recently caught up with Sam at this year’s Wheels of Fortune event in Seattle to hear about the inspiration behind the new ‚Evolution‘ capsule and the importance of creating safe and inclusive spaces in skateboarding through community. Take a look:

Sam is a real one as is doing big things for her local community. It’s really cool to see. Her new Spitfire capsule is available at skate shops now and from what I’ve personally seen at our shop—the gear is moving fast! It’s really no surprise, either. Everything from the wheels to the apparel looks sick!

Hit your local and get your hands on some yourself. It always feels good to support rad people doing rad things. Community building at its finest! 

Related: Cherries Wheels Celebrates Two Years of Rolling with Rad New Edit

More about the Skate Like a Girl organization:

Skate Like A Girl is a community-led organization creating an inclusive community by promoting confidence, leadership, and social justice through skateboarding. A portion of the proceeds from this collection will go to help Skate Like A Girl do what they do.

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