Talega, a popular skate spot with every local company and their moms throwing slide jams and races there so walking up the hill was a familiar scene. Skaters sliding their way jamming down the hill and spectators hanging out at the hairpin left where most of the crashing takes place.
With a small ramp set up and a group of skaters and many familiar faces a good time was to be had. Pizza was delivered to the hill ordered and consumed by the Laguna kids and there were people from L.A all the way to San Diego that drove out to attend the event.
For those of you unfamiliar with Talega it is a pretty gnarly hill not to ridden unless you know how to slide or a ready to learn. The bottom half of the road consists of 3 big hairpins and a fun lefty at the beginning. Skaters usually start just above these hairpins. The straightaways to them is steep forcing you to have to drift each one and the pavement is super buttery making it a great hill for free riding.
A good group of shredders showed up to the event and lots of skin was left at the hill.
Video shot and edited by: Lee Eisler
With an eclectic mix of big name riders and free agents – some hailing from as far as the Philippines – present, the Talega Halloween Slide Jam once again proved that SoCal can provide a world-class course.
It was fun seeing people dressed up and pushing the limit doing absolutely gnarly maneuvers on their skateboards. With the two kicker ramps set up riders had plenty of launch to help them go big. Both kicker ramps were big, however the large kicker ramp was just massive. This ramp made for both big tricks and big falls. 
Everyone got plenty of runs in and before we knew it, it was time for the contest to begin. Hot dogs were consumed and the plenty of grilling was getting done while lights and generators were set up. Darkness was falling and as the road became less and less visible a police chopper flew in and provided light for some riders. After about 20 minutes of the spotlight as the only light, the generators were fired up and the course was back to daylight.
With a police chopper still circling over head with their spotlight the event began. Run after run, trick after trick, a spotlight from above and tons of riders ripping created a really cool atmosphere. Forty minutes to an hour went by when three police officers came walking up the hill with their flashlights. “Do you know how much money it costs to put a chopper in the air?” one officer said. “We honestly thought you were just helping us out with light,” a skater replied.
Due to a stupid law in San Clemente the event was shut down by the 5-0. Apparently due to the powers of darkness you are not allowed to skateboard at night in the city of San Clemente. The cops were nice about it and let us pack up and leave, with no citations..
We all met at a park right down the street from where the slide jam was. Awards and swag were handed out to anxious skaters. Everyone got a hat, dvd and plenty of stickers. Many riders got trucks, wheels, gloves and several other prizes were handed out to the winners. Three lucky winners left with brand new Sector 9 decks.
1st Place- Duke Degan
Check back for other winners. I have forgotten in all the mayhem.
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