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Visiting skaters pose at the inaugural Hart Lines event last August. (Red Bull photo)
Jordan Garland, a local filmmaker and skakateboard competitor, makes a compelling case for visiting Hart Plaza this weekend. In his first article for Metro Times, the 27-year-old writes about the second annual Red Bull Hart Lines event:
It's free to come out and watch, and is definitely one of the only times Metro Detroiters will have the opportunity to witness some of the best skateboarders on the planet.
He's not exaggerating. The organizer is Ryan Sheckler of San Clemente, Calif., a Summer X Games three-time gold medalist.
Entrants doing practice rips Friday include Tommy Fynn of Brisbane, Australia; Ryan Decenzo, 29, of Vancouver and Ben Hatchell, 28, of California.
The event features 20 street skaters from around the world, competing on existing features in the downtown plaza's amphitheater bowl and on stair sets, rails and ledges added by California Ramp Works.
Action starts at 11 a.m. Saturday with la Motor City Grind Shop Battle among 12 entrants from six local skate shops, followed by a 2 p.m. qualifying round for the pros. The top seven skaters advance to finals, where they face last year's top five finishers.
That for-real round will be livestreamed Sunday at Red Bull TV, starting at 2 p.m. Highlights will air June 26 on NBC at 1 p.m.
Ben Hatchell, a 28-year-old Californian, practices on the coure Friday afternoon. (Red Bull photo)
We kickflip back to Metro Times:
The setup snakes through a nearly completely transformed Hart Plaza, which is laced with ramps, rails and ledges alongside the many stair sets and obstacles that are already there. . . .
While an event like this could potentially alienate local skaters, that's not the case. Hart Lines includes a local section of the competition, where some of the best skateboarders from Michigan will square off against one another on the course. Plus, Modern Skate Shop and a slew of other shops are allowed to submit a couple team riders they sponsor into the event to compete before the pros. . . .
As skateboarders, just like the rest of the citizens in Detroit, we are finally seeing the era where the industry is showing love to our city and supporting the scene.
It isn’t every day you get to witness people who are this level of incredible at their craft, especially for free, and its definitely not every day you get to attend an event of this caliber within the city limits.
See five short videos from the 2015 competition here. The overall winner was 19-year-old Curren Caples of California, who won $35,000 and a Dodge Challenger R/T.
-- Alan Stamm
