On January 2nd, part of the ambition team left for Detroit to meet up with fellow riders for 1 week of snowskate madness. After 12 hours of driving from Sherbrooke to the Pure state of Michigan, all were reunited in what was sure to be a great start to the 2013 winter season. Pizza and pop were what awaited our friends when the ambition truck rolled into Dave's driveway. The trip, surely, had had a promising beginning.
Ambition team
After a night's rest, and despite having watched scary documentaries about Detroit's collapse, the crew went to the infamous Hart Plaza for the trip's first session. Following a quick warm-up on one of the plaza's smaller gaps, the boys were ready to whip out the cameras and get the action rolling. Already, by 2 pm, a good number of tricks had been stomped on obstacles within the plaza. Out-ledges, gaps and many pads were Ambition's for the taking. The guys ended their first session of the trip with a treat - America's best Chili Dog, as prepared by Lafayette Coney Island.
The night session that followed was at a platform that was seemingly placed in the middle of nowhere. Guard-rails setup at an angle were approached from the side in order to attempt keys and variations on one of snowskate's timeless tricks: the much loved backside boardslide. Other riders decided to trick over the obstacle instead, and Phil Moreau did a fs 180 which's level of steez pretty much ended the session. With more than 10 good clips logged on the first day, Detroit was proving to be a very generous city.
Day two's mission was riding the spots found in a plaza surrounding an abandoned school - the maybe haunted Pontiac High School. A nice and long painted rail, an oversized stair set and two perfect seven stairs (which were very doable in a line) ended up being the focus of the session. Needless to say, good times were had and sick shots were filmed. The crew celebrated with a night of Asian Buffet feasting and fun laid-back riding.
Our last day of part one of Ambition's Detroit 2013 trip was spent in Anne Arbor. There was a perfect handrail that allowed Dave to film tricks that had never before been seen on a rail like this. We were all super hyped and decided to film some funky clips to celebrate. To finish the day, we found a really nice spot on our way to Kalamazoo city. A huge gap as well as a 10 stair set were hit and the results were fantastic. The first leg was done, we were all ready for another 3 days of riding.
spot checking
Source: www.ambitionsnowskates.com , text and photos: Josh Seguin
And here's a bonus edit from our good friend Adam Shomsky, thanks for the great edit.
