Over the weekend, the third of five Unlock The Spot events took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with MTN DEW team skateboarder Mariah Duran. The grassroots tour continues to bring together the local skateboard community. The afternoon featured photo opportunities, free MTN DEW samples, a chance to meet and hang out with their hometown skateboarding icon, and open access to sessions on the three-block set at Civic Plaza.
Despite the blistering heat in the Chihuahuan Desert, ABQ locals showed up in numbers. On-site, we had Filter skateboard shop handing out free shop tees to the crowd, DJ GabeJ on the turntables, and Alex Cole on the mic ushering fans to get their photo taken in the skateboarding is… booth and grab an ice cold MTN DEW.
Skateboarders quickly signed and were wristed banned up to skate the three-block. The set is the height of nine stairs but lengthy, like a 12. Skaters took their time warming up on the set, conserving their energy for the cash-for-tricks contest. All three Duran siblings—Mariah, Elijah, Zeke— were in the mix and opened the jam with a back-to-back-to-back family ollie. Mariah also announced at Unlock The Spot that she has teamed up with Skate Like a Girl to award $1,500 to cover costs to one lucky winner to attend Wheels of Fortune 11 (WOF) in Seattle, Washington. Click here for more info and submit your application before it closes on Tuesday, July 26th.
Once the cash-for-tricks announcement was made, the crowd surrounded the plaza to watch locals get down and skaters crammed into the back corner of the run-up. Highlights that went down include Hytham Abutaha (@jon___rogers) with a 360 flip and double kickflip, Bryant Chapo (@chapo2k_) with a barrage of ticks from nollie and switch ollie to backside kickflip and nollie heelflip, @gusshhii goes the distance with an ollie one foot over the bottom rail, Zeke kisses the bottom with a 5-O and closing out the session after a long battle was Jeremy Salazar (@happyxloco) with a stomped bigger flip.
Big thank you to the Albuquerque skateboard community and everyone that came out to support their hometown icon, Mariah Duran. Stay tuned for more info on the next Unlock The Spot location and dates coming soon.
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