Slaughter At The Gnar Gnar Corner

This is what I was greeted by when I first showed up. What the Fuck!!?

Sickest backdrop for a contest.

That was happening a lot. 

Can you guess who these pre-teen girls where going crazy for?

The youngins love free merch. 

Phelps kept the crowd hyphy all day. 

Sheckler left with a mild concussion, I wonder if we'll hear about it on The Life of Ryan. 

Sean Malto, backside noseblunt.

Nick Dompiere, kicky boardslide.

This was the worst slam of the day, Gailea Momolu ate some serious shit, but got back up like a real G. 

Ryan Decenzo, back smith. He did it nollie as well, I don't remember which one this is though. 

Though he didn't land this switch kickflip, Sean Malto got hella close to landing it. Just look how high he popped that shit, it could have cleared a small child. 

Second place "Green room" Adam Dyet, kickflip backside tailslide. 

Braydon signing some giveaways.

Victory Doobie!

The Winner's Circle.

$25,000 for Lutzka the 1st place winner. 

. . . Now for the Afterparty. . . 

It also happened to be Mardi Gras, right outside the venue. 

The kids were getting creative with the marquee while waiting to get in. 

Jameson and Cooper's. 

They premiered Episode 3 of Globe's United By Fate series. 

A couple of sick bands played. 

I think the bartab was around $10,000. Needless to say this guy was busy. 

Well, it's finally here, sorry it took soo long to post but I didn't bring my computer to Sydney and I had hella class the next day I got back. So without any further adieu here's my story and i'm stickin to it. I left for the Gold Coast on Friday afternoon to catch my plane to Sydney, however, halfway to the airport, which takes about an hour and a half to get to, I get a voicemail from Virgin Blue Airlines telling me that my flight has been canceled. Way to be prompt about it Virgin Blue, fuckers. So I headed back to Brisbane for the night. I left at six in the morning from Brisbane to reach the Gold Coast for my 10:55 am flight to Sydney, which means I wouldn't get there until 1:30pm, a half hour before The Slaughter At The Opera, which is the only reason I was going there in the first place. Needless to say I was a half hour late for the contest, and by the time I got there it was a mob scene and they weren't letting anyone in because they were at max capacity. So I hung around the front gate just hoping a miracle would happen, and lo and behold, it did. Some guy with a black vip wristband (this means you get to be right on the course and with all the pros and photographers and filmers) was standing next to me talking to his girlfriend about how he was kind of over it and didn't mind going home, he said, "I think i'll just stoke some kid out with this." At that point I said, "dude i'll take it," to which he didn't really say anything, which I took as a sign that he was gonna give it to some little kid. Five or so minutes later and after I continued to look anxious enough he came over and gave me the wristband. Victory. I headed into the contest and started taking pics immediately. Shit was going off. The skaters were ripping shit up and the kids were going nuts. Lots of hammers went down, some big slams, and just a general good ass time had by all. Eventually when it was all said and done Greg Lutzka took home first place and $25,000, Adam Dyet took second with $15,000, and I believe Ryan Decenzo took third. After that I headed to check into my hostel, The Railway Square YHA, which is located right next to Sydney Central Railway Station, a perfect location for getting around Sydney. Got a nice shower in and then went out into the city to find some grub and the other reason I came, The Slaughter At The Afterparty. Oh yeah, it was also Mardi Gras, and in Sydney it's a huge party in the city. Finally after fighting the insane Mardi Gras crowds, my six pack and I found a chill Turkish place right on Oxford Street, which is the street Mardi Gras and the Afterparty were located. I got my grub on and head two stores down to the Oxford Art Factory which is where the Afterparty was being held. Hella people were already there but I manage to wiggle my way up to the front and got in with the second wave of partygoers, they were only letting ten in at a time. Once inside I began to soak up the good vibes and atmosphere of the place. Eventually Lutzka rolled in as one of the first pros to show up. I bought him brew and we drank to the Midwest and Slaughter victory. After that the party just got better and better. I met hella cool people and took a ton of pics, I felt like the Cobrasnake there for a minute. A couple of bands played which I don't really remeber except for the pics I took because I was on hammered autopilot by that time. They also premiered Globe's United By Fate Episode 3, featuring Jake Duncombe and Matt Mumford, along with other Globe riders. Eventually, at what time I have no idea, I stumbled away from the venue and caught a cab back to the hostel. It was an epic day to say the least and I hope some of these pics will communicate that. The next two days in Sydney I just chilled and did some sightseeing, which you can read about on the post under this one, i'll probably put up some pics from my day Monday, but they will have to wait until the ones above have enough time to digest in your eyeballs. Enjoy. Oh yeah, big thanks to Thrasher Magazine, Globe shoes, The Oxford Art Factory, and the city of Sydney for making shit happen. Cheers.