Thrasher Magazine

Josh Matwijiw, gap to egg attempt. This one is yet to be done. So is front blunt, where you at, Mashy?

Let’s face it—you came here for the big airs and bogans, which inherently is at the heart of the Belco Bowl Jam, due to its location in Canberra, Australia. And you will get that throughout this bunch of photos. But we’re here to acknowledge all the ripping that takes place, with a mention of the laid-back format and anyone-is-welcome attitude being the things that help make the Belco Jam what it is.

Oh, and the other drawcard for making the trek—the theatrics! You’re going to get a solid dose of all types of Australianism, like getting slapped in the face with a plugga (flip flop) by a dude in nylon booty shorts that hasn’t drank water in three days and whose entire vocabulary is made up of “mate,” “cheers,” and “c*nt” (pronounced- ‘KAARRRNT’). And we love it.

It’s a prescription for fun memories. Or maybe no memory. The guy at the adjacent bottlo (liquor store) told me during the Belco Jam they sell more booze in one day than they usually do in a month. Talk about stimulating the local economy.

Thank you to the guys and girls who work hard to bring us this event each year, namely Potty and Jim Fowlie. And, of course, Vans and all the sponsors that put up the money so this can happen and the skaters can have a crack at getting some of that purse—a pretty decent purse for an event of this nature. Let’s get into it. —Wade Mclaughlin

Photos by Wade Mclaughlin, Bryce Golder and Michael Burnett

It seems like this is becoming a tradition, so I’m including it in the article: Friday morning Kambah U-pipe session. Taniah Meyers will skate anything. Backside boneless

Liam Pace, backside ollie the channel with only a board’s width against the wall. Watch GT in Scabs for Slabs for reference

Ryan Helm was piecing together wall-to-wall lines before taking a bad slam and breaking his wrist. First one straight to the ER

Just when you thought the session was over, Marley Rae ruthlessly did a line into this burn twist on the following run. Now the session is over

Over to spot one, Glebe Park. Slam dispenser

Instagram vs reality

Then Rome Collyer shut it down in typical fashion. Front feeble

Moving on…

Spot two, Bailey’s 6. Theo Clarke getting things going with a backside noseblunt

GABBERS! Kickflip crooks

Getting laughed at for straddling a tree. How much can a Koala Bear?

Rio Morishige came through and shut the shit down. KFBSNB

Next up, a short stroll to the goon bag out ledge. Brad Saunders brings the ol’ faithful

Straight off the back of a holiday in Europe, Corey Nixon needed money. Front blunt

George Bidgood, Noah Bardas, Jedd Mckenzie and Poppy Starr all being cute

WE’RE NOT WORTHY!

Conz, that’s not the bar

CHURCH / Vans Showdown catwalk is next up

UUUUGHHH

The Rome show, crooked grind flips all day

Enter: “Tradie Guy,” an obvious shoe-in for best trick

You get that on the big jobs, as they say

This is why Belco is the sickest. Tradie Guy wins best trick. Sorry, Rome!

*An

Posseshot in the house. GET THE FUCKIN’ MONEY UP!

Tools down and time for the afters. Jezza, Kharni, Jared, Kieran, Corbin and Ryan, partial to a beer

Wheelbite!

You might recognize the DJ from TV shows such shows as the X Games

High noon the following day, we’re kicking things off with this installation at the library. First up, Luke Benson with what looks like a pressure flip

Spot one-and-a-half, because no one expected this to happen. Well, except for one person  

Nixen Osborne is that one person

Handled business quick

Jimmah was chasing back-ups and tried gapping to the second down part of the rail. He clipped and got bucked. Don’t worry, he was okay and he will fight again

Spot two, kicker gap to hubba. Santiago Rossi fires it up with a K grind

This thing looked hard to skate. Gabe Wilk takes best trick with a back Smith

Tradie Guy returns but without PPE and demonstrates what can happen when you don’t follow the workplace health-and-safety guidelines in Australia

Shifting our attention to the double—with new and improved runup! Lenard Tejada handles a tré flip in just a few

Questionable lift followed by an unidentified flying parkour kid

Theo Clarke kept getting robbed on this gap to back 5-0

Got it done, though. MONEY UP!

Nixen can’t stop, wont stop. Gap lip

Rome gets the gap to 5-0 from the front 

He loves it!

Another NBD to the list, Gab to K grind, you beauty!

Next up, the house of horrors rail turned out to be really hard. Ethan Copeland came in HOT, then took down the last archway with his body. No one made the thing before the next event was scheduled. Charlie Holland got it straight after for the ‘Gram. Alright, onto the main event!

With the stands filling, consent is given by the traditional owners of the land for this event to take place—known as a “Welcome to Country” ceremony

Starting off the official Bowl Jam, the girls scorched it this year. Arisa Trew, hauling on a feeble fakie

Keira E has a sick bag of tricks. Bluntslide

It might look a little crazy, but this kickflip indy was a make

Poppy, blasting a judo

Now we’re lookin’ for the longest grind time. The defending champion sets the bar, before he hit his head and sat out the rest of the event. Heal up!

Zion wasn’t aware of the one-truck rule. High-speed lipslide’s a treat to watch nonetheless

Time to kick out the jams. Jedd Mckenzie with high-flying lines

Wildman ‘Dro, proper frontside invert

Trey Wood, lofty lien

Channel action was heated. Brendon Cross brings a beaut’ Sal flip

Liam Pace spins an Indy five. Respectable

Flip stale on lock

Heelflip Indy, piece of piss

Still won’t stop

Tom Schaar’s in the house, and he brought Shecks to fakie

Haven’t blinked since I got here on Thursday

Safe to say this has never been done. Tom, flip back lip

I’m sure they’re saying, “FARKEN OATH, KARNT”

GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, ZION

A swarm of 5s from the young bloods in the duets challenge. Huddy with the melon species

Dubbed “The Young Goat,” Harvey Campbell went with a twisted-up Indy 5 to back up Pedro’s frontside invert over the channel

The good homies

Josh takes a different approach. The eggy worked this time

And we’re onto the high-air portion of the jam. The official height adjudicator doing an immaculate job

CJ Hawker with a massive chicken wing

Conz got his shit together and Josh started flying

Best and worst seats in the house

Lachie Abbot rocked up just in time for big air, no warmup—or sleep, I hear

They were neck and neck, going again and again until it was settled

That must have felt nice. W for Joshy

You knew there was gonna be a wild-card undies kid

Steelo and Chima in the crowd

Now for some extension action, George Richards with the backside nosegrind

Jake Harvey with the rare frontside rock 'n' roll slide

Ethan kicks off the final jam and the young goat flings a V-bomb Indy

Moo lives to blast frontside

Ethan didn’t skate the techest but he skated the sickest. HIGH-SPEED SMITH

Tom casually gapping to back tail mid-run

Show-stopper and the nail in the coffin. Alley-oop 540 over the channel

Yes, King!

We give you the actual Queen and King of the Bowl

The royal ceremonies wouldn’t be complete without the court jesters and some post-match entertainment

Over to the Basement. How good is this stubby cooler?! And how did Rome get in here?

Toemance

Time for the the real reason people come to Belco, the legitimate title in the the leg-wrestling championship

We had a few new contenders this year vying for a shot at the champ, and a women’s division! I thought this may have been a world first until I Googled it. These legends are trailblazers nonetheless

Jadey the Tradie exhibited flawless technique and unprecedented power to take out Taniah in the final

Pioneer. The first-ever Women's Belco Leg Wresling Champion Jade Stewart. Remember the name. She'll be back next year to defend her title

Time for the main event. The number-one contender had been determined to have the opportunity, the honor, the absolute fighting chance to take out the undisputed champion

You may not like it, but this is what the peak-male-athletic form looks like

But wait, what’s this?!

Upset of the millennia! Gimmie that belt, sucka! Not enough spinach, aye Conzy?

A legend is born. And the new Belco Leg Wrestling League Champion of the World of Belco is…Brenden "Big Woody" Wood!! It’s their night

All’s well that ends well. See you next year