Lawn Chair Skateboarding

Jamison P. Metzger, one of the original Lawn Chair Skateboarders.

 You know those days where you really want to go skateboarding, but you also really want to just sit in your garage in a lawn chair? Haven't you always wondered why you couldn't do both? Well its your lucky day! thanks to Lawn Chair Skateboarding you can have the best of both worlds!! This great new sport started here in our own Plymouth, Minnesota in the early 2000's when youths started to explore new ways to enjoy the leisurely ride of "Longboard"skateboards.

Speed wobbles!

 Please excuse the words all over the photos, the original footage is featured in the credits section of a snowboarding movie.

 As you can see the sport is simple put your chair on your board, adjust the seatback to achive your desired level of relaxation and let it ride!

Jamison shown here took his love of lawn chair skating to the western states.

 Heres a new twist on an old favorite: 2 longboards underneath an old plasitic and metal school chair! This is definately a riskier and more aggressive tactic, but its quite a rush.

Lawn Chair Skating, and to think that it all started in Plymouth Minnesota.

Sledding at Lion's Hill

Lion's hill, its technically in Crystal, but it was such a big part of my days of youth that I'm putting it in here. Its a sledding Paradise! Its got lights! Its got jumps! Its free! 

Location:

6822 32^nd Avenue North

 Crystal, MN

It's technical name is "Valley Place Park." But since it was sponsored by The Lions Club, I have always known it simply as Lion's Hill.

Its one of the best sledding hills I've ever seen. A giant mound in the middle of a big playfield. Perfect for sledding. Each side of the hill has something different to offer. the north side is the steepest and wildest, the south face is small and mellow. I've heard talk that there used to be a rope tow here, now a days you have to hike back up on your own strength.

Lion's has fun for everyone. As you can see here theres also 2 hockey rinks and a flooded field for skating on in winter time. They also have a warming house which is usually open, and a playground for summer time!

Night time dosn't mean its time to stop sledding! This well lit hill allows you to keep on trucking into the wee hours of the morning!

The North Face! aka the bumpy side

A common sight at Lion's: kids catching tons of air and having a good old time!!

Also my runner up sledding hill is Plymouth's french park: a great hill in it's own right!

Wakeskating

Dan Taylor going big on the CWB skate on Medicine Lake.

Since were deep in the heart of the Land o' Lakes I would like to describe one my my personal favorite activites: Wakeskating.  For those familiar with watersports you already know how fun this can be, for newcomers to the world of wake allow me to introduce you.

The Wakeskate is a board to be ridden on water and it differs from other boards because it has no bindings.  Thats right you just wear your old sneak's and tennies or you go buy a fresh pair of vans if you wanna get serious.

The allure of the wakeskate for me is it's accessability.  The wakeboarders and waterskiiers crave a big fancy boat, but on your wakeskate you're slashing behind your jet ski, your pontoon, your fishing boat, or whatever ghetto-rig you've got on hand. You could even ride behind your car if you can find somewhere to drive along side a flooded ditch!

Plymouth's own Jamison Metzger laying a nice wakeskate power slide. observe the classic Nike sneaks.

Hitting Rails on wakeskate at Plymouth's Schmidt Lake. Photo Credits to Seth Halsey and Geri Halsey

The wakeskate allows for a lot of creativity.  Watch some videos on Youtube, get some Ideas, do whatever you want, hit some rails ride across the grass, bring along some homies and make a day of it.

The bomb drop on the old SF Giants wakeskate.

Well this may all sound like a real blast but you may be saying to yourself: "Yo, dogg, i'm flippin burgers at mickey D's, where am I going to come up with 100$ to get a wakeskate?" Well your worries are over because I was once in your shoes as well: Check out Plymouth's top skater Stu J rocking the plywood skate:

First cut your piece of wood in the shape you want it...

...Then drop in. (Stu Jackson Plywood Wakeskate)