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Woodward, PA- Who ever imagined that one of the greatest skate camp facilities in the world would be located amidst the acres of farmland in Pennsylvania's Amish country? Woodward Camp, the only extreme sports training camp in the United States, was the site of the third stop in the second leg of Tony Hawk's 2001 Gigantic Skatepark Tour.Hundreds of people, including both campers and visitors, gathered to watch over fifteen pro skaters and BMX riders in the now annual event dedicated to promoting extreme sports. Led by longtime pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, the demo consisted of two sessions. The hour-long street exhibition featured Mike Vallely, Kris Markovich, Steve Berra, Steve Caballero, Willy Santos, X-Games Gold Medalist and Skater of the Year Eric Koston, and Hawk's 8-year-old son, Riley. Rick Thorne and Mike "Rooftop" Escamilla joined to exhibit BMX tricks. As expected, unbelievable stunts were delivered by the pros, including death drops from Vallely, kickflips from Koston, and backflips from Thorne.
After a fifteen-minute break, the pros moved to Woodward's premiere B3 Vert Ramps to demonstrate their gravity-defying skills. Other skaters joined in this session, including Anthony Furlong, Colin McKay, Jason Ellis, a wrist-sprained Bucky Lasek, 14-year-old phenom Shawn White, and of course, Tony Hawk, who wowed the crowd with a couple of 900's. Joined by high-flying Kevin Robinson, Rick Thorne added some bike tricks on vert. Ollies, nollies, fakies, and grinds were abound, although the pros added their own personal twists to increase the difficulty of the traditional skateboarding routines. In BMX, Robinson soared well over seven feet above the ramps while performing no-handed tricks and several incredible flairs. To further enthuse the crowd, Eric Koston took over emcee duties, and kept the audience amused with unsolicited comments and clever antics.
The second leg of the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour is scheduled to stop at Hang Loose Extreme Sports in North Carolina on June 22, before wrapping up the 2001 series at Paradise Funplex in Florida on June 24. Bam Margera will be rejoining the pros for the remainder of the east coast leg, although Woodward was the last stop for both Steve Berra and Mike Vallely. Look for the entire tour series to be televised on ESPN and ESPN2 beginning July 28.