In Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, they are blessed with many things, including great weather, no Covid and a state-of-the-art 14 foot vert ramp. CIB Bay of Plenty thought it would be rude not to take advantage of that while they can! How? With the first vert roller skating competition in New Zealand.
Skaters travelled from across the North Island to take part in the Vert Ramp Champs in Mount Maunganui on Saturday, Feb. 27th. It was the first time a vert roller skating competition has been held in New Zealand with almost 30 competitors taking part – with almost half of those aged under 16.
Aucklander Rose Crooks took the overall crown from the Open Advanced skaters, while Whakatane local Fiona Dominick took out the Open Intermediate section, and Mount Maunganui’s Ishta Joyce took out first place in the Juniors.
The competition also saw a doubles run section, with skaters teaming up and taking to the ramp in pairs, with the winner judged by the crowd and fellow competitors. Skaters pulled out all the stops in this category, using each other to carve under, jump over and handplant on. Family bonds prevailed in the doubles, with sister acts Ishta & Cleo and Tamara & Jaydene taking first and second place respectively.
CIB Founder Lady Trample and local ramp legend Camille Roberts judged the competition, with prizes kindly sponsored by S1, Chuffed Skates, CIB, Impala, Skatescool Tauranga and Pure NZ Water.
VERT RAMP CHAMPS FULL RESULTS
Advanced:
Runner up: Kyle Hamilton
Winner: Rose Crooks
Intermediate:
Runner up: Tami Masters
Winner: Fiona Dominick
Junior:
Third place: Elia Langdon Paniora
Runner up: Leila Stewart
Winner: Ishta Joyce
Doubles:
Runners Up: Tamara & Jaydene
Winners: Ishta and Cleo
Biggest Air: Kyle Hamilton
Best trick: Ivy Bates
Chuffed Skates Spirit of Skating Award: Thomas
After the event Thomas’ mom Mel said: “Thomas is 11. Skating seems to be like a delight machine for him. No matter how his day has been or the challenges faced, skating brings a smile to his face and a bounce and roll to his step. Thomas’s second hand skates were literally falling apart so he is super excited about winning new skates in the competition. “
Words by Caitlin Burns
Photos by Karlie Morrow