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Leeside, Vancouver
UPDATE: This park review is about 2 years old. Currently there is nothing down
at Leeside except for a bunch of gravel. We had a few good winters but Leeside
is done for now. There are rumors that some small concrete features may get built
down there but nothing is for certain.
This is leeside, dark and dusty.
Description:
Leeside is a spot that up until now the city has ignored, it's a free for all
for bmxers, skaters and graf artists. leeside was originally started by a skater
named lee who got the pm skateboards trailer down there somehow. after that more
wood and more ramps kept getting added and modified in a never ending process
that keeps things changing. the park is in an unused tunnel under hastings, it's
all sketchy wood ramps, it's lit at night, almost always deserted very, very fun.
the top end of the tunnel starts out with the pm trailer that has two 4' quarters
stuck together with wedges at either end. beside that is the big roll-in that
was built to give you speed for the box jump that was recently built. the box
jump is about 5' high with a 6' long deck. after the box jump is a 6' quarter
hip with a big wedge landing. beside the wedge is a 5' quarter that you can't
really see in the photos. it has coping on it and it is slowly sliding down the
wall, getting mellower every year.
at the other end of the park is a new 5' quarter with a trough where coping should
be that you can stall in. against the other wall is a 6' quarter that goes right
up to vert and right up the wall. beside that is a 4' quarter with a little 1'
wide deck on it, good for wallrides. then there's the 5' street spine and the
4 1/2' tranny to tranny box with the sub-rail on top. the sub-rail is right at
bar height.
as you can see from the photos leeside is pretty dark, kinda dirty, full of sketchy
ramps made from found materials, and is totally covered in graffiti. this is the
main problem that the city is having with the park. one side of the tunnel is
a park and the pne and on the other side is the emergency response building so
noise isn't the problem. there are skateparks all over the lower mainland so that
isn't the problem either. the problem is that the graffiti artists, after spraying
all over the walls, ramps, ceiling, and floor of leeside finally ran out of room
and started to paint the walls outside of the tunnel and into the neighborhood
nearby. because of this graffiti problem leeside may be shut down soon so get
there while you can.
Note:
If you go to Leeside now you might notice that half of this stuff is missing.
That's just the way Leeside is. Things burn down or get torn down to make new
stuff, it's always changing. This review is a snapshot of what Leeside looked
like in it's prime.
Address/Directions:
E. pender at rupert under hastings st. (near the pne) from the south-west corner
of hastings and where you get onto the highway (there are traffic lights here),
there is a walkway that goes down to an alley way. follow this walkway and turn
around at the bottom to head back under the street.
Comments? Click
Here
pm skateboards trailer, wedge, quarter, quarter, wedge, all 4' tall.
here's the big roll-in. there's no railing on the back of it so it's a straight 20' fall to broken boards and empty spray cans off the back.
5' box jump.
6' quarter to wedge hip and you can barely see the 5' quarter with coping in the background.
the 6' vert quarter that goes straight up the wall.
4' quarter with a narrow little deck.
the new 4 1/2' quarter with a railing on the back. there's a trough for coping but there's no coping in it. it's pretty cool.
here's the 5' street spine.
this is the 4' tranny to tranny box with the sub-rail on top.
the sub-rail is a big board that sits right at bar height.
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