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Roll Twin Ports Wrap-up - 06/09/12Roll Twin Ports Wrap-up
The Midwest is known for having great competitions and the most recognizable is Adam Gibsons I4I battles, but in recent years I4I has faded away and a new competition has taken its place, that competition is Roll Twin Ports. This years RTP was the fifth installment of the series that takes place in Superior Wisconsin.  Over the five years the competition has grown from a local event of 30 people to a regional affair with over 150 attendants. Superior is renowned for having one of the best skate parks in the area which has been the focal point of the pre-comp session and a place where many of the attendants camp out. RTP was the brainchild of Jesse Olson, Emery Gossett and Ryan Unterberger who got the idea after going to an I4I battle in Minneapolis and adopting the attitude “Why can’t we do it?” Five years later the three are still organizing the competition. The 2006 RTP had some of the biggest names in rollerblading competing for the respect that first place brings; some of the favorites to win were Jeph Howard, Ben Weis and Brad Magnuson. The rest of the field was a mix of local rippers and people coming out to enjoy themselves.  Spot one was a classic RTP location that’s been familiar to the skaters over the years as a mellow rail that allows for any kind of switch up the skater desires. In the past the spot has allowed hundreds of technical tricks but this year it wasn’t meant to be, Spot one was an early bust, but before the police came to break up the party Chase Linzmeyer stunned the crowd with some amazing switch ups. With the first spot busting out the organizers did what they do best, wing it.  They took the eager crowd of rollerbladers to Woodland Middle School, an 11 stair rail of average steepness. In a double set near the 11 stair the Ben Weis show flipped on. In typical Weis fashion he landed a disaster fakie 270 royal which stole the show. In a more painful highlight Ben Fredrickson got worked when he smashed his back on a landing that later earned him a prize for most painful fall. Spot three was supposed to be a kink rail but soon became a bust when flaws were discovered in the landing and steadiness of the rail which prevented it from being skated. The final spot soon floated to a nearby technicolor down rail with limited landing space. All of the finalists killed the spot and capped off the competition in style. Other highlights of the day were Jeph Howard 360 mizou switch and natural, Jay Davis true kindgrind and Gunnar Grey top acid to true acid. “It went as smooth as we could have hoped,” said Jesse Olson, one of the competition organizers.  The results are as followed 1. Brad Magnuson
3. Charlie Martin2. Jay Davis  For the 2007 RTP Olson and the other organizers are creating the RTP Classic, an event in which the skaters pick all the spots. “We are going to let people skate what they want,” said Olson. They are also hoping to have live music and a cookout at the skatepark for the pre-comp session. For more information you can go to their Myspace. www.myspace.com/rolltwinports -Ryan McDonald 
Tags: ben weis brad magnuson charlie martin emery gossett jay davis jeph howard jesse olson roll twin port rtp ryan mcdonald ryan unterberger | |
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4 comments so far
Thanks everyone for making RTP what is is. Thanks Ryan McDonald and thank you Be-mag for helping us out. See everyone next year.
rtp is a good time.
Wow, i don’t get it where did this come from i live in waukesha close to milwaukee u think someone would of told me about this shit…owell.
So yeah instead of going to RTP i had to go to a formal diner, which wasn’t that cool, and then to a wedding for a friend which was fine. But niether of those things come anywhere near RTP. I would like to say thank you to Knappy for calling me and asking me where I was, that was nice. The pics look great.
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