Thrasher Magazine

When O’Conn broke the news to us that he was sending everyone to Puerto Rico for ten days, it was a bit of a shock seeing that most of the group, myself included, had never been out of the country (granted Puerto Rico is still US turf but we don’t need to discuss that here). Needless to say, we were all very excited to check out the island and see what it had to offer. And with the crew consisting of Matt Militano, Ryan Townley, Jeff Carlyle, Max Taylor, Darien Brown, O’Conn and myself, we had a feeling it was going to be a pretty interesting time. As an unexpected bonus, O’Conn got us a penthouse on the top floor of a building directly across the street from the Ritz-Carlton with a picture-perfect view of the beach. Mix this with partially overdosing on chicken, rice and beans (alongside the ever so popular Medalla), having my tooth split in half on the fourth day and O’Conn purposefully driving the wrong way down one-ways just for the hell of it and we had all the ingredients for a crazy trip. Everyone overcame the hot, sticky weather and we were able to give PR a good run for its money. A huge shout out to our amazing tour guides Javier Gutierrez, Yariel Melendez and everyone at rePResent skate shop in San Juan. The trip wouldn’t have been the same without you guys. Until next time, Puerto Rico!

 

Words and Photos: Alex Papke

Straight off the plane we picked up our rental car and made it to our beachside penthouse, which came equipped with two stories of roof access overlooking the ocean. Ideal group photo spot

Shortly after dropping off our bags and meeting up with some locals, we made our way to the first spot of the trip. Can’t go wrong with a bunch of marble ledges, right? Not sure if the locals sleeping at the spot we’re necessarily feeling us or not

Ryan Townley not wasting any time and going straight for this 180 nosegrind from flat

I’ve always loved the way kickflip tailslides look. Add a drop at the end of the ledge and make it a switch flip front tail and we’re really talking! Max Taylor has no problem going the distance with this one

Townley getting his back with a front blunt

Matt Militano soaking up the scenic views of Old San Juan

Ryan Townley has a good eye for spots. Hefty frontside wallride with an enjoyable view

When you speak minimal Spanish, it’s not always easy to figure out when you’re getting the boot. This disgruntled employee posing as security didn’t phase Darien one bit

After circling the block, Ryan Townley was able to do this gap to frontside lipslide first go. Atta boy

And even better, the ice cream man was waiting at our car once Ryan landed his trick. Doesn’t get much better than that!

We hit up a local university but security was on us pretty tight. Max snuck in this frontside boardslide while the rent-a-cops were looking the other way

As soon as we started sizing up this rail, a security guard spotted us and called for back up. Ryan got proactive and jumped on it quick, taking this boardslide to the end and riding away in seconds

As soon as Ryan rode away from his boardslide, we were greeted by dozens of security guards. None of them spoke any English, but their hand gestures said enough. They were nice enough to personally escort us off campus

Funny story about this one: as soon as we rolled up to this spot I immediately got stoked on it for obvious reasons. I saw Matt jumping into 180 nose grinds and knew the photo would look rad. I was excited to get my lights set up and was hurriedly trying to unhook a super-tight bungee cord on my camera bag when the damn thing slipped through my fingers and hit me in my mouth, splitting my front tooth in half. Coincidentally, it was Friday the 13th. I did get set up and got the photo right before getting kicked out, though, so that was kinda lucky

O’Conn getting second angles

Jeff Carlyle taking things seriously with this man-sized no comply

“Vacation Day”

Jeff soaking up the sun while Townley strategically changes behind the garbage can

Townley making kickflip footplants look way easier than they actually are

Max getting his back with a curvy grind transfer

Typical tourist shit

The locals at the park in Augadilla were more than hyped to get a free board

This dude was beyond stoked to get free product. Even an elbow to the face couldn’t stop him

Matt trying to embrace his inner photographer

As soon as we pulled up to this spot, I knew that all of the colors on the building would make the photo look great, however, I didn’t anticipate getting stuck in the rain with all of my equipment. Ryan landed this Smith just as the drops started falling from the sky, as you can see by the water on my fisheye

After a two-hour drive back from the west side of the island, our tipsy tour guide Yariel Melendez had no problem doing this heelflip in the middle of the night. This dude knew every spot on every section of the island. You go, Yari!

Matt, Darien and Jeff enjoy breakfast with a view

Round two at this spot: this time Ryan takes a 180 switch front crook to regular all the way home

One of many smoke breaks.

For our last day, everyone was feeling a bit broke off so we made the executive decision to hike to a swimming spot on the east side of the island

Jeff throwing a backflip off of the high dive somewhere deep in the rain forest. Not a bad way to spend the last day of the trip. Thanks for the good times, Puerto Rico!