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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend July 18, 2002 Ashland�s Mason Huggins is one of 100 skateboarders taking part in this weekend�s Pacific Northwest Amateur Skateboard League event. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Board Games Thirteen-year-old Mason Huggins figures to be one of the star attractions for this weekend’s skateboarding event By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune There’s one nuance that serious skateboarders learn before all others: How to crash. "It doesn’t hurt too bad if you learn how to crash right," explains Mason Huggins from beneath a decal-festooned, red helmet. "But if you fall wrong, you can really hurt yourself bad. "I haven’t broken any bones yet, but I’ve rolled my ankles and had lots of road rash and bruises." Huggins, an accomplished 13-year-old Ashland boy, is about as serious as skateboarders come. He can be found on any given day riding the rails or flying over the "hips" — the concrete moguls that give a skateboard park character — at facilities in Medford, Ashland and Talent. And on some weekends, such as Saturday at Bear Creek Park, he can be found immersed in competition against men twice his age and size. Huggins, whose goal is to turn pro in a few years, and well over 100 other boarders will take part when the Pacific Northwest Amateur Skateboard League comes to Medford for the third of its seven events. The league, formed this year by Patty Seder of Portland, provides this segment of the action sports community with an organized, contest-oriented outlet for their considerable skills. Earlier stops were in Portland and Seattle. Huggins figures to be one of the star attractions. He competes in the advanced division, which is for skaters who are sponsored by equipment manufacturers and shops. He placed fourth at Portland but didn’t go to Seattle. "That’s pretty much unheard of," says Seder, who witnessed Huggins’ success against men ranging into their mid-20s. "That’s unbelievable. He’s a phenom." Huggins, who practices about 35-40 hours a week, has been in six competitions this year, winning four of them. His greatest feat was capturing the Best in the West event last year in Ripon, Calif., and earning a trip to New York to compete in November. The indoor venue didn’t agree with him, and he didn’t fare well, but that has hardly tempered the drive of the youngster known for getting big air and who occasionally is referred to by rivals as Evel Knievel for his derring-do. Huggins decided in about the third grade that he wants to be a professional boarder. This proclamation "terrified" his parents, Kevin and Jena Huggins, says his mother, but they nevertheless were staunch in their support. Their son’s proficiency has since eased their fears. "I’m amazed at what he can do," says Jena Huggins. "So far there hasn’t been anything he’s attempted that he’s not been able to do. I don’t watch him practice, though. Sometimes he’ll take the same fall 20 or 30 times before he gets it. But I do like to watch the competitions because he does really well." Jena Huggins home-schooled her son last year, when he was an eighth-grader, to free up time for him to practice and travel to events. He’ll enter Ashland High this fall, and the Hugginses and the school have worked out a schedule that will allow him similar leeway. Competitive skateboarding is predicated on tricks, often done in the air and distinguished by where the board is grabbed and what is done with it. There are hundreds of tricks, and their names are as colorful as those performing them. Among Huggins’ favorites are the kick flip Indy, the front side Smith grind and the blunt half-cap. In a timed competition such as Saturday’s, each boarder will have two runs of 45 seconds each to get in as many tricks as possible. Judges score the performances, and the best of the two runs determines placing. "It’s pretty much spur of the moment," says Huggins of the tricks he comes up with. "I try to do what I think the judges would like to see." In a timed event, the tricks will come fast and furious. "You have to go for it," says Huggins. "If you crash, it’s too bad, but if you land all your tricks, it’s definitely worth it." Should Huggins realize his dream of becoming a professional boarder, it will be on the "vert" ramp, a giant U-shaped apparatus that riders go back and forth on, taking big air and doing stunts. There are no suitable ramps around for him to practice on, so the Hugginses are raising funds and taking donations in hopes of building one in the near future. Until then, he’ll continue to wow them at skate parks. "He wants to be the best skateboarder in the world," says Kevin Huggins. "He’s bound and determined, and he’s sure fulfilled his part." 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