Thrasher Magazine

The Camtest (that’s right Camtest, not contest) originated in Boulder, CO, back in 2003. Cameron Dowse was hanging out at his homie Bruce’s ramp and decided to throw a contest. With $150 in his pocket it was run and done. Cash went to the winner. No entry fees, no special invite list, anybody who showed up and was down to have a good time was on the list. Over the years, Cam has continued to host these Camtests, each with a special twist to keep things interesting.  In 2011, skateboarding's good friend Dave Tuck was diagnosed with cancer and since then the Camtests have been in his honor. The 2012 event was at the legendary Pink Motel and in honor of Tuck’s love for beer it was decided to make the divisions based on weight classes. This year the Camtest returned to the Pink Motel as did the weigh ins. Coping was smashed, blood was shed, a few pounds were probably lost but all in attendance gained a good time and over $3,000 was raised for cancer charities. —Joe Hammeke

Camtest CEO Cam Dowse in front of the Pink Motel with the best-trick trophy drawn by Lance Mountain


The lightest competitor was Kai Deans who weighed in at 44 pounds (including skateboard and pads)


One of the heavyweights was Kai's dad, Billy, who tipped the scales at 245


The 100-125 division starting it off


Laura Logue holding it down for all the ladies.


Roman Pabich, Nick Rivera and Julian Torres, top three in the 125 and under division


Now time for the 125-150 weight class


Oscar Navarro rolling in on Chuck Hultz’ clay-wheeled board


Diego Alvarado came from El Paso, TX, so the valley heat didn’t keep him from ripping


Malakai Montes, backside fast plant


Riley Stevens has more energy than you could ever imagine


Rayce Davis pops a front blunt in the deep


Beth spins some vinyl while Cesar spins another barley soda


The lineup in the shallow end for round two of the 125-150 class


2014 Combi-bowl champion, Tristan Rennie, backside lip slide.


Riley and Cedric took the top-two spots in middleweights


Chris Russell is always a heavy contender and here he drops an ollie to pogo to start off the 150-175 class


Jack Fardell double trucks to second place in the semi-heavies


Ben Johnson with a death-defying eggplant inside the box


Robbie Russo, Jack Fardell and Chris Russell: third, second and first in the 150-175 division


If there’s an empty pool, Salba is there. Screaming Lord Salba and his heavy friends rock 'n' roll on the deck


While Malba rock 'n' rolls in the bowl in the 175-200 weight category


From Suffolk to San Diego, Packy Fancher took top honors in the 175-200 pounders


Now it’s time for the heavies, 200 pounds and up. Marcus knows you gotta haul ass to get over the lip


Jonathan Conley, aka Hotdog, is the heavyweight champion


Last Line of Defense from San Pedro took the stage and a diving board was installed for the best-trick contest


Right off the bat, Tristan Rennie blasted a backside ollie over the board


Then Oscar Navarro drifted an air to fakie


Winner of the 100-125 division, 13-year-old Roman Pabich, boosted a boneless over the board with ease.




It took a few tries but Josh Borden was able to roll away from an Andrecht


Borden back for more with an indy nose pick


Chris Russell, torqued out indy air


Russell the muscle, huge crail to tail or maybe to disaster (he was doing both)


Cedric Pabich, lein melon


Dalton Dern with the only flip trick of the entire event, kickflip melon over the board


Marlon Silva set up with a back boneless


Getting sketchy


Then he pulled it to fakie


Which earned him the first place trophy drawn by Lance Mountain plus a few hundred dollars in cash