Dear festival-goers, athletes and partners, for this 2023 edition of JACKALOPE, you were numerous, you were on fire and you were perfect. It was a return to our roots, with free access, a more centralized site and programming more focused on JACKALOPE’s core disciplines. As a result, we saw a record attendance of 25,000 festival-goers from friday to sunday, as well as a record number of registrations for both the skateboarding and climbing competitions! So it is with a feeling of mission accomplished that we take a look back at some of the weekend’s highlights. First of all, here’s the video recap to get you back in the mood of the festival.
JACKALOPE Montreal 2023: A successful return to our roots
September 12, 2023 / By yann
The return of PLG
Starting on friday evening, a long-awaited spectacle for everyone was certainly Pierre-Luc Gagnon‘s performance in the bowl. Boucherville’s golden child has dominated the world’s biggest skateboarding competitions for many years, so his mere presence as guest of honor at Jackalope was special. However, we were all eager to see him do a big nollie heelflip, one of the tricks and variations that took him to the top of the podiums. Not only is it a maneuver that very few athletes are able to do today, Pierre-Luc was one of the first to pull it off regularly in competition. And he did, skating the entire bowl with uncommon ease – it’s PLG after all – and at the end of his session he did a big backside nollie heel flip in the deepest part of the bowl.
Local skaters locos
Among our local heroes, Phil Dulude, Julien Gagnon, Gab Proulx, Fred Khun, Fred Luyet et Jayden Sauvé to name but a few, also did very well in the best trick in the bowl. The Dulude clan – Phil, his brothers and his father – rolled into the bowl with gusto, but it was Phil who made jaws drop with his backtails, backsmiths and alley-oop ollies. Dulude is an exceptional skater, but Lavallois’ Julien and Gab are not afraid of anything, so the latter lined up switch miller flips, a switch backflip and several unthinkable maneuvers like a blunt to backside noseblunt on the V of Vans. As for Julien, he’s the aerial type, so that’s what he did, big airs with beautiful grabs like he knows how to do. One of the few Quebecers able to get above coping with elegance was Fred Khun, who had the crowd screaming out loud. Fred Luyet was the only local girl to take part in the pro jam and showed the way forward for the next generation by grindin’ her trucks over the highest coping and with fast, flowing lines.
Women’s competition with style
The women’s competition at Jackalope is always a highlight, with many special guests and spectacular performances. This year, a high level of talent, mastery and style from the participants provided a memorable competition. American Christine Cottam was electrifying every time she skated, taking first place with her full-speed big spins on the hip. Laura Zackova from the Czech Republic was second and Jessica Perlmutter from the USA third. Annie Guglia, Fred Luyet, Charlotte Leluan and Kanya Sesser were the crowd favorites and skated well. Because a competition is also an excuse to give everyone time to express their skating, and it was a very good show in that respect.
1- Christine Cottam
2- Laura Zachova
3- Jessica Perlmutter
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The new generation impresses
The next generation of skateboarders turned out in record numbers from far and wide. The winner on the boys’ side was Guillaume Brunelle. Young and consistent, he made the judges’ task easy by pulling off several technically challenging tricks. A very young skater to watch out for, Guillaume. Copper Slocombe was the one to beat, and he didn’t give the others a chance, taking second place. Mathieu Leblanc, a regular on the podium, was very close to the top spot and proved once again that he’s an elite competitor with his flips tricks and consistency.
1- Guillaume Brunelle
2- Copper Slocombe
3- Mathieu Leblanc
On the girls’ side, Léonie Marcotte took first place with aplomb and flips tricks, while the difficulty level of her tricks ensured first place despite a tight competition with young Kaila Arbesfeld, who has been progressing rapidly since her participation in the block party at Père-Marquette 2022. Brittany Mirandette didn’t make the trip for nothing, taking third place in one of her first major competitions.
1- Léonie Marcotte
2- Kaila Arbesfeld
3- Brithany Mirandette
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Best tricks or a meteors shower
There were two best tricks, one in the bowl and the other on the 8 steps and handrail. Both events were explosions of incredible tricks by the world’s best skaters. Two international guests; Ivan Monteiro did a perfect 360 flip noseblunt but also a bs 270 lip while Riso Tury did a big spin heel boardslide and heelflip lip on the rail. Ontario’s Jon Cos and Ben Paterson also broke the bank with their tricks: Ben did sw bs lip, sw fs blunt, sw fs 270 lip, sw heel… and Jon did fs flip, nollie heel bs lip. Jayden Bono, Skategoat and Cody Beaudry also did big tricks like a perfect tre flip, hardflip, barley grind, noseblunt, 180 sw crook, fs 270 lip and more.
1- Ivan Monteiro
2- Riso Tury
3- Ben Paterson
The bowl best trick was also heated, with Tom Schaar, Pedro Barros, Derek Scott and Collin Graham offering a jam-packed half-hour of great intensity. Barros did a huge fs heelflip on the thrasher wall and skated a Pabst freezer with the eye of the tiger. He’s a unique skater to see in person as he possesses an uncommon energy when he’s on his board! Tom Schaar, too, is a unique being who did a 540 kickflip several feet above the lip as well as an authoritative fs blunt on the Pabst freezer. Skaters Derek Scott and Collin Graham were high-speed trumpeters who did tons of tricks and airs all night long. Big indy kicklip by Graham, Scott did huge alley-oop ollie as well as a bs nosepick on the freezer. Phil Dulude delighted his home crowd with an amazing back tail on the highest corner and Skategoat skated the transition in goofy and did a huge gap to lipslide as he skated the 8 steps in regular. So that was how this explosion of big tricks went down.
1- Pedro Barros
2- Tom Schaar
3- Collin Graham et Derek Scott
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Men’s street final
Ben Patterson came to defend his men’s title, and lost it to Richard Tury, who managed to take the lead at the very last moment in the super final. Ivan Monteiro with his noseblunt treflip took second place and Jon Consentino wowed the crowd with his stylish tricks to third place. The record number of entries also led to a record number of good participants and good tricks. We can’t forget Ke’Chaud Johnson’s huge ollie over the central pyramid hexagon. We must also mention the good tricks of Cody Beaudry, Jayden Bono, Skategoat, Martin Pek and all the other participants.
1- Richard Tury
2-Ivan Monteiro
3-Jon Consentino
Climbing competition: The Richardsons on the podium and a coup de théâtre in the men’s competition
The climbing competition also broke the record for number of participants and spectators, with over 3,000 people in attendance. The atmosphere was fantastic, the competition was tight right to the end, and on the men’s side it was Zach Richardson who topped reigning champion Charles Barron. Barron had just won his second Jackalope title in North Carolina, and had come to Montreal to attempt the trifecta. Joe Goodacre was not far behind, keeping the suspense going right up to the last moment.
1- Zach Richardson
2- Charles Barron
3- Joe Goodacre
On the women’s side, it was Americans Cloe Coscoy and Helen Gillett who took first and second place, with the competition just as tight as in the men’s category. Coscoy is a regular for the top spot, and she came through by the skin of her teeth once again. Still, this tight competition is a sign that the level is high and that all the details are important. Third place went to Zach’s husband Madison Richardson. Read more about the couple’s experience of the event on their blog.
1- Cloe Coscoy
2- Helen Gillett
3- Madison Richardson
Breaking too
One of Jackalope’s staples is breakdancing, and this year the layout of the site meant that the floor was right in the middle. Between climbing and skateboarding, and just as the compés on either side were taking a break, we were treated to a “7 to smoke” elimination-style competition, which means that seven people compete until only one is left. This urban dance is as spectacular to watch as ever, and the athletes are incredible.
See you soon!!
In closing, while we could go on and on about what was great about this year’s event, we’d like to thank you all for being part of the adventure again this year, and invite you to follow the Jackalope party as it begins to travel elsewhere in the U.S. between now and the next Montreal edition. We’ve been honored to celebrate action sports with you for over 10 years now, and we continue to improve our offering every time. Leave us a comment about your time at Jackalope, and we’ll be in touch until next year!
To see all the results and more photos from Jackalope 2023 in Montreal click here click here
