CCS+ Best Weekend Ever Giveaway - Los Angeles

Words & Photos by Matt Price

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For those of us who didn’t have the privilege of growing up in Southern California the dream of year-round sun, thousands of skate spots and running into your favorite pro skaters daily was simply a daydream that kicked around our head while we skated our shitty little box in the street out in front of our house. For a select few though, this life is so real that they take it for granted and forget how insane it is.

As someone who grew up outside of the skateboard industry who now lives in L.A. I know all too well that I live in a fantasy land and even though sometimes it can be taken for granted, most days it still blows my mind. The mind-blowing part is how this idea came about. We thought, "what if we picked a CCS+ member at random and just gave them the best weekend ever and immersed them in the Los Angeles skate world the same way pro’s and industry folks are?"

The goal was to bring someone out, take them to the famous spots, introduce them to pros, get them tons of free product, and basically let them feel what it’s like to basically be pro for a weekend.

Justin Wehr from Batavia, Illinois was the name drawn out of the hat and after a few failed attempts to hit him up we thought we may have to move on. Thankfully he returned our DM and the trip was set up. Justin brought his friend Michael Fota along to enjoy the spoils of winning and ride his coat tails all the way to Hollywood.

The trip started out with a bang as we left LAX and drove straight into a sideshow in the intersection of Hollywood and Western. If you’ve never seen a sideshow in person it would be a jarring thing to show up to 20 minutes after you landed in Los Angeles, but it was a proper welcome. Google a "sideshow" if you don’t know what they are. They are a spectacle to say the least.

We grabbed some food at Canters on Fairfax and headed to grab a drink with some friends. Within five minutes of being at the bar Justin and Michael got to meet Heath Kirchart and take shots with Atiba and Ako Jefferson, who gave me endless amounts of shit for not flying them first class and hiring a chauffeur to hold their names on a sign at LAX. Minutes later Atiba and Ako made signs with Justin and Michael's names on them and delivered them with drinks. I couldn’t have planned hospitality this nice if I tried. Thank you to the Jeffersons for being world class showmen.

After an overwhelming first couple of hours we dropped the boys at The Hollywood Roosevelt where we somehow lucked out and got them a corner room overlooking Hollywood High 12. You really couldn’t book a better room for a couple of skate rats coming to L.A. on some skate tourist shit. Thanks to our friends at DLXSF and New Balance their hotel beds were covered in goodies when they showed up to make sure they had fresh set ups and shoes for the weekend. They also ended up with a whole new wardrobe of CCS pants, T’s and hoodies. Not a bad start.

We picked them up the next morning at the crack of 11am and headed off to Baker Boys. Justin and Michael informed me they had already been up for hours, checked out Hollywood High and the F.A. store up the street and even skated flat on the stars of Hollywood boulevard. Sounds better than coffee.

When we got to Baker we were greeted by CCS pro Jamie Foy and jumped right into a flat bar session. Getting to see Jamie skate in person is one thing, but getting to see him skate Baker Boys park is a real treat. I guarantee you have never seen anything like it.

After picking our jaws up off the floor and getting a handful of tricks in ourselves, we ate some pizza and wings graciously provided by our bud Steve Hernandez (Sales manager for Baker Boys). Then we caught a quick tour of the facilities before getting the product pillage of a lifetime with Foy as our guide. When Jamie tells you to grab one of those boards, you grab one of those boards. There is no better permission.

So now that Justin and Michael had added a few more boxes of product to their take for the weekend it was time to see some famous spots. Over the next day and a half, we skated Courthouse and Gardner Elementary in between sight seeing at all the famous spots in Hollywood.

The Sunset carwash bank which made everyone pee in their pants a little when we got on top and looked down into the certain death that Cardiel, Milton and others have somehow avoided. Nothing is as humbling as standing at the top of the gnarliest skate spots in the world.

We became regulars at The Nuge’s Burger She Wrote and bumped into the likes of Giovani Reda, Na-Kel Smith, and other friends who frequent the corner of Beverly and Vista. By the time these guys got on their plane back to Illinois their legs felt like noodles, their brains were scrambled, and they had enough free skate product to cost them about $750 in checked bag fees. Lucky for them we’re nice and shipped it all back home for them to avoid the fight with Delta.

Our goal was to really roll out the red carpet here in L.A. for our CCS+ members and I think that we did a pretty decent job. I was even reminded in the process how lucky we all are to work in skateboarding and that these are the kind of things we make our living doing. There really isn’t anything better than that and it was incredible to be able to share it all with Justin and Michael.

So the moral of the story is that if you’re not a CCS+ member you will most certainly miss out on the next "Best Weekend Ever” we give away, because we’re gonna do more of these. Also the free shipping for a year is nice too. Also, always answer your DM’s when they come from the CCS account.   

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Look for Justin to make an appearance in the next CCS catalog. In the meanwhile, here's some pictures of the winners getting busy in LA.