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Skater Haters

Rating: NNNNN


Board games

Surfaces skaters scream for
• Ledges (preferably of the waist-high variety), stairs (the more the better), handrails, curbs, planters, benches, runways, ramps and flatland (especially of the lightning-quick marble variety).

Why skaters love them
• It’s all about speed, obstacles, what tricks you can do off them and degrees of difficulty, man.

Why property owners are freaked out by them – skaters, that is
• They make too much noise and are prone to wiping out, which makes them a legal liability if they get hurt. Did we mention the property damage?

What they’re doing to clip boarders’ wheels
• Affixing “skate-stoppers,” also known as “skate blocks” – steel discs, flat metal bars and bull noses, handrail and stair guards – to any surface worth grinding
• In downtown Toronto, skate-stoppers are integrated into the existing design of buildings and often take the form of granite/marble slabs. More aesthetically pleasing, but no less precarious for skaters determined to override them.

What the stoppers do
• Make skating surfaces impassable, or downright dangerous for those with the ball bearings to try them.

Favourite downtown skater spots

Courtyard in front of the Hydro building (University and College)

Special features: stairs with rails in a variety of heights

Terrain/difficulty rating: 7 out of 10

Skydome

Special features: famous 13-stair rail, backdrop to several pro videos

Terrain/difficulty rating: 7 out of 10

TD Centre across street from Commerce Court

Special features: lots of ledges

Terrain/difficulty rating: 8 out of 10

Metro Hall

Special features: marble flatland and transitions

Terrain/difficulty rating: 8 out of 10

Commerce Court

Special features: benches, stairs and gaps to have some fun – better at night when security won’t bother you

Terrain/difficulty rating: 6 out of 10

Park next to the CBC building

Special features: “snake gap” and small ledges in centre of courtyard

Terrain/difficulty rating: 5 out of 10

Roy Thomson Hall

Special features: hidden, below-street-level ledges and stairs

Terrain/difficulty rating: 5 out of 10

With research from www.skateboardspots.com

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