By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

NORTH SMITHFIELD — The skateboard community is alive and well in northwest Rhode Island, where on any given summer day skaters can be found at local skate parks doing kickflips and other tricks that seem to defy gravity.

Skateboarding remains one of the nation’s most popular activities among kids and young adults, and parks departments across the nation know it. According to Recreation Management magazine, parks districts put “new skatepark” at number 6 among their planned amenities nationwide.
Today, there are skateparks in towns throughout Rhode Island, including Burrillville, Glocester, Cumberland and North Smithfield.
Burrillville Parks and Recreation Director Cheri R. Hall saw the need for a skate park in that town about five years ago. Within a short time, and with help from the town’s young skating community and CAD students at Burrillville High School, a new skate park was built at Eccleston Field in Harrisville.
In neighboring Glocester, the kids congregate at the skatepark at Glocester Memorial Park.
“It’s a nice park,” says one local skater. “It has a mini pipe with a bank going down one side of it. The bank rolls down to a spine with a quarter pipe afterwards.
“On the other side of the park is a quarter pipe which approaches to a box with a hubba in the middle which leads to another quarter pipe. In the middle of these two sections of the park is a kicker with a rail after it.”
Interpretation: It’s got everything a skater needs to have fun.
One of the liveliest skate parks around is at Pacheco Park in North Smithfield.
“It’s not the largest, but it’s one of the busiest skate parks in Rhode Island,” says Walter Pierowski, owner of Stalefish Skate and Snow, a specialty store catering to skate- and snowboarders that opened on Great Road in 2006.
“A lot of community skate parks are afterthoughts and end up getting tucked away in the corner of a recreational space away from the lights, which tends to be a breeding ground for trouble,” he said.
“Recreation departments in North Smithfield and Burrillville saw the need for skate parks and took a lot of time to make these facilities attractive and safe for the kids.”
Pacheco Park, behind Hercules Pizza, will be the gathering place Sunday for hundreds of area skaters who will take part in the annual Krux Kickflip Challenge, in which skaters compete for most consecutive kickflips. The competition, sponsored by Stalefish Skate and Snow, kicks off at 2 p.m. and is open to all skaters looking to show off their kickflip skills.
The kickflip, also known simply as a flip, is an aerial skateboarding trick where the skateboarder kicks his board to make it flip 360 degrees along the board’s axis. The modern kickflip was invented by Rodney Mullen in 1983.
A kickflip is executed similarly to the Ollie, and like the Ollie has become a defining trick of “new school” skateboarding.
“The Krux Kickflip Challenge is a skateboard game to see who’s got kickflip skills,” Pierowski said. “Each skater tries as many consecutive flat ground kickflips as they can. They must be rolling and no toe drag.
“If they bail on the first kickflip, then the first flip rebate takes effect. The skater can have one more chance on the consecutive kickflip contest. The number of consecutive kickflips is recorded and the next entrant goes.”
There is no pre-registration required; skaters can just show up, sign up and compete. “Everyone has the potential to break the world record, which is just over 1,424 consecutive kickflips,” Pierowski said.
The skater with the highest number of kickflips wins a prize package and is dubbed the Krux Kickflip Challenge Champion for that location. Kickflip challenges are held in cities and towns throughout the world.
The first-round winner and second-advanced round winner will receive prize packages made up of Krux merchandise, T-shirts, DVDs and Mob Grips.
The top 10 kickflippers will receive a free sheet of Mob grip — and “everyone who enters receives a Krux Kickflip Challenge sticker,” Pierwoski said.
Stalefish Skate and Snow was conceived in August 2006, and opened its doors on Oct. 1 of that year at 645 Great Road. The idea behind Stalefish, Pierwoski said, was to bring a core skateboard and snowboard shop to an area that was devoid of one for several years.
“Through this shop, the local skateboard and snowboard community can find quality products at reasonable prices as well as support through teams and events,” he said.