Begun in 1984 as BWNSM (Bruce and Wade's New Skate Magazine), a photocopied, northern Virginia skate 'zine, Lapper eventually became known world-wide !!
Jeff Jones was an east coast ripper, I only ever saw at N.S.A. contests. I believe he is from New Jersey. He turned pro in 1988, with his first big pro contest being the Bluegrass Aggression Session, which was held in Louisville, Kentucky, in June of that year.
For Jeff gives us a look at his pro graphic, with a varial frontside air.
Checking back to the Bluegrass Aggression Session, in June 1988, in Louisville, Kentucky. This big N.S.A. contest included competitions in freestyle, street, and vert disciplines.
This is Alva Skates legend, Eddie Reategui , twisting up a very impressive Andrecht.
Mike Mapp has been a central figure in the DC area skate scene for decades. From SkateWorld in the 1970s, A-Town and Cedar Crest in the 80s, Woodbridge's Big Blue (from the 90s and still there), to the weekly sessions at the current Ramptech HQ, skaters in the mid-Atlantic region have been skating terrain built by Mike, for almost as long as there has been skateboarding.
Here he is, lofting one on Big Blue, back in 2010.
It's been a couple months since my cancer diagnosis and I am fighting the good fight. One motivation for the effort is to be strong enough and pain-free enough to be out taking pictures. Yesterday, I was able to spend some time at the Treehouse, shooting some skating.
I'm posting, today, to invite anyone who might want to help me fight this multiple myeloma, to visit the GoFundMe link on the profile. The uninsured expenses of my health situation are constantly mounting and this fund helps me be where I need to be, do what I need to do, and eat the way I am supposed to be eating. In the end, any of this fund that outlasts this cancer situation will be given to the Grind for Life organization, where it would help other cancer patients with similar issues.
My return to the Treehouse ramp, yesterday, was also a chance to do a quick product review on the stickers I had printed and put on the ramp, last spring. Frankly, the whole "Not Dead Yet"-thing feels all kinds of different now. Anyway, I learned that, apparently, the orange ink on the sticker wasn't weather-resistant. Duly noted.
In the meantime, there's talk of a limited run of new Lapper tees. Stay tuned.
Dave Tobin on Goshen's white layer, which takes us all the way back to late in the summer of 1985.
Another fast rising vert rider, in 1988, was Buster Halterman . So, here he is for ... OC steel in the summer of 1988.
Meanwhile, in Louisville, Kentucky, during the Bluegrass Aggression Session in June 1988, this shot of Christian Hosoi was one of my first attempts at using the second-curtain flash feature on my (then) state-of-the-art Canon rig.
Someone asked for more Sam Boo . That's easy. Sam and I were housemates for a couple years, and Sam rips all terrain. Here he is boosting an alley-oop frontside boneless to fakie in The Willows ditch in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I'm thinking this is 1986 or 1987. A recent submission showed someone skating Willows in the past few weeks.
By 1988, the Texas Embassy had opened in northern Virginia. Several Texans came to the DC area and took jobs in the local bicycle courier trade. Among that crew, but ripping in an almost singular manner, was Troy Chason. For height and amplitude, Troy was regularly exploring the outer limits of what we were seeing at the Crest, at the time.
When a new pool opportunity would come along, Dan Heyman was always one of the first to pull the invert. There were times, between Dan and Sam Boo, when the race to the first invert was, at least, energetic, with Dan and Sam eagerly pushing each other.
This spit-gutter invert happened in the early (pre-grafitti) days of the College Park pool, which was probably 1987.
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Here's another from the more recent past, and a good look at someone from the current vert generation.
Until I met this guy, I'd felt that Sergie Ventura had the most marketable name to ever come to skateboarding. Now, I think I need to give that one to Reef Orlando . This frontside invert happened about four years ago, at the Treehouse.
Here's another reach into the not-too-distant past. John "Hollywood" Wilinski finds a stale fish on the Treehouse ramp. This was in June 2019.
As I contend with this multiple myeloma crap (now complicated by a painful umbilical hernia), I don't have the strength or mobility to be out there shooting. That's what I am missing most. The ripping continues and I am not there. Frustrating.
Anyway, let's go back to the 'Downer, just a few years ago, to catch Ben Ashworth lofting one over a hip.
Sometime in the summer of 1988, Sam Boo and Eric Beacom took a trip to The Turf, in Milwaukee. I didn't go, but provided Sam with film to shoot while he was there. This rock and roll shot is a classic!
Happy Thanksgiving.
I've had the opportunity to shoot pictures of Sam Boo for almost 40 years. That's something for which I am thankful. That's one of the first things I want to get back to doing, once I beat this cancer s**t, because Sam is still ripping.
This Lansdowne smurf launch was in 1986.
Chemo... Day 1...
The battle begins. Did you know that I am fighting multiple myeloma, while I am continuing to bring you content.
If you would like to help me with this fight, you can. Please see my "Cancer Sucks" GoFundMe campaign and contribute if you can.
The link to this campaign is on the LinkTree link on our profile. Thanks for your consideration.
It has been 2 weeks since I last posted, and what a strange two weeks it's been.
I have spent the summer dealing with what I thought were earned lower back injuries, from riding.
Now, I know different. Here's a photo of me doing what I do these days. Cancer sucks. So, I just lay on my side and try not to die from multiple myeloma.
At the same time, what a strange trip this Lapper relaunch has been. Somehow, I seem to keep hitting milestones for this site on days that seem noteworthy anyway. 1K following was the day I went to Virginia Beach to shoot some pictures at the Jackalope Festival. 2K following happened on my birthday. Today, the day I've decided to make this announcement, I see has 3,500 Followers. Sweet. I'm smiling. Thanks.
A meaningful relic...
This is a piece of pool coping I keep on a shelf. This coping is from Midkiff's Canyon, the pool shown in yesterday's Reel. The Sharpie is just for scale.
Sometimes, I just need a break from the black-and-white. This is John Wilinski stalefishing at the Treehouse, a few years back.
Another brilliant image from Lee Leal at Friday night's Best Trick session, at the Jackalope Festival on the Virginia Beach beach ⛱️.
Hey, Lee... Thank you. Awesome shot. Next time, I need captions or, at least, captioning data.
Here's another Lee Leal contribution from Friday night's Best Trick session at the Virginia Beach Jackalope Festival . I don't know who we're seeing here, but it seems like the challenge was some kind of slob thruster off the lifeguard stand. Rad.
Jackalope Festival! What a great time! I'm certain this must be the prize money for Friday night's Best Trick contest, but the photo is from Lee Leal, and came with no further specifics. Fill us in, Lee.
A few weeks ago, I showed you a flyer that advertised an opportunity to accompany me back to the Rose Island pipe, in Louisville, Kentucky. Despite my concerns that we might have to have a car caravan, only two people took me up on the offer. So, in late May of 1987, we packed the GBJ "SK8PICS" mobile and headed off to Kentucky.
It just so happened that on the same weekend, I had chosen, the nomad himself, Bill Danforth, would be in town and doing a demo at Pro Quality Skates. What a weekend it was. The demo was good fun and the partying was wild.
Sometime during that weekend, I did this interview with Danforth, with the help of Louisville's patriarch skater, Pickle, and one of my traveling friends, Bill "Mad Guy" Maggi. Enjoy...
It IS happening and here's a way to help it happen faster...
LAPPER was published from 1984 until 1987, and then it was gone. Most people n… Andy Bittner needs your support for Launch LAPPER in the Twenty-first Century
Be among those who are making it happen, and it IS happening. Wanna give us a hand? Here's one way...
LAPPER was published from 1984 until 1987, and then it was gone. Most people n… Andy Bittner needs your support for Launch LAPPER in the Twenty-first Century
We could still use help! https://gofund.me/aa776edd
You can count on 21st-century Lapper to be right in the thick of things.
We are thrilled to announce the addition of one of the world's great skateboard ambassadors and photographers, Lee Leal, to inaugurate what we hope will become an impressive network of skateboarding journalists contributing exclusive material to Lapper.
This photo of Tom Schaar, ripping a skatepark in Dubai, was taken yesterday and, thanks to Lee, you saw it here first.
Part of moving into the future is knowing where the future is taking place. Are we surprised to find ramp and park building legend, Mike Mapp, at the heart of it all? Not one bit. This is a Saturday afternoon session at Ramptech headquarters.
Oh, in case you haven't caught on, we're on Instagram now.
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