Skate Mega Big Air

Twelve-year-old skateboarder Tom Schaar launched a lien 180 over the gap and spun a 1080 on his way to winning the Mega 2.0 Big Air contest and taking home the Dew Cup on Sunday at the 2012 Dew Tour Pantech Beach Championships in Ocean City, Md. He is the only skater to have landed the trick in competition.

"I think it is a little bit easier to throw [1080s] on Mega 2.0 because it is easier to grab your board," Schaar said after the competition, which took place late in the evening after rain delays that canceled the Skate Bowl super finals earlier in the day.

The new Mini MegaRamps are designed to allow safer progression in Big Air skateboarding, and training facilities at the Camp Woodward action sports complexes have given rise to a younger generation of Big Air competitors.

Schaar beat out Elliot Sloan, who landed a 720 tail grab over the gap and a 540 tail grab on the quarter-pipe, and big air pioneer Bob Burnquist, who hucked a backflip over the gap and a 720 on the quarter-pipe.

"It was insane that Elliot put down a tail grab 720, which I don't think anyone has ever done before on Mega 2.0," Schaar said. "It was so gnar. Then Bob did a backflip over the gap to a 720. It was insane!"

Mitchie Brusco finished just off the podium in fourth place with a tail grab 540 over the gap and a 540 varial on the quarter-pipe.

Skate Bowl

Rain in Ocean City, Md., drenched the final day of the 2012 Dew Tour Pantech Beach Championships on Sunday afternoon, forcing the cancellation of the five-man Skateboard Bowl super finals.

"The Skate Bowl contest has officially been called due to rain, with scores from the individual heats determining the final results," according to a Dew Tour statement.

Pedro Barros, the top qualifier from Heat 2 of semifinals, took the top spot ahead of top Heat 1 qualifiers Bucky Lasek and Ben Hatchell, making for a repeat of the 2011 podium. Sandro Dias and 12-year-old Tom Schaar would have rounded out the super finals action, qualifying in fourth and fifth place.

Skate Vert

Last year's defending Dew Cup skate vert champion Pierre-Luc Gagnon finished first in skate vert at the 2012 Dew Tour Pantech Beach Championships in Ocean City, Md. According to Gagnon, "I was just out there having fun."

Gagnon's runs included a kickflip to fakie leading to a switch heelflip frontside 360 right into a 540, ending with a hurricane. "That is what I was looking for, so when I came into my last drop I just wanted to try and go bigger and some stuff that I hadn't tried all weekend," said PLG, still out of breath after running back to the top of the deck.

Rounding out the top three was former Ocean City local Bucky Lasek in second, and Sandro Dias in third place.

The win in Ocean City marks Gagnon's fourth overall Dew Cup win in skate vert.

Skate Bowl Legends

The first day of the 2012 Dew Tour Pantech Beach Championships in Ocean City, Md., opened last night with the skate bowl legends contest. For the second year in a row, Chris Miller topped the podium followed by Christian Hosoi in second and Steve Caballero in third.

"I've known a lot of these guys since I was 10 years old," Miller said following the win. "We grew up together and it means a lot to skate with them. It's great that we're all still skating and have a forum like this to come out and show the public what we do."

A member of the Stereo Classics, Bones Wheels and Ipath teams, Miller worked with Spohn Ranch to design and build the Dew Tour bowl in Ocean City, and sees a revival in a more classic approach to bowl skating.

"Now, there is a convergence of a more classic approach with modern street and vert tricks, where every skater can take a unique approach, combining the old with the new," Miller said earlier this week.

The Pantech Beach Championships continues on Friday with BMX park prelims, BMX vert finals and skate vert semifinals, as well as concerts from Theophilus London and Lupe Fiasco.