Known by most in the Dubai scene as Kyle F****** Smith, Kyle is recognized by his unmistakeable suave style on and off the board. Hailing from England with roots in Jamaica, Kyle’s been steady killing spots and lean fast food chains across the cityscape. Chomp on this…

Just Kyle’s luck… Bangin’ backside kickflip to snapper. Yesterday in Zabeel Park, Dubai…

photos: evan

Martin Jaouni of Fujeirah came out to Dubai one sunny saturday in May and got this ollie up gap backside lip on these concrete benches in Deira. Martin is pretty much the nicest guy you’ll meet in the UAE, plus he’s got skills to look out for. Bulgarabia represent!

photos: evan

Shout out to lil’ Omar Al Abbar for putting it all together with the help of Brad Kirr, Circle 8, Tashkeel, Red Bull, Orbit Showtime Arabia and everyone who came out to make it happen!

Omar Al Abbar sips on some Jeema before ripping the bowl.

Behold… Mamzar!

Flatbar!

Crowd

sick turnout

Standard Red Bull girls

Wierdo’s

She can skate too!

The giant paint spill graphic was done by Tashkeel, check them out @ www.tashkeel.org

Myles floats a fakie ollie

…and backside

Omar kickflips over the rail

Evan scraping out of a tailslide on the lip

Lawrence pops a big one over the spillage

Dj control center

Gustav enjoys a burger, hot off the grill from below

The 2nd biggest center of attention apart from the bowl.. the grill!

Brad ‘Yakhi’ Kirr

Carving yakhi style

Mrs. Al Abbar doing her part

Night time and still lit up

Ahmed Jaddo

Marcus

Alex Medvedev

Myles Evans

Omar Al Abbar

Evan Collisson

Brad Kirr holds up a customized trophy with his name on it, courtesy of Tashkeel!

RESULTS:

INTERMEDIATE

1ST: ALEX MEDVEDEV

2ND: MARCUS

3RD: AHMED JADDO

ADVANCED

1ST: EVAN COLLISOSN

2ND: OMAR AL ABBAR

3RD: MYLES EVANS

Watch out for video coverage of Skate Biladi to air on the Orbit Showtime Network in the coming weeks!

Photos by Luke Kelly

Max Velmitsky, Noseslide, beside the big burj

the famous halwan grocery next to Deira Fountain

Martin Jaouni, five 0 up in Bur Dubai

Kevan Medullah, backside nosegrind on The Hill

Lawrence Jokun, Crooks, JBR

Kelvin Hartley, Ollie in Deira

Luke and friends, Deira Fountain

got some skate photos? send them in!

email: info@skatearabia.com

Happening this year on October 8th, 9th and 10th, Arab Am 2009 was great… Three whole days of ripping around an indoor course built by Bradley Kirr and Tamer Ramadan. The event was part of the Adrenaline Sports Live, which hosted a weekend of all kinds of ‘extreme’ sports action from skateboarding to wake-boarding and even snowboarding..! (Photos of which we only wish we could share.) Fortunately the skatepark had the largest space out of any other event outside of the expensive cars on display. So we had a bunch of buttery flatground to skate instead of just the ramps.

A.S.L. takes place every year and it’s sort of like the ASR (action sports retailers) tradeshow which goes on in California every year with all the skate companies. In Abu Dhabi, there are numerous booths set up by all kinds of random companies and distributors. And not all of it revolves around ‘action sports’, much less skateboarding… Beside the skate park there were sailboats on display and also a Thailand tourism company who were giving away these flags that a bunch of kids tied around their necks as capes. (see Jan’s photo below, he opted for the skirt steez)

Sucks to be writing about an event that was already a month ago! Anyway for all you out there, this competition is open to anyone in the Middle East…

Results

Seniors:

1st: Evan Collisson, Dubai

2nd: Alex Medvedev, Dubai

3rd: Kyle Kenny, Abu Dhabi

Juniors:

1st: Mark Gavigan, Dubai

2nd: Omar Alabbar, Dubai

3rd: Lawrence Jokun, Dubai

Big up’s to all the winners!!! But uhhh, we’re just wondering.. “Shu!? Where’s all the Arab skaters in this competition if its called ‘Arab Am’!?”

Yalla, so if you can make it to Abu Dhabi next year, make sure you sign up for the Arab AM 10′ and represent!

‘Sparks’, for those who haven’t been there to know, got it’s radical name early on when this spot was built back in 2006.? During a few initial sessions of the spot, sparks we’re literally flying… Any time you landed primo or grinded a ledge just right, sparks would light up under your board like firecrackers. It basically caught on real quick and everyone started calling it ‘Sparks’. It sounded real dorky for at first, but we all dorked out eventually.

…Forget what i just said and check out this amazing spot for yourself. Respect your local spot – throw away your garbage!

Here are a few photos from a couple weekends ago at the infamous Sparks in Deira, Dubai.

martin jaouni, backside smith. shot a little early

the que

omar alabbar

tamer ramadan, bs nosegrind 180

tamer ramadan, bs nosegrind 180