Tony Hawk competes in the Men's Skateboard Vert Best Trick during the X Games California 2023 on July 23, 2023 in Ventura, California.Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Tony Hawk and Mark McMorris Help Open A Canadian Skatepark

Originally posted on SNOWBOARDER | By Josh Sullivan | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 2:53 PM ET

The first board Mark McMorris ever stepped foot on was a skateboard.

Growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan, there was plenty of snow, but not the biggest mountains. So when the snow would melt and the travel would halt, you would find the soon-to-be three-time Olympic medalist at the local skatepark.

"I can just only imagine what it would be like if Tony Hawk came to Regina to open a skate park when I was a kid," he told The Canadian Press. "Some kids' minds are going to be blown, and some new skateboarders are going to be born from this event."

The town of Smithers managed to raise $1.8 million to upgrade its skate park and build a bowl. Hawk and McMorris were so impressed, they traveled to the British Columbia town to celebrate the park's grand opening.

"I don't go to many grand openings, to be honest, but this seemed like a really unique situation," Hawk said to Press reporter Donna Spencer. "I don't want to say it's the most remote area, but in remote areas, skateboarding is still a valid option for kids to choose, and they want to do it. We need to provide facilities for them."

The upgraded skatepark is along the Yellowhead Highway that starts in Winnipeg and ends on Canada's west coast. The expansion cost $1.2 million, according to the Press, and the newly added bowl cost another $600,000 to build.

Admission to the park will be free to the public. If all goes according to plan, a pump track and bathrooms will be added along with lights so the locals can skate at night.

While northern British Columbia isn't the most remote area in the world, Hawk does believe that the option to go skateboarding at a brand new park will be essential to helping kids get on their boards.

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Pro skaters Greyson Fletcher, Lizzie Armanto, and Jake Braun all joined Hawk and McMorris at the grand opening. Around 5,000 people were in attendance.

"We've never had this many people here," Jake Daly of the Smithers Skate Park Society said in an interview with the CBC. "They've skipped school, skipped work and can you blame them?"

Daly told the CBC that the skate park in the heart of the Bulkley Valley just expands on the work the community's done to be a home to snowboarding.

"The parents are almost more excited, right?" he said. "We all grew up on playing Tony Hawk and, yeah, I don't know. The whole community is fired up."

This article first appeared on SNOWBOARDER and was syndicated with permission.

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