Words by Nick Day @nickd904
Photos by Justin Mondschein @justinlansdale
With all the conspiracy theories in the world, let me tell you about one that doesn’t involve the government or aliens; The Conspiracy Bowl in New Jersey is a backyard pool that we got to shred in a sick night session. After walking down a dirt road in a secluded area, we knew we were in the right place when we passed some concrete ramps and a giant dirt motocross area. As we approached the bowl, Bren was sweeping out the bottom and Billy was shellacking the coping for a fired up Monday night session. Justin Mondschein was super stoked to link up take some shots back in the woods with all the scenery. Bren Marra said he sometimes just likes to stare at it at night with the fire. I can definitely see why, as this bowl was super fun to skate. There was a fresh pour with the Wilkie tiles in it, Brendan Wilkie was a hometown skateboarder and it was really respectful to see him memorialized in this way. This spot just showed that skaters can build on anything, in any environment, it was literally a farm with horses and dirt and chickens. All we need is a bunch of concrete and a place to make it happen. We were fired up, in a great spot, and everybody killed it. Because of Bren Marra and the use of this place, it was a great Monday night. Finally a conspiracy worth talking about.
“For me it was wild to look up and see five horses and a goat surrounding the bowl. Lines were easy to find in the pool, but it was hard to stand up on a grind knowing that there was no deck, though once you got used to it, the fresh coping just flew. There are a couple of shots of me basically hugging a tree while finding a stall or planting a foot and hoping it was on the coping before jumping back in. But that shit was fun!” – Shawn Ganley
Shout out to James Klimek, Bernard Luongo, Billy Cox, Todd Hoisington, Ryan Miller, and John Gravener, and 5th Pocket crew for making this happen. Special thanks to Bren Marra.
Thanks always!!
– Justin Mondschein