The Platfrm Spot to Spot: Jake Braun Guides Local’s Tour of Iconic North County Spots

Jake Braun is the type of skateboarder who seeks out the biggest of rails and gets up on a Sunday before dawn to run up a mountain. Making the pilgrimage to Southern California from Minnesota, Jake is known around the North County region of San Diego as a local ripper. “I think it’s pretty well known that the local skate shop is the root of any good skate scene,” comments Jake as he tells us about his natural gravitation toward Rose Street after his friends started hanging out and filming for the shop. Follow Jake along as he goes Spot to Spot, giving us a tour of North County’s running trails, rough pre-fab parks, street spots, and ending his Sunday at his local shop.

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The Platfrm First Person: Bucky Lasek Reflects on Vans Combi Bowl a Skateboarding Mecca

The lore of the Combi Bowl has been a proving ground for skateboarders to push their limits and flaunt their style, turning the Vans Pool Party event into a legendary stage that has become part of skateboarding’s history. 2025 marked the last go at the Combi inside the Vans store in Orange, California, making some of the best transition skaters reacquaint themselves with its twelve-foot walls. To truly understand the intensity Combi brings out, we tap in with three-time Vans Pool Party champ ‪Bucky Lasek in First Person to view the preparation, mindset, and impact this bowl has made on skateboarding over the past two decades.

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The Platfrm First Person: Cory Juneau Takes on the Final Vans Pool Party at Combi

The Combi Pool at the Vans Skatepark in Orange, California has paid homage as a replica of the original from Pipeline Skatepark for over 20 years. The legendary Vans Pool Party made it’s final hoorah at the Combi in 2025, bringing together generations of skateboarders that have been there since the beginning to first-time competitors.

Familiar with Combi bowl since he was a grom, Cory Juneau steps back to the hallowed coping for the first time in years alongside his peers and heroes alike. “Everyone is ripping a lot of old faces, old friends. Picking up where they left off. Nobody has skated it in five and it’s like nostalgic.” Cory takes us through his experience from the past two months in First Person as he rekindles old and new lines, pushes through unexpected physical pain, and feeds off the raw energy that only a place like Combi can bring on finals day.

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The Platfrm Spot to Spot: John Worthington Scrapes Deep End Coping to Staircase

Backyard pool skateboarding has been a staple of the scene since its early days, and it remains a territory truly mastered by a select few. John Worthington, better known as Jworth, is one of those elite skaters. He effortlessly carves through the deepest pool lights, grinds coping, and connects lines around the shallow-end staircases. With experience navigating various pool shapes, sizes, and conditions, Jworth is no stranger to making what he finds easily skateable. Join Jworth in Spot to Spot as he jumps in the van with filmer Josh Peacock and rippers Taylor Nye, Lilly Erickson, Phoenix Sinnerton, Pedro Quintas, Dillon Doinklon, Tristan Rennie, and Tommy Calvert as they keep the flame alive in an often-overlooked corner of skateboarding.

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Vans Pool Party Combi 2025 Legend’s Final Highlights

The true legends of skateboarding reunite for one final session at the iconic Combi Pool in Orange, California. Each of these skaters has been a cornerstone of vert and pool skating, shaping skateboarding from the very beginning with their unique styles, boundary-pushing tricks, and a passion that still drives them today. Watch as Steve Alba, Christian Hosoi, Steve Caballero, and more tear up the Combi coping in the 2025 Vans Pool Party Legends division highlights.

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Vans Pool Party Combi 2025 Masters Final Highlights

Being part of the Master’s division at the Vans Pool Party is more than just a title—it’s a testament to being an icon of transition and a true master of the craft. Each of these master rippers has earned their place through years of experience in the pro division, with some having competed since the very first Combi Pool Party in Orange. Watch as they make their final mark in the bowl, surrounded by fans, friends, and family, in their last session at the Combi.

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Vans Pool Party Combi 2025 Women’s Final Highlights

The 2025 Vans Pool Party Combi highlights continue with the women’s final session as they bid farewell to a legendary home for skateboarding. Watch Fabiana Delfino, Kareem Campbell, Chris Roberts, Willy Santos, and more icons cheer on Bryce Wettstein, Ruby Lilley, Brighton Zeuner, Jordyn Barratt, Grace Marhoefer, Lilly Erickson, Hinano Kusaki, and Arisa Trew.

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Vans Pool Party Combi 2025 Men’s Final Highlights

This past Sunday, January 19th, 2025 marked the last Vans Pool Party at the Combi Bowl in Orange County, California. The highly regarded Pool Party competition series closes out 20 years at the indoor Vans skatepark with a final ride as the infamous Combi nears its inevitable filling-in.

Watch the men’s pro final highlights from the last Vans Pool Party at the Combi featuring Greyson Fletcher, Moto Shibata, Hampus Winberg, JD Shanchez, Tate Carew, Luigi Cini, Kiko Francisco, Cory Juneau, Tom Schaar, and a handful of legends watch from the sidelines.

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Spot to Spot: Braden Hoban Skateboarding in Portugal with Dakota Servold, Jeremy Leabres, Mike Krok

“Tour guides are probably the most important thing,” says Braden Hoban, but he’s not looking for fancy eats and beautiful vistas… Gritty skating in unknown places, going on a skate-cation to a new country is the dream for most but the key to a successful trip is locking in with a local. Travel to Portugal and go Spot To Spot with Braden Hoban and a heavy squad on an all out mission to stack clips. “We all have the same goal in mind, to film the best video part we possibly can.” Hear about the man, Pedro, that made it all possible for the crew capture a proper edit’s worth of footage without any idea of where to go, and see how many hammers they walked away with. Spoiler: it’s a lot.

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The Platfrm – Core: Mirko Mangum’s Path To Opus Footwear

Mirko Mangum started skating at age 12 in El Cajon outside of San Diego, California and, with the help of solid influences and legendary support, he has been a lifer ever since. Naturally, though, after turning pro on the board the breakdown of the body began. He refers to it as when he “retired physically, not financially” as his entrepreneurial spirit took hold. He started working in-house at Planet Earth (after riding for the brand professionally) and received the ultimate first-hand learning experience for how to run a proper business in skateboarding. Mirko took more than notes, though. After seven or so years at Planet Earth he popped off with other friends to create their own clothing brand in ALPHANUMERIC. Then he took a position with C1RCA focused on setting up the ultimate team with the likes of Jamie Thomas and Chad Muska. Next came the Blackbox Days, before Zoo York, and then Univ, Whatever distribution, and a role at Vans… At this point, if you want to hear Mirko’s full story and the origins of his latest skate company, watch this episode of CORE: Opus Footwear’s Mirko Magnum.

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The Platfrm Spot to Spot: Alec Majerus Rips The LBC on E-Bike and Skateboard

If you haven’t noticed yet, Long Beach, California is home and the playground to many pro skateboarders. Alec Majerus is one of LBC’s ripping residents and shows us how to get around town in style. Alec gets the day started by zipping around and catching air on electric motorcycles to a quick skateboard movie history lesson and session at LB’s oldest skatepark, El Dorado Park. After getting warmed up, the real skating gets underway as Alec cruises to CSU Long Beach for a session and gives us another lesson on ledges, rails, and how to put lines together.

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