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by Demon
With PD and AC rolling into Denver on Saturday afternoon, we thought it would be fun to warm up for the jam on Sunday with an open gym session. Myself, Strydzz, kannagisai, PD, AC, and Jon met up at ASG open gym from 5-7 pm. At open gym, AC amazed everyone by performing a kong to gainer into the foam pit, a movement none of us thought possible. We also did a lot of huge kong practice and threw in all kinds of flips to the mix. After open gym, the same group, minus Jon, grabbed some dinner at a small Japanese restaurant. The rest of the night was spent at kannagisai's apartment, watching videos, soaking in the hot tub, and just hanging out. Pumped for the jam the next day, which was shaping up to be the biggest in COPK history, we all finally crashed in kannagisai's apartment.
Sunday, February 26
9 AM - With a packed agenda for the day, we got an early start from kannagisai's apartment and arrived in downtown around 9 AM. The night before, we had planned a little something special before the jam officially started at 10 AM. Our small group got warmed up and ascended a 50+ foot building in order to do a little roof jumping. Everyone was able to stay safe and get their head around the height and did a respectable roof gap, an eight foot gap with an eight foot height change. After we were done with that gap, we explored the rest of the connected rooftops. We found another very wide roof gap, but nobody really thought of doing it. Except PD. The run up was quite sketchy, full of golf ball sized stones. There was a small step up to launch off over the gap. The gap was over ten feet wide with an eight foot drop, and full of the same rocks on the other side. After some psyching up, PD stepped it up and soared over the fifty foot drop with a clean take off and landing. Twice. We were all super excited with the roof top accomplishments and hurried to get down. Unfortunately, on the way down, the Tempest video camera was dropped and broken. Fortunately, it still worked (for the most part), and the roof top footage was unharmed. We then headed over to Cat Fountain, the meeting spot of the jam.
10 AM - We got to Cat Fountain, one of the signatures of Colorado Parkour. Anyone who has ever been
there will tell you that it seems as if it was made specifically for parkour. As traceurs started to
show up, Eagleridge Media (www.eagleridge.tv) and Double Edge Films (www.doubleedgefilms.com) also
arrived to do some filming. We had representation from all over the state; Boulder, Colorado Springs,
Denver, Centennial, Aurora, Westminster, and more. At the peak of the jam, there were over 30 traceurs,
freerunners, bboys, trickers, and media people. The jam began with warming up, casual parkour movements,
and the distribution of over twenty COPK shirts designed by gameyy. Some of the highlights of the
downtown leg included:- An enormous kong to precision discovered by strydzz and accomplished by PD, kannagisai, AC, and Strydzz.
- Demon claiming the virginity of a monster gap at Cat Fountain, followed by kannagisai, PD, and AC all also making the jump.
- Two large runs of follow the leader through Skyline Park.
- An array of acrobatics by PD, AC, kannagisai, Jon, Strydzz, Quazar, bama and more.
- Copious amounts of cat leaps, vaults, and jumps.
- A group run down Writer Square and the 16th St. Mall.
- Flips on the passing by mall bus ride.
- A record attendance for a COPK gathering, including many people attending their first big jam.
- Extensive video footage captured by Double Edge Films and Eagleridge Media.
- PD and AC handing out free shirts and stickers.
1 PM - After an extensive session of Skyline Park and several other downtown Denver hotspots, the group headed twenty minutes across town to Red Rocks Amphitheater. After a quick bite to eat, we headed into the main upper courtyard. Red Rocks is a world renowned tourist attraction, and with the beautiful sixty degree and sunny weather, the amphitheater was filled with a lot of visitors. The COPK group had now lessened to around twenty people, but still made their presence widely known in the amphitheater. Some highlights of the Red Rocks leg included:
- An informal and improvised "group demo" at the top of the amphitheater which gathered a crowd of over thirty spectators taking pictures, applauding, and getting quite interested in the whole ordeal.
- Several tourist parents encouraging their young kids to try some very basic movements. One little guy started mimicking some of the break dancing and was also able to pull off some very slick underbars. Several parents asked about Colorado Parkour and how they could get their children involved.
- PD, AC, Jon, and bama and his crew performing some sick multi-person acrobatics on stage.
- Some new underbar combinations and variations being innovated and developed by Demon, bama and his crew, AC, PD, and more.
- Extensive video footage captured by Double Edge Films and Eagleridge Media.
4 PM - After a semi-thorough session of Red Rocks Amphitheater, the dwindling group of around fifteen
made a quick five minute drive to the some Red Rocks trailheads. After a quick hike back into some of
the spectacular natural rocks, large rock jumps started to be done by some of the group. As the group
continued deeper into the rocks, Turtle Cove was jumped by several people. A few other new gaps were
done but by now, most people were drained and gathered at the peak of a gigantic monolith to just hang
out and talk. After a while, the group headed back down to the cars and began to go in their separate
ways. PD, AC, Demon, Rithi, Vapor, Strydzz, and kannagisai headed to Qdoba for some delicious burritos
for their starving stomachs. There they spent a good time talking in depth about parkour and reflecting
on the awesome day.This jam was by far the best in COPK history. Big thanks to Tempest for being the inspiration for the jam. Not only were they the reason it was planned, but they are both great guys and pushed everyone to do their best while keeping up a positive vibe. Thanks to the Double Edge and Eagleridge for coming out to film the jam and to Chocolate, Essie, and more who did an amazing job of documenting most of the day through photographs. Thanks to everyone else who showed up and made this jam so successful. Many friends were made, barriers were broken, and parkour continued to become more successful and recognized in Colorado through the contributions of everyone in attendance.
*To view photos from the jam, click here.