Thrasher Magazine

Every year WE ATTEMPT TO plan this event, it's always harder than we think it’s going to be. To ease the stress, we started planning everything three months before Halloween. We thought that would give us plenty of time to get it going. But we learned that for five guys with full-time jobs, we probably still needed more time. And seeing as how our 2019 Hellbomb racked up millions of views, there were big shoes to fill. After two months of going back and forth with the city, jumping through all the legal hoops, planning out ramp designs and trying to find some sponsors to foot the bill, it seemed like this shit might not happen after all. With the event’s would-be date two weeks out, we said, “Fuck it,” and started on the obstacles anyway (thanks, Keen Ramps!). Once the ball got rolling, everything miraculously fell into place, and with just 48 hours before the event, we had a permit secured. Thank you to everyone that came out. Now enjoy every moment of mayhem. —Alex Papke

An early first look at the top of the hill while Long Beach’s finest prepare for the worst

A solid handshake to ensure nothing goes too far south

Did we mention that the winner takes home the honorary black card? No skate contest has offered this before—a bottomless prize purse

Diesel Degenerates and Ke$ha herself brought out the big rig on some twisted shit

As always, onlookers were dressed properly for the occasion

To start it off, we keep it simple with a race to the bottom

And as you can tell…

…everyone wanted a piece of it

Pushing full speed with a VX? Just another day for Austin Leleu

Jason Borosky traded in the dirtbike for a make-shift tent. Not the most aerodynamic, but it still goes

If standing up isn’t your thing, no sweat

All the homies were in full attendance

The only way to properly go down on a bike is with a beer in each hand

If you left your car at the bottom of the hill, good luck getting it back up

Unfortunately, the senior citizens weren’t feeling the speed

But a six-person luge? Why not?!

An overall message we want everyone to follow for the afternoon

Garrett Hill took a break from dropping some heavy PSLs to come out and support

And just in time, Cory gets the first obstacle in the ground

A quick check from our media team to make sure this 30-year-old technology still works

Just in time for the Lumberjack Massacre—better go fast or you might end up like Shealy

Getting sacked on this one was an ongoing thing

They eventually got the hang of it

Austin Heilman came out as our favorite F-Block alumni and charged full speed in Duffman's honor

Staring down the barrel of a gun, in huaraches

Anything for a good view

Slams were definitely inevitable

Kirby got a piece, then had to take a quick call

Kanaan Dern made the drive from O-side, going bullet-beating speed as Neo

Jack Olson makes a great Shaggy. Zoinks! 

Pro tip: get a costume with some dome coverage to increase your chance of survival. Now cue the post-2000s G’N’R

Everyone was getting a piece of this thing

Even the dude in the wheeled kayak

Jack Olson took the cake, being the only person to take the Lumberjack switch

An impromptu haircut on the course? Sure, why not?!

On to the next obstacle—Satan’s Drano came correct with the Executioner’s Delight, a bump to pillory decked out with plenty of chains and blood. Greg Dehart warmed things up with a noseblunt

I found out a few months ago that Cold is secretly beast at riding a scooter. He took his talent to the next level—knee pads and all—but couldn’t catch a break

Ceddy was practically just picking up bodies at this point

If you’re gonna wear a helmet, you gotta be getting buck

Otto Rocket was definitely getting buck. We wanted to see a BSNB on this thing and TP delivered

If your homie is down to give you some shoulder action to get a view, I highly suggest you take it

It’s not Halloween without at least one of the Piss Drunx

Cody Jacobson might have gotten his arm clipped, but the Suski grind was worth it

Gas Giants took a break from their usual Cancun vacations to bring the Squid Game to Hellbomb

We turned the pillory around to get a little fatty-to-flatty action. Kenny Stanley checked off old faithful and got things going with a pop shove

That still didn’t stop the slams

If anything, it just made them gnarlier. If you’re gonna be on the media team, you best stay under the ladder for your own safety

And as the tricks went on, the gap got even bigger

It’s all about getting the angles, kids

Kwesi stepped to it no questions asked

But we all know Kanaan had to finish things off with a front 180 straight outta The Matrix

Walsh was on the mic all day as Steve Irwin getting the crowd hyped

Bragg came out with the Hook to slam some Claws

Did Cody Moyles know Bam was our special guest at Hellbomb or was it just a lucky guess? Either way, Ape's gonna be so pissed

The Twisted Tea hype with the youth is really showing these days

Omar and Decenzo, two heavyweights of the day

All ages are always welcome

Rhino getting some ideas for next year's costume 

Our guy Rye Beres getting the crowd fired up for our third and final obstacle

Is that a giant spliff?

Well if it is, you gotta light that shit somehow. Thanks for doing the honors, Tanner

The Spliff Jam was our final obstacle event of the evening, and you know we had to go all out. That’s $100K in weed burning up in there!

It’s not as easy as it might look

The more skin, the better

Josh Douglas stepped it up with a smokin' back Smith

Tanner and Fiene were on their daredevil shit with the fire going strong

Did we mention this thing gets bigger? The only spliff that gets longer as it stays lit—Roman hit it easy

Backed up shortly by Decenzo

The only person to give me a double shinner during the day was this dude while he was skating up the hill

Sam Sneed has the front boards on lock

The Florida gang was loving every second of this shit

Gary Rogers was there, no suit but still fired up

And for the final jam, a nine-foot pole. You can’t make this spliff up

“But is it even possible?”

Right off the bat, Kanaan takes flight

Quickly followed by Sam Sneed

Almost 12 feet off the ground, it’s a long way down for little Julian

Sam shut the day down, boardsliding the nine-footer when no one saw it coming

And as always, the best way to wrap the day is with some more fire

Of course, the crowd got wild as everything started to burn down

Under Pressure to close it out, Tanner and Fiene as HK and Klein know what to do

And with two dudes bombing down the hill on fire, that's gotta be The End. A huge thanks to everyone who came out to Long Beach for this one. We can’t wait to do it again next year. Might start planning it now just to be safe…