hey do any of you skateboard at or around mac or know of any good skate spots at the school or in the area? What about skateparks close-by? Also, does anyone know of any security issues with skating at school, or rules about skating at school?

I don't personally skateboard (well, my friends showed me how to do an ollie [sp?] back in the day :p, probably can't anymore), but I have seen 14-16 year old kids skating around in the area between the student center and the art museum thing a lot. They seem to like jumping off the steps and attempting to grind on the hand rails.

I'm sure if you went there, people wouldn't mind. I would just recommend doing it after 7:00 PM though, since your chances of running into / landing on someone are reduced dramatically then :p.

I lived at home in Mississauga last year so I didn't do to much skating at school. I'm told by people that hamilton has a pretty good skate scene. I think the closest skatepark is inflow which is a indoor park west of the campus and a long walk. I see people around campus skating all the time in the fall or spring months and don't seem to get bothered for it. Bring your board to campus for sure anyway even just to get around.

turner park on the mountain is wicked, they just opened it this summer. kind of a pain to get there, but it's really well set up.. lots of street stuff and a good bowl. as for skating on campus, i've never really been bothered just don't be stupid about it and you should be fine.
Turner Park

Yeah a number of people do board to school, but the whole Trickery bit might be implausible come september, the Mills Courtyard would be much much more crowded and you jumping around might not be tolerated by the 5.0(Security)

Edit: I have seen the turner park and was just about to mention it! You have to first take a bus downtown to James Street and then take the upper Kenlinworth to Limeridge bus(24 I think). It would be around 40-50 minutes I think(depending on bus schedules/transfers)

ya turner looks awesome, too bad its so far from school

Mac has a great skateboard and longboard scene! You can be sure to catch people skating around campus, especially on nice days! Two people you might catch cruising on their longboards are Vishal and Andrew Catterine, the MSU President and VP-Finance, respectively.

Skating on school is allowed. You will probably get stopped for skating any sets or anything if the mac police come by, but that doesn't happen too much, especially in the summer. Don't skate downtown because the Hamilton police are strict with the 20-30 year old by-law that says no skateboarding in public or something. With that said, here is where to skate on and off campus!

Mac has a few skate spots worth mentioning. There's the two 3-sets in Mills plaza (see pic below) which can be skated consecutively or by ollieing over the curb into the ramp on the side. Then there's the 5-set right beside it in front of Gilmour Hall. Then there are the ledges in front of Thode Library, but I don't recommend skating there because it's a bait spot for police to come and I've heard bmxers getting tickets for trespassing and all (this might not effect you as a mac student but they will still bug you there). The parking lot in the south-west corner of campus also has a lot of manual pads but the ground is a bit rough there.

The best spot on campus is hands down the basketball court between T-28 and T-29, in front of the North Quad residences. I love flatground skating so this is a great spot for me to skate in between classes and when I have free time. I started skating here during 2nd semester last year and it's a great spot. Lots of smooth flatground, you can lower the tennis net to make it into an obstacle, there's a garbage can and bench, and I had brought a manual pad there last year but it's gone now. But, you can bring whatever you want there and just lean it against the fence and it won't be a problem to anyone. The police don't have an issue with you skating here at all. The only problem is the tennis players and basketball players have priorrity over you because it's not an official skating area, but this is rarely an issue.

Off campus near Mac, I haven't really explored much except the area behind my house, near Boston Pizza. There's a school behind Fortino's which has an alright ledge. Going down that street, you'll go to a community centre and park which has a sketchy pool which is barely skateable and fun for about 10 minutes lol.

There are lots of skateparks in Hamilton. The newest park is Turner skatepark, and it is definitely the nicest one. It offers ledges, banks, rails, sets, and a nice bowl as well. There's a YMCA and a library right there so you can make a whole day trip out of going up the mountain (with Limeridge Mall near by as well!). Other parks include InFlow indoor skatpark in Dundas, Rangatang indoor skatepark near Eastgate Mall, the infamous Beasley Bowl skatepark downtown (this park is one of the first in Southern Ontario and is holds legendary status), Gage park skatepark downtown, and a few more. More info is here!!!

I'm always looking for people to skate on campus, so send me a message if you want to skate!

Originally Posted by Alvand

Ya, that's the exact spot I was talking about. Seems to be the spot where skateboarding is most prominent.

theres one off main st

I forgot to mention the area underneath the bleachers of the Ron Joyce Stadium. There's a long flatground area with a nice ledge on one side, and you can often find manual pads there.

Yeah the basketball court is your best bet if you want to skate ON campus. My friend and I got banned from skating on campus or else a $60 dollar ticket would be charged.

From what I remember back when I used to skate,

On Campus:

Outside Mills - used to get kicked out a lot...

*This was before I went to Mac. Outside health sci lib. might be alright I think theres some ledges there? The stairs at the quad might be okay but may be very difficult, i think i remember some hefty cracks in the floor near them.
Skateparks:

Beasley Park (Police station nearby so safe during day... Awesome bowl for airing out of, the hump is fun, the quarter pipe is more vertical than it should be, many a bruise on that one...)

Bowl near Catholic school off Rifle Range (St. Mary's?) - Haven't skated this one myself

Turner Park - Built after I stopped skating, but I here its not bad

Skatepark at Parkdale and Main St (East End) (might be called Parkdale, its at the ice rink)

Bernie Arbor Stadium (Half pipe - 5ft on one side 4 on other - metal surface = burns in summer!)

Downtown (Watch for police):

Art Gallery - Don't know since remodeling, but stairs are great. Watch for traffic at the bottom!)

City Hall - Hit and Run they will come fast

Jackson Square Roof - Don't go here late at night.

Jackson Square Indoors - Its fast and fun with hills and slick surface, but know your way around first or you might get caught, I don't know, we never got caught...

By car or bus:

Maple Park (Burlington) - beginner park, but relaxing and next to a nice mall. Can buss it there.

Shell Park (Oakville) - awesome! Not small, but very tight since theres a lot going on! It's on Lakeshore. Might need a car.

Grimsby Park (Grimsby) - Great park, big and open, lots to do! It's right off the QEW as you enter Grimsby... will need a car.