Shooting Pool - With Cooper Brownlee

They don't make 'em quite like this in Australia

18 Apr 2015

You know a pool is good when you session it for 5 hours and don’t really think about food or what you are riding next. Stephan August may have come late into the session but he was making good use of his time in the deep end with nice pocket tables.

Yet another example of Dan Norvell riding pools better then most.

Matt Cordova held the end of the pump for probably 2 hours whilst we drained this pool so that all the water didn’t leak into the neighbours backyard. Well deserved deep end euro.

This pool is right down the street from the house. We had no clue it was there and happen to drive by it and I caught it out of the corner of my eye. Coops rode it like it was his local park. X-up stall in the deep. Photo by Nathan Sykes.

From what I am told this pool has been around for a while but must not have been hit up for a few months as we spent a couple hours draining a couple feet of water and dodging bee’s before we could ride it. Matt Cordova produces a perfectly executed table out of the love seat. Shoutout to Matt for lending me his camera gear for this one as my flashes weren’t as hyped as I was to shoot photos it seems.

Nathan Sykes roasts the deep end of one of the most amazing pools I’ve seen. The locals tell me it’s been dug out multiple times by riders and skaters which is an amazing effort. Much appreciated guys.

Dan Norvell rides pools like his local park, every pool we rode together, within minutes he was stalling the top and coming up with lines such as this step nosepress to fakie.

End of session table from Nathan Sykes, we then moved on to find probably 6 pools that afternoon and never got the chance to drain/ride any of them whilst I was over there.

Cooper Brownlee toothpick on a steep back wall. Photo by Matt Cordova.

Pool lover Trevor Sigloch alley oop pocket air in one of the burliest pools that we rode whilst I was over there.

This was the first pool we drained using a pump and damn it was worth the dollars for the generator hire, From memory this was Erik Noonan’s first pool? Dude was killing it as you can see with this pocket air transfer.

Nathan Sykes roasts the deep end of one of the most amazing pools I’ve seen. The locals tell me it’s bee dug out multiple times by riders and skaters which is an amazing effort. Much appreciated guys.

3 hours of draining, good crew and random dogs making love! Of course Cooper had to slap some pegs after all the hard work. Photo by Nathan Sykes.

Thanks to the crew that drained this beast, it was weird rolling up to a pool that was all swept and ready to ride but we weren’t complaining. Wedding cake pop from Nathan.

Intro and photos by Cooper Brownlee. Additional images by Nathan Sykes and Matt Cordova

I really enjoy riding pools. For me, it's all about the thrill of the process - the search, draining it out and finally riding it. You feel that thrill with every spot you search out, but it's higher with pools.

Here in Australia, pools are few and far between. Even when you do find one they just aren't built the same way as the pools in the US are, as they're smaller and have very little transition (if any at all). That's why, when I was in California recently, I rode every pool I could. There were a couple on a trip up to Fresno and that's where I got bit. Then, while spending a week with Nathan Sykes and Matt Cordova who had also gotten bit by the pool bug, we spent everyday searching, trading, draining and riding pools around California. We were all blown away by how many there were. We were leaving pools unridden because we had already found a better one. I definitely wasn't used to that!

Now that I'm back home, I'm craving a pool session. I drive past empty lots that I already know don't have pools but checking just in case. I need to get back to Cali to ride more pools real soon. Looking over these photos isn't helping my cravings but I hope you guys enjoy the images none the less…