Check out the highlights from the Vans team shredding the 2011 Phoenix Am contest.
Featured are Elijah Berle, Andrew Langi, John Fitzgerald, Taylor Smith, Daniel Lutheran, and Gilbert Crockett.

Here's the good stuff! Photos by Acosta.

Friday'sGolden Ticket Winner, Ben Hatchell,
ended up taking it all on his 21st birthday and is
going home $3000 richer!

2nd Place goes to Jack Olson ($2000)

3rd Place was Colin Provost ($1000)

Best Trick Winner was Matt Berger ($2500)
for his back 360 flip.

Congrats fellahs!
And thanks to everyone who came out to compete and hang.

No idea who's going to win the finals, but I'd bet Colin Provost & Ben Hatchell are up there. if you haven't had a look at Nieratko's twitter commentary from @vansskate66, you should. He ain't pulling punches. ha!

Thanks to Skateboard.tv.

That's what I do. Gotta go! finals time!

Semis are over and they're cutting it down to 12 for finals, and as Nieratko just broke it down for us "finals consist of 1 individual run for each guy and then 3 heats of 4 guys. Winner is determined by overall impression.... Technically you could miss every trick in your run and still win the contest by killing the jam." Who's your money on?

Finalists are:
Matt Berger
Dashawn Jordan
Ben Hatchell
Colin Provost
David Loy
Oscar Meza
Taylor McClung
Tyson Bowerbank
Anthony Estrada
Keshaud Johnson
Jack Olson
Trevor Colden

A bunch of models here. All y'all. A bunch of modelllllllsssssss. And that hot dog? That's model food. Duh.

If you missed the webcast last night, here's some of what you missed. The sound kicks in after about a minute. Bad Shit starts their set around 5 minutes & JFA follows them.

Video chat by Stickam.com

Check out Thrasher's edit of yesterday's qualifiers on their site.

The afterparty for the first day of the contest was last night. Bad Shit & JFA were pretty sick. I gotta tell you about the venue, though. The Foundry is a custom cycle shop in Phoenix who were nice enough to have us (and most of the residents of this town) over for a party. Ok, so, we were given the grand tour when we arrived. First off, we met Buddy, the alligator, along with the president of the Hell's Angels. Then after cruising by about 50 people skating their big-ass ramp, we were shown the underground shooting gallery. There was also a stripper pole in the mix. Calm down. It was not currently in use at the time of our tour. Then, of course, we got a look at some of the custom choppers the guys built. All that happened before the bands even started. What? No piranha tank? I needed some knives on the ends of sticks, too. I went there to get dead. Slackers.

Nieratko got that song stuck in my head. He got a robot fish recently for his home that sings it. Unfortunately, I too am walking around singing that stupid song. it was the soundtrack to yesterday. All these people refused to give me back my filet of fish.

Three heats in todays Semifinals.
11 will advance to the finals.
See who is skating when HERE

Video chat by Stickam.com

A few highlights from today for you. Photos by Acosta. See the whole set on Vans flickr.

The top 49 from today's heats advance to tomorrow Semi-finals.
As well As Ben Hatchell getting golden ticketed right to the finals.

The following Vans riders made the cut:
Andrew Langi

Curren Caples

Elijah Berle

Gilbert Crockett

John Fitzgerald

For the full results go to COwtown's SIte HERE.

So. Besides both Gilbert Crockett & Elijah Berle shaving their heads, apparently Curren Caples has offered anyone from our crew $150 to shave off their eyebrows. I mean, I guess I could.

Here's what happens when Daniel Lutheran gets the camera.

Taylor Swift, I mean, Taylor SMith jacked his ankle mega bad!

We caught up with Theotis Beasley, Daniel Lutheran,
JAWS, Braydon Szafranski, Gilbert Crockett, Elijah Berle
Colin Provost, David Loy, Andrew Cannon and a few others
to see who they were putting their money on.

We're halfway through Day 2's heats footage will be posted this evening.
In the meantime, Skateboard.Tv has footage from yesterday's practice.

We're out here melting at PHX AM but the guys are killing it. Here's a few random clips while we were hanging out this morning. As riders Daniel Lutheran & Gilbert Crockett demonstrate, we learned that you can in fact towel snap grapes right off the vine.

The park was totally flooded with people as soon as gates opened this morning at 9am. The contest started on time an hour later. Every single guy skating is melting. This heat is serious. Don't worry. We'll for sure get a shot of someone puking. Our guys aren't skating until about 5pm so we've got a while yet. So far, so rad.

Here are a few photos from today's practice. See all of them on Vans flickr. Guess what? It was HOT. Photos by Acosta.

Taylor Smith


Andrew Langi


Elijah Berle


Gilbert Crockett

Check out Saturday's Heat sheets to see when Billy Joe
and Bobby Ray are skating at Cowtown's Site.

Langi loves the Clarendon Pool

98 degrees today in Phoenix.
Curren Caples and ANdrew Langi had the backstroke dialed.

Expected Vans Riders Include: Gilbert Crocket, Curren Caples, Elijah Berle, Daniel Lutheran, Andrew Langi, Donovan Piscopo, Alec Majerus, Patrick Ryan and more. To follow these riders and for complete PHXAM coverage throughout the weekend including photos, videos and updates from on and off the course, follow Vans' bloggers Chris Nieratko and Nikki Scoggins, right here on vans.com/phxam.

There will also be a live feed from the PHXAM after party Saturday, April 2, featuring skate punk legends JFA, TNT's Bad Shit and Phoenix's own Dephinger. Follow the madness as it happens at vans.com/phxam.

Coming this weekend ... arguably the most hormonally charged skate event of the spring or all year for that matter! Join Vans for Cowtown’s 10th Annual PHXAM and see some of the world’s best up and comers compete for cash prizes including $3000 for 1st place, $2000 for 2nd place, $1000 for 3rd place and $2,500 for Best Trick. Held at the newly renovated Desert West Skateboard Plaza in Phoenix, AZ, on Saturday, April 2 at 10:00 am and Sunday, April 3 at 11:00 am, the PHXAM is going to turn out some of the best am action of the year.

2011 marks the 10th anniversary of  Cowtown's PHXAM. The contest will be JAM format. In addition to skate-able junk through out the park we are revitalizing Desert West (original home of PHXAM) with a new centerpiece, designed by AZ local Colby Carter of California Skateparks, and through funds graciously donated by Vans.

Hope to see you there!