Maloof Money Cup coverage: Alex Perelson lands the 900, wins Pro Vert and cashes in $75K

 Alex Perelson flying a backside air at the Maloof Money Cup vert ramp. (Photo by Luiz Calado)

The highly anticipated 2009 Maloof Money Cup wrapped up this past Sunday, at the Orange County Fairgrounds (the OC Super Fair continues through August 9th).

The magnitude of such event is not limited to the biggest prize purse in the history of skateboarding – $450,000; there were the Maloof brothers, the sponsors, the vert ramp, the street course, and, obviously, the athletes who made it all an extraordinary event.

Because of that, coverage will expand in a series of articles and, in this first part, the spotlight is directed at the pro vert competition.

Carl’s Jr.® Men’s Pro Vert

At this point in time, the Megaramp is nothing new to skateboarding. Danny Way’s earliest concept at the beggining of this decade was a behemoth apparatus for big air jumps and, since then, variations of the gigantic structure have appeared in mainstream events all over the world – US, Mexico, China, Brazil – and it has been a permanent fixture at the X Games since 2004.

The rainbow rail over the gap was made famous by Bob Burnquist who grinded it on his way into the Grand Canyon abyss (then safely parachuted down to the basin). Nowadays, Bob is the proud owner of his own private Megaramp, built in the backyard of his home in San Diego County.

The novelty in the Maloof Money Cup was the introduction of a scaled down version – the mini Megaramp – and connecting it to the half-pipe so skaters could keep on going with their line of tricks after dropping in and sliding the rail.

A tunnel connected the mini Megaramp landing slope into the half-pipe. (Photo by Luiz Calado)

Easier said than done, ultimately the vert competition was split into rail-only sessions followed by the typical vert session in the half-pipe. The contest format – two runs in order for each skater, followed by a twenty-minute free-for-all jam session – loosened up the vibe and allowed the best to shine.

Bob Burnquist flips to Indy high above the Maloof Money Cup ramp. (Photo by Luiz Calado)

No one was surprised that Burnquist was a favorite – after all, he qualified first on Saturday’s semi-finals and also played a significant role in the design of the entire vert structure. Renowned by his switchstance knacks, Bob virtually melted the rail with tricks like fakie-to-fakie 50-50s and 270 back lips and, in the ramp, pulled huge flip indies, one-footed back smith over the bridge and his very own Burntwist (a s/s eggplant three).

Last year’s champion Pierre Luc-Gagnon (aka, PLG) was pre-qualified all the way to the finals but that did not stop him from rehearsing his act in advance; in the finals, he attacked the rail with back lips and crooked nose grinds, and the ramp with a wide variety of soaring 3- and 5-spins and transfers to-and-from the offset extension.

In the end, however, fame and fortune were destined to an young underdog.

Though he had been showing a routine packed with reputable tricks (extended back 3s, lofty tail grabs, feebles and front lips in the rail), Alex Perelson placed a low sixth in the semis, and had plenty of challengers to overcome: Andy Macdonald, Bucky Lasek, Rob Lorifice and Adam Taylor (not to mention Bob and PLG).

But, then, Alex spun the 900 – and stuck it – as everyone in the arena went utterly wild. After that, it wasn’t much of a guess who’d be the winner.

Alex Perelson. (Photo by Luiz Calado)

For Perelson, fame came in the instant that he landed the legendary trick. By doing so – at only 18 years of age – he joined an elite club of select experienced skateboarders who have ever achieved the same feat: Tony Hawk, Sandro Dias and Giorgio Zattoni.

Finally, fortune came in the form of a big first place paycheck in the amount of $75K, the gold and bling-bling-sparkled cup, a reportedly $10K wrist watch and plenty of luxurious champagne.

NBC will broadcast the highlights on Sunday, July 19th, at 2PM ET/PT.

Check the additional footage and slide show below, and come back soon for more of the MMC coverage.

;-)

FINAL RESULTS