Levis Skateboarding Presents — Skateboarding in Christchurch

On February 22nd, 2011, at 12:51pm, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake and numerous aftershocks tore through the city center of Christchurch, New Zealand. 185 people were killed, with thousands displaced and their lives changed forever. Inspired by past Levi’s skatepark builds around the world, members of the Christchurch skateboarding community reached out to the Levi’s brand seeking support to revive the skate scene in their skate community.

The crew at Levi’s® quickly signed on to help, recruiting eager team ambassadors Josh Matthews, Joey Pepper, Al Partanen, Marius Syvanen, Pat Moran, and Dan Plunkett. An all-star cast rolled up their sleeves to help the Christchurch skate community rebuild what had been lost in the earthquake.

The crew packed their bags and departed for New Zealand, where they were determined to work closely with the locals of Christchurch to create something that would be a meaningful contribution towards rebuilding their community. In less than 48 hours this past December 2015, Christchurch locals and the Levi’s® crew banded together to find an available plot of land, cleared it of all plants and debris, and built a skatepark. 

Christchurch marks the sixth skate park built around the world by the Levi’s brand and Levi’s skate team ambassadors. Other global park builds include Bangalore, India; La Paz, Bolivia; Oakland, California; Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; and Johannesburg, South Africa.