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this past friday we lost one of our brothers of the board. leon was one of hawaii's first punk rock pool skaters. he never hesitated at a chance to roll with us, he was fearless - to say the least. we witnessed him wake from a nap on the deck of the wailua ramp, jump up in daze and proceed to acid drop right into the kinked and steep ramp. there are hundreds of memorable stories of our friend that will live on. bless you brother, rest in peace. -rhps
on the roof - see the pink hotel
birds eye of pool (real pool is an egg)
20 story drop in
the real pool early in the a.m. hours
*the royal hawaiian pool service was named after an actual hotel/pool in waikiki beach, hawaii. back in 1987 we were fortunate to ride the supreme egg shaped pool for a few sessions 3 to be exact, each lasting only 15-20 minutes......why you ask so short - this pool is the pool for the legendary royal hawaiian hotel which is one the most fancy-shmancy hotels in hawaii. located on the high profile sandy beaches of waikiki, this hotel was the place were: hollywood movie stars, royalty, politicians and the legendary surfers of yesteryear (duke kahanamoku and his brothers, etc.) would hang on a daily basis. these 3 three sessions occurred in the night hours and one at dawn. the pool was empty for cleaning and some new tiles (see empty pool pic). we found this pool out of pure chance and luck. we had to jump in and roll "commando style". the funny thing were the guests sitting on their balconies watching us ride and cheering - surreal. the best part was when the cheers got louder and we knew we were about to get booted the luau kicked in full blast next door. tiki drums and hawaiian singing blasted down the beach..... so we got in a few more runs each. we were laughing our asses off as the drums were ripping and so were the boys. who were the lucky few: captain, gibo, billy deans, moblow, mondo, a visiting salba and the rhps. a memorable night for the rhps history books and the spark to our company. fast forward to the early 2000's ...... appearing on tony hawk's underground video there was honolulu as one of the cities to skate (digitally). i only got to see the game a few times - the game showed cartoon characters skating "off the walls", "wallos" and there it was the original royal hawaiian hotel pool! crazy but in the game you have to drain the pool and skate. see the pics of the skater looking at the pool on the roof and dropping in. you get to rip the pool and score points and run down waikiki beach when you get kicked out. not sure who put this in the game .... could be the 50-50 guys. whoever did this thanks - it rules. the pool is still there to this day BUT it is crowded with floating & sunbathing tourists daily. history came to life as game, thanks birdman
best wishes k.k.!
-rhps
bert at del mar by jgb
wally today, the ips lives.
the rhps always dug the stylish and fluid skater - tom "wally" inouye. wally was a legendary pro skater from the san diego area in the late 70's. his approach to skating looked as though he was surfing & slicing a perfect wave. he created a faux pool cleaning co. called: inouye pool service(IPS), he would show up and say "pool guy" to gain access to backyards. so naturally when we started our deal in the 80's, we followed wally's lead, show up with a smile and pumps. our original name was "g&g" pool service which later evolved into the rhps.
today wally lives in the northwest with his family and runs a skate/snowboard camp AND still rips!
respects to wally and the IPS.
shaka fahka,
-rhps
