In lieu of a functional city skatepark, it’s arguably the centre of Wellington’s skate scene, complemented by the more transition-oriented hospital DIY, the glassy flatground of Mems, and plywood contours of Karori. There is plenty of room, catering to most tastes (especially if you like ledges), and you’re always guaranteed a session and a chat. Personally, it’s one of the things I love most about living here, and I am proud to call myself a local.
That said, I hesitate to speak on behalf of the dedicated, ever-evolving Treetops community. I gathered a few key figures (including the unofficial mayor, Jordan Cosgrave) and pressed record one evening to nail down what makes it such a unique spot.
The History
Tom Culy: Apparently, it used to be a roller-skating rink in the ‘70s, then people used to come up here to play basketball more than skate. A lady from the council got that fence put up to stop balls rolling down the hill (the fence has since been knocked down by a fallen tree branch). Sam Palmer had already built this skateable rooftop sculpture in 2012, maybe – he made a bunch of things around the city. I was living around the corner, so we brought up some benches and a granite slab. That was in 2013 or 2014, I think, and it was me, Lee Corleison and Diego Casal. The ground was rough, but it’s a nice flat area, so we kept adding obstacles, and more people started coming up.
Max Olijnyk: One of the biggest things that happened here was the diamond cut of the surface.
Tom: Yeah, I put together a fundraising page in 2016, I think, and a bunch of people donated $100 or even $1000 to get it done. We did t-shirts and stuff – there’s a plaque on the ground that lists all the main people who donated. This dude, Garth (Urquhart) from Tauranga, did it for $12k. I think he cut us a really good deal. Since then, it’s just kept evolving.
Jordan Cosgrave: I found out about this place when I was having a real shit time in my life. I’d split with my kids’ mum.
Jack Fagan: Hey, it’s not your interview, Jordan.
Jordan: Nah, but Lenz (22) was like, bro, there’s a place up the road from your house that’s mean to skate, and they’ve got a marble ledge. And he’s like, “Do you know Tom Culy? He built that – it’s his park.”
Jack: We called it Tom Culy’s Fantasy Factory.
The Vibe
Jordan: The main thing to focus on is that Trees is more than a skatepark – it’s a vibe.
Nico Tognazzo: I reckon the main thing to focus on is that it’s always sheltered from the wind.
Ben ‘Twiggy’ Colvin: It is all about the vibe, but to me, the best thing about Treetops is that, considering how windy Wellington is, you can always come up here and skate no matter what, no matter which way the wind’s blowing.
Nico: I was trying to describe Treetops to someone at work. I said, it’s like a lost little boy’s skatepark paradise place up in the trees that no one goes past.
Jordan: This is the destination skatepark of Wellington, right? People come to Wellington to skate here, not Waitangi, not to skate Avalon. And we’ve had everyone who skates come through here.
The Piss Tree
Jack: That’s why it’s the biggest, bro.
Nico: When it’s a sunny day, and you piss, you’ve got the perfect view over the valley and the sun’s coming over, there’s nothing better.
Jack: There was a person living up here for a while, under the hip. We called him the Tenant. That’s why Jordan keeps pissing there, to discourage it. It’s the one place in the whole park that the rain doesn’t touch, and then on a sunny day it reeks.
Nico: He needs to stop pissing down there.
Max: You guys remember when the parkour dudes started building a park on the grass?
Jordan: Then the council kicked them out! They moved their shit five minutes before the Treetops Jam started.
Nico: It was so funny watching that unfold.
Jordan: They were organised. They started installing all this shit; it was like a parkour city.
Nico: The dude was running after school sessions, making money off it. It was against the whole idea of the place.
The Tricks
Max: What’s the best skating that’s ever happened here?
Jordan: James Huntley. Hands down.
Jack: One time Gabbers pulled up, he rolled in, and he went to 50 the flat bar and got fully taco’d.
Nico: It was sick when the Volcom team turned up, and they bought heaps of beers for everyone, just off the rip. No comms, just pulled up with heaps of beers, and it was pretty steezy.
Jack: It was pretty cool when the Pass~Port dudes came; they camped up here. There are clips of Danny Brady here as well.
Twiggy: And Brophy.
Jordan: Yeah, but Huntley, there was a period there, a summer or two ago, where it was like…
Twiggy: Every morning before 10 o’clock, he had already posted an insane clip.
Jack: I’d be having breakfast, watching what he did.
Jordan: Gunther was real good back in the day.
Jack: He did kicky front tail, the hardest ledge trick.
Jordan: I remember when Chunks would come up, and he would just go bang – kicky front tail. So good, so easy.
The Obstacles
Max: What’s your favourite obstacle that’s ever been here, Tom?
Tom: That box over there must be 10 years old. It’s been fixed so many times. It’s stacked up a bit higher now, but it’s such a good ledge. There were also these square plastic pallets. Do you remember them? We’d just screw two on top of each other, and they were perfect – they slid so well. There was also a wheelchair ramp I made when we pulled apart the old deck at my house. It was hard to skate, but I loved it.
Max: In my opinion, it’s never looked better than this. Props to Twiggy, Ben (Winson) and Zach (Isaac), who’ve been doing all the work.
Jordan: Props to the council for giving us the Gator Skins. Also, big props to Gus and Vanessa (Fusion) for always putting shit on here. They spend a lot of money out of their own pockets on new obstacles.
Tom: Props to Craig Terris, who was the caretaker up here for a couple of years. We made a bunch of stuff with the Wellington Skateboarding Association a while back.
Max: And Alexi at WCC, because she helped us get that MOU, the Memorandum of Understanding, which means it’s recognised as a place to skate. We can put obstacles everywhere, and we can occasionally get the keys to open the gate and bring stuff up.
Twiggy: I think we’re pretty set on timber features. I thought it would be sick to put in some concrete, but I’ve heard a lot of people don’t want concrete because once it’s there, you can’t move it. The good thing about wood is that you can move stuff around to keep it fresh.
The Future
Max: What else do we need up here?
Jack: A tap.
Max: A toilet would be good, even though we have the piss tree.
Nico: Some permanent seating would be nice, like some park benches. It’s always been a dream to turn the metal fence thing into a quarter pipe.
Max: There seems to be more young skaters turning up these days, which is cool.
Nico: A new wave of uni students are street skating now. Skating must be cool again.
Max: There are a lot of kids up at Mems (Pukeahu War Memorial).
Jack: Yeah, it’s a good vibe at Mems, but the thing is, the kids can’t get that good because there’s just flat ground.
Jordan: It’s so much better up here.
Max: The other reason Mems is popular is because the city park is so shit.
Jack: Although I low-key love that place. I grew up skating there.
Max: I get it, it’s like that syndrome,
when you fall in love with your captor.
Jack: Ah, Stockholm Syndrome.
Max: That’s it!
Treetops is accessible via Russell Terrace, Newtown, Wellington.
Article first published in Manual Magazine, Issue #75.
Feature image: Aireden Vellasamy, kickflip
