ConcreteWave | Holidays 2012

THE RIGHT TO SHRED LONGBOARD REPORTS FROM

AUSTRALIA AND CHINA

PHOTO

ISSUE Vol.11 No.3 HOLIDAYS 2012

Worldwide Agreement Number 1.61803399

$4.95

Dennis "Seattle" Mennis. Photo: Dragos Zamfirescu

CONTENTS >>

HOLIDAYS 2012 30

EDITORIAL

38

LETTERS

42

NOTEWORTHY

54

COMPANY PROFILE: WEFUNK

56

A MOMENT IN TIME

58

TRAVELS WITH THE HUMBLE HIPPIE

60

A HOPKIN WAY OF LIFE – THE OZ REPORT

64

NEW YORK CITY MEMORIES

66

LONGBOARDING IN CHINA

68

BUFFALO BILL DOWNHILL

70

FRENCH FRIES, TRAPPIST BEER AND LONGBOARDS

74

THE RIGHT TO SHRED THE GNAR

78

PHOTO SECTION

96

RIDER PROFILE: VICTOR EARHART

98

GIRLS OVER WHEELS MINI TRIP

104

ARTIST PROFILES: NATHAN BISHOP & MICHELLE SANCHEZ

16 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

107

WHY I DO WHAT I DO – MICHAEL BREAM

108

I RIDE I RECYCLE MOVEMENT

TM

Vol. 11 No. 3 HOLIDAYS 2012

SEARCH/SPARK/STOKE

PUBLISHER/EDITOR ART DIRECTOR CORRESPONDENT I.T. DEPT. HEAD COPY EDITOR PROBLEM SOLVER HEAD OFFICE

Michael Brooke | mbrooke@interlog.com Mark Tzerelshtein | MarkintoshDesign.com Jim Kuiack Rick Tetz of CalStreets.com Jonathan Harms Bud Stratford | budstratford@aol.com 1136-3 Center Street, Suite 293 Thornhill, Ontario L4J 3M8 ph: 905.738.0804

SKATESHOP DISTRIBUTION Buddy Carr Designs PO Box 1895, Carlsbad, CA 92018 tailtapinfo@yahoo.com ph: 760.722.4111 CONTRIBUTORS (In order of appearance): Max Dubler, Dragos Zamfirescu, Jesus A. Fernandez, Carola Dottori, Bosco McAuley, Colleen Cleveland, Brent Veverka, Jeff Vyain, Acid Fernandez, Cindy Whitehead, Dusty Ray, Adam Yates, Nigel Dawes, Travis Horsfall, James Hopkin, Rob McWhinnie, Luca Coleman, Roman Baska, Francesca Terzi, Giulio Fagiolini, Julien Moreau, Cameron Bowser, Jilli Bethany, Mathieu Bonte, Xavier Ethuin, Nick Klein, R. Buliung, Gordon Timpen, Nick Stevens, Ray Rae Goldman, Ben Young, Yahav Trudler, Barbara Britvin, Jonathan Nuss, Stan Evans, Marc Robitaille, Lance Dalgart, Jeff Budro, Vicky Volpini, Nathan Bishop, Keir Vichert, Michelle Sanchez, Michael Bream, Renee Rosensteel, Tara Wujcik and Brian Babish. concretewavemagazine.com Concrete Wave is published by North of La Jolla Inc. Subscriptions (5 issues) are US$26 FIRST CLASS or CAN$26. Address change? Mag not arriving? Email us... don’t go postal. We can sort it out. mbrooke@interlog.com.

We will notify you when your subscription expires. Publisher’s permission is required before reproducing any part of this magazine. The views and opinions expressed in Concrete Wave are not necessarily those of the publisher. We happily accept articles and photos. Please contact the publisher directly at mbrooke@interlog.com before you submit anything. We are looking for a variety of stories and images as long as they are skate-related.

COVER: Calvin Staub. Photo: Max Dubler OPENING SPREAD: Maitane Rascon of Spain's Buddywood Longboards cuts back. Photo: Jesus A. Fernandez

FINE PRINT. By the time you read this, the U.S. election will be over. I won’t predict anything except the following: The rich will get richer, the world will get more complicated, some people will lament the “good old days” and longboarding will be the only sure thing to help you deal with the stress of the world. Everything else, I am not so sure about. Here’s just one example. We had a very funny, but slightly risqué ad from Madrid last issue. It was all set to run (with a bit of tweaking), and for some reason, it did not wind up in the magazine. I am not sure how to explain this because oddly enough, it did wind up in the Euro edition of the magazine. So, for those of you who did see it, consider yourselves privileged indeed! Sorry, Madrid – I promise you we’ll try to limit the number of screw-ups to a minimum of once every few years. As we wind down this year, there are big plans on the horizon. I’ve booked my ticket to ISPO – one of the biggest sports shows in the world. Look for the “Longboard Embassy” in February at the show. I am determined to get back onto the Vans Warped Tour for 2013 and I am already dreaming of heading back to California for a summer skate sabbatical. They say if you write your goals down, there’s a good chance you’ll achieve them. Can I just add one more? I wish all our readers, supporters and advertisers all the best for 2013. Thank you for believing in what we’re doing here and for sharing the stoke of longboarding.

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SEARCH/SPARK/STOKE

EDITORIAL >>

STEPPING ON,

OFF OR UP?

Andres Privitera Photo:Carola Dottori

T

his past summer, the Los Angeles city council voted to ban skaters who ride faster than 10 miles per hour. Also in California, city officials, longboarders and concerned citizens in the town of Laguna Beach have been trying to work out a compromise as streets get banned. Meanwhile, in North and West Vancouver, British Columbia city officials have enacted bans on skating on certain streets. And in Moncton, New Brunswick, longboarders are now facing fines of up to $125 for riding on the street or sidewalk.

It might surprise some readers to know that the issue of banning skateboards has been with us for quite some time. In fact, you can go back to 1964, when The New York Times reported on the ban of skateboarding in New Jersey.

The issue of banning roads and fining longboarders is complex because there isn’t just one type of long-

30 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

boarder. We have those who are brand new to longboarding who charge onto hills they have no business being on. There are freeriders and downhillers with complete mastery of their equipment and who know what they are doing and use sound judgment. There are longboard commuters who just want to ride to their destination without using fossil fuels. And we can’t forget the huge number of riders at colleges who also use longboards for transportation.

For many cities, road bans are a way of placating irate and freaked-out drivers. Quite often, when reports of a ban crop up, there will be a number of people in the comments section of a website who just bash longboarding. Some are trolls, but for the most part they rant and generally dismiss the idea of longboards as one enormous pain in the butt. Thankfully,

there are a number of longboarders who carefully detail the realities of what’s going on and rationally explain things.

Are some longboarders reckless? The truth is that, yes, we do have some folks out there doing some seriously questionable things. But we also have a tremendous number of reckless drivers and bicyclists.

The problem for longboarding is that things get blown out of proportion. According to the National Safety Council (www.nsc.org), an estimated 5,000 children in the USA aged 14 and under are hospitalized due to unintentional drowning-related incidents each year. On average, two children PER DAY die in those incidents, and more than 1,000 suffer a severe, permanent neurological disability. Despite these incidents, no one is calling for the abolition of swimming pools or banning people from swimming in rivers.

The other thing I often wonder about is where exactly do we want law enforcement to spend their time? I can think of a number of significant issues that the police should focus their efforts on rather than skateboarding.

This includes domestic violence, rape and gang activity.

From what I have seen in my 37 years on a board, skateboarding leads people to a healthier life.

There is still a great deal of misunderstanding from the general public about what longboarding is all about. For example, RCMP Sgt. Pierre Parenteau was quoted in the CBC article on the Moncton ban as saying that “longboards belong in skate parks. The problem is that longboard skateboards don’t really fit on the streets and sidewalks.” I strongly disagree with this idea, and I am pretty sure you do as well. If you want longboarding to progress, then you’re going to have to step off your board every now and then and step up.

Step up and tell the powers that be why you do what you do, and advocate for what you want as a longboarder. Otherwise, you’ll find that your freedom to ride will slowly but surely be diminished. Step up now or you might be stepping off permanently later.

Enjoy the issue!

Michael Brooke, Publisher

LETTERS >> PADRE E FIGLIO JI’ve just read your “groms and geezers” editorial in CW Spring 2012 (and the related piece by Heidi Lemmon and the article “Attack of the Micro-Groms”). Thrilling. They perfectly reflect the search/spark/stoke that my 7-year-old kid and I experience sk8ing together (and with our crew!). Leo and I sk8 together almost every day, from commuting to school to parks and hills. Here’s a vid we shot with my phone in Boston (yes, in Boston – I’m a professor of chemistry at Brescia University and I spent this summer at MIT as a visiting professor): http://vimeo.com/49022861 It is fantastic to know there are people sharing and promoting as we do the sk8boarding essence, far beyond rules, disciplines, competition, fashion and business.

Also, I’m happy that the Italian scene, which after a decade black period is now deflagrating in a great variety of directions, is finding some place in CW. Thanks.

Sk8 everything!

Paolo Bergese Università di Brescia, ITALY

ROLLING (AND READING) FOR LIFE As a 40+ fella (one who has been told he is too old to ride a board with wheels on it) who has subscribed to tons of magazines in my years, CW is by far superior. In fact, I have let most of them expire, but I will subscribe to CW for life.

CW has a wide variety of stories, crisp pictures and interesting new stuff about rolling, which is as near to my heart as snowboarding and my family. Longboarding is always on my mind, and I find time to ride almost every day when there is not snow here in Wyoming. Sometimes I catch myself after a long, tiring day of work looking at the mag, and it motivates me to grab my board and get out there for one more run.

Keep it up. No doubt CW keeps me Searching, Sparked and Stoked! as I look forward to many more pushes down the road.

Jeff D. Pinedale, WY

James McClelland enjoys the sunset in Ireland. Photo : Bosco McAuley

ABOVE AND BEYOND Once again your magazine has proven to go above and beyond typical skateboard magazines. I just read your article about Longboarding for Peace. It must have been amazing to visit a place surrounded in geopolitical unrest and to see the commonality of longboarding. Well done!

Regards, Steve Mark

Hello, Concrete Wave I missed seeing you guys on the Vans Warped Tour this past summer. What are your plans? Will you be doing the Tour next year? I really hope you will be able to make something happen. The Passport Program was a very cool way to help out the nonprofits and spread the stoke on longboarding. Let me know.

Thanks, Brenda C. Cleveland, Ohio Dear Brenda, Good news! We are indeed planning to be back on the Vans Warped Tour for 2013. We will be working closely with the Unite the United booth. We’ll make sure there are plenty of passports and stickers from your favorite skate companies.

Thanks for thinking of us!

Best wishes, Michael

NEVER MISS! You can now read ® Concrete Wave on your iPad

It’s only $1.99! And you can enjoy the full edition plus extras.

For $3.99 you can get a full year – 6 issues.

38 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

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40 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

NOTEWORTHY >> PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS TUNNEL Shaped in 1982, when skating moved away from parks and onto the streets, the Tunnel Street Rocker is a 9” x 30” 7-ply deck with a single kick and mild concave.

Pressed in California and with die-cut grip, the Street Rocker features retro-style graphics and wheel wells all the way around. This deck is the perfect size for a cruiser — equally at home bombing a hill or ollieing over a trash can, ’80s style. tunnelskateboards.com

GANGSTER GRIP

Venom Racing USA is proud to announce Gangster Grip, the most thugnificent grip tape on the market. You get three 10.5” x 12” pieces of rough-ass grip tape and a gangster s—t sticker sheet. Regrip all your boards so we get hood rich. fullcircledistribution.com

NELSON VENOM

The Stingray brings the locked-in feeling of dropped boards into the world of topmounts. The dramatic wheel flares in front, tight “cereal bowl” transition in back, 5/8” Nelson Concave and mild W in the back create the ideal platform for downhill and freeride. The KT version comes with a full kicktail, making for a very versatile board – great for popping an ollie or mixing more technical tricks into your riding. nelsonlongboards.com

TROJAN Trojan Gloves brings you rubberized fingertip printing to make sure you don’t lose grip on your board. Equipped with Venom highperformance slide pucks, these hand-weapons boast perforated leather backing, reinforced wear points, doublestitched seams and style worthy of the Thriller. madridskateboards.com

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When he’s out bombing hills, Venom Racing USA team rider and head scientist Zak Maytum grabs rail and puts his hand down like it’s his job; so we decided to make some slide pucks. They’re everything you need: round, beveled, red, and tricked out with a sweet-ass snake graphic. Get some at fullcircledistribution.com.

HONEY The crew at Honey Skateboards has been busy putting several prototypes through the paces to dial in two new downhill boards and a freeride board. Race tested at Maryhill and Buffalo Bill, the new DFR and the Attack have a deep yet comfortable concave that inspires confidence at speed. Both these boards deserve a place in your quiver.

The freeride Honey Badger has two perfectly sized and angled kicks that make a pop-up spring right into your hand. This freeride board is a must-ride if not a musthave. All three possess the unmatched quality that Honey has become known for. honeyskateboards.com

KLEVER

Klever’s new line for holiday 2012 features all new designs. The Kwiki model has been fattened up to a 9-ply with new graphics and wheel-well notches. The Vortex concave has been mellowed and features a limited-edition graphic design by local musician Tyson Marshall. The Drift has been described as our “standy machine” — heelside or toeside, this symmetrical beast has more aggressive W concave than the Vortex and has new wheel-well cutouts for more clearance over our previous model. The Smart Bomb 37” is our most popular race board, feeding our sponsored riders’ need for a performance topmount. kleverskateboards.com

BUDDYWOOD

Based in Spain, Buddywood Longboards have a wide range of unique decks. Their latest is the Tuvalu. The combination of sandwiched laminated bamboo at its core in addition to several layers of epoxy laminate and Canadian maple veneers makes this 33.3” longboard extremely strong. Its small size makes it nimble and maneuverable, and it glides with incredible ease. Shove-it tricks and slides are effortless. The camber gives it a soft flex and the drop-through construction

enhances stability, making this compact longboard the perfect ally for practicing both giant slalom as well as quick-turn slopes. buddywoodcustommade.com

VOLANTE The Volante Serrata features a 53mm contact patch and 72mm diameter. It is a technical downhill wheel perfected. Add the same white “Checker” thane that has the famed buttery-smooth slide and consistent grip and you have the recipe for the Serrata. Tested by Liam Morgan and Eric Jensen, we’re excited to have a wheel that performs under every condition. volantewheels.com

CALIFORNIA BONZING California Bonzing Skateboards has shaped up a new board for their quiver: the Urban Shred Sled. It features a 5/8” drop and comes as a topmount and dropthrough. Johnny “Guitar” Watson was a great musician and helped inspire the Urban Shred Sled graphic.

Johnny said, “Funk is funny. Funk is looking at the world and saying, ‘It ain’t what it seems. It ain’t what it should be. It ain’t what I expected. It’s funky.’

Chad Lybrand was inspired by Johnny’s music and drew the graphic for the Urban Shred Sled. californiabonzing.com

RESTLESS Restless Longboards is proud to present two promising new additions to its lineup, the Fishbowl and the Concorde.

The Fishbowl is an evolutionary mix of our BigBoy and Splinter. It will be rocking 8 plies of maple, a bowl concave, twin-tip kicktails, wheel wells and gas pedals. With its 41” length, 10” width and

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29.5” wheelbase, it’s the perfect freeride machine.

As for the Concorde, it’s a freeride-inspired downhill topmount. With its 8 plies of maple, W concave, wheel wells and gas pedals, 36” length, 10.25” width and a 26”-28.5” wheelbase, this new beast is designed for speed and agility. restlesslongboards.com

LOADED Borrowed from dormant space shuttle fuselages, our new mounting hardware is here and ready to hold it down.

Made from extremely strong steel (significantly stronger than Grade 8), these flange-head bolts integrate the washer into the bolt itself to reduce the height of the bearings while still distributing load pressure. The hex socket is slightly recessed beneath the surface of the bolt for extra durability, while a non-threaded portion of the bolt increases strength and creates a smoother interface with the mounting holes of the deck. loadedboards.com

BLOOD ORANGE

Blood Orange has been hard at work to see if they could outdo their previous formula. They’ve developed a superior bushing poured from the highest-quality, American-made urethane available. The Ultra-High Rebound urethane formula creates a bushing that doesn’t lose its uniform leaning properties, which is essential for downhill stability while holding turns at high speeds. Coming in a range of durometers from 80A to 92A, they’re sure you can find a combination that works for you. Ultra-High Rebound 89A Blood Orange bushings can already be found stocked in all Caliber Trucks. skatebloodorange.com

ROAROCKIT HITS DOWN UNDER

With skateboarding in Australia more popular than ever, Australian schools and individual board builders have really embraced Roarockit materials and technology. Many schools now include skateboard building in their curriculum, covering a range of subjects, including art & design, science and not to forget, woodwork. Justin and Belinda offer a range of Roarockit products. australianskateboardkits.com

FOOARAGE SKATEBOARD COMPANY FooARage discovered Roarockit while looking for a supplier of Canadian maple wood veneers in the U.K. to start their project, teaching local youths how to build a skateboard! The partnership has grown and they are now officially a U.K./EU supplier of Roarockit technology and materials!

In February 2012, Nicola and Brent Lewis also founded FooARage, the U.K.’s first professional school for skateboard and longboard deck building. They have since started many outreach programs with youth groups throughout Kent. Nicola and Brent recognize how great it is to bring this to the U.K. and to give youth the opportunity to do something to benefit the skateboarding culture and create sustainable projects. facebook.com/FooARage

ARBOR Arbor is proud to introduce their Bamboo Series skateboards including the Timeless, Fish and Axis, featuring the “organic” artwork of Nanami Cowdroy.

Bamboo is incredibly strong, yet flexible and easy to shape. By adding bamboo as a deck-side power ply, they create a hybrid maple construction

that has a clean Zen flavor, nice return and long-lasting durability.

The Timeless Bamboo pintail offers a smooth, open-stance ride, a wide concave platform and a long wheelbase for incredible stability, making it ideal for carving the slopes with maximum style. The Fish Bamboo compact pin features an extended wheelbase and a time-honored teardrop shape. Its medium flex allows it to excel as both a cruiser and urban carver. The Axis Bamboo is an all-wood drop-through cruiser. A symmetrical, snowboardinspired waist and camber give you snappy rail-to-rail performance, and the dropthrough truck mounting gets you lower to the ground to power through turns and slides. arborcollective.com

LOADED Loaded’s Advanced Freeride Gloves fulfill the needs of the experienced downhill skateboarder seeking an optimal balance of protection, dexterity and comfort. Dual-layer leather reinforcement provides abrasion resistance in high contact areas. Streamlined leather and foam knuckle protection cushions against impact and uses a segmented design for enhanced dexterity.

Moisture-wicking COOLMAX mesh keeps hands cool and comfortable, while a ventilation window increases airflow without sacrificing protection in high-risk contact points. A long wrist strap fits over the cuff of a jacket or leathers, and durable reflective edging keeps you visible and safe so you can keep throwing it sideways for years to come. loadedboards.com

NAVIGATOR Joining the likes of our freeriders, downhill speedboarders and pool/park riders, “Vegas” is now a part of Navigator’s constantly expanding longboard team force.

Vegas is equipped and ready to take

on the downhill scene at top speeds. navigatortrucks.com

OUST

OUST UBER bushings are manufactured using a blended pre-polymer urethane.

This means they are ridiculously resilient! When we compressed them with 40,000 pounds of pressure for three minutes they returned to their original shape in 27 seconds. Try and do that with your bushings! Call 310-212-3000 or email oustinc@gmail.com.

DISSENT Dissent longboards are some of the world’s most expensive decks. Why is this? They’re manufactured by OUST Composites, starting with a blend of USA-made highperformance aerospace carbon fiber, high tensile strength epoxy resins and a high-strength, superflexible inner core. The outer skins are Tonkin bamboo and an array of other exotic African, Brazilian and USA-grown woods. The inner core can be adjusted in thickness to accommodate different weight skaters.

The high-performance layup of carbon fiber can be changed for different flexes and recovery time or pop. The highstrength epoxy is used to ensure proper adhesion and eliminate failure. Call 310212-3000 or email oustinc@gmail.com.

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NOTEWORTHY >> PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS FIREBALL The Scorch is the world’s first flawlessly symmetrical freeride wheel. There is absolutely no difference between the front and back of the wheel. This gives the rider better wear through the use of a perfect wheel rotation. fireballwheels.com

will offer different full-color graphics on RaKs. RaKs are CNC slotted to hold four completes or decks and are made in the USA. kleverskateboards.com

GROW ANTHOLOGY

MILK

The pro model for Nick “Milk” Sutarz is a 33” topmount that combines the best of a number of brands. It comes gripped with Vicious Grip tape. For wholesale orders contact info@longboardliving.com.

Each Grow Anthology longboard is 75-100 sheets of paper, which gives them incredible strength and flex. The paper is FSC certified by the Rainforest Alliance, meaning it comes from sustainably managed forests or recycling facilities. All production is in the U.S., and a tree is planted for every board sold. growanthology.com

SK8KINGS Sk8Kings introduces two additions to its Axe Woody deck series.

Previously only available in the Ultimate Series carbon fiber composite construction, the Woody Series Joe McLaren Axe 2.5 and the Axe III are pressed from the same proven Sk8Kings Axe molds in 7-ply micro-core maple and in matching dimensions of the higher-end versions.

New Woody Series decks offer an ultraaffordable option to fit any budget. sk8kings.com

EARTHWING Earthwing has just made the hardest skateboard wheel ever. This dualduro tech-slide wheel has amazing sliding power. The 86B outer hardness means they wear less and slide more without sacrificing the control that Earthwing slide wheels are known for due to the higher-quality urethane. Flatspotting is possible, but has not been seen at all yet. earthwingskates.com

CORRECTIONS Gravity unfortunately left off the name of their photographer in their last ad.

Michael Scholl, you are not forgotten now!

CRUISIN’ FOR A CAUSE

LIGHT BOHRD

Light Bohrd’s new Urban Commuter deck keeps you safe on your midnight missions with built-in illumination. This deck features fully integrated, rechargeable, motion-activated lights in the nose and tail; white in the front lets drivers know you’re heading toward them, and red in the back says you’re moving away.

Best of all, a charge gives you eight hours of illumination, so you’re in good hands any time of the night. lightbohrd.com

TRIPLE EIGHT Triple Eight is stoked to announce the upcoming 2013 release of the Patrick Switzer Pro Model helmet. This helmet will bring everything you already know and love about our Dual Certified Brainsaver w/EPS liner but spec’d out just to Patrick’s likings, including some original artwork designed by Tamara Prader. The helmet is great for freeriding, sliding or just pushing around town. Also, keep an eye out in 2013 for some fresh new tweaks they’re making to the Triple 8 DH Racer helmet, which will bring this fullface to a whole new level. triple8.com

THE RaK Klever were sick and tired of smudges on the walls from wheels, boards randomly lying around and their works of art having no home or place of their own. Available this holiday season, Klever

LOADED (RE)LOCATION Loaded finally busted at the seams! They’ve moved. All mail inquiries and deliveries should be sent to their new address: 10575 Virginia Avenue, Culver City, CA 90230

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Cruisin’ for a Cause raises awareness about eight diseases and disorders. Developed by Danny Page, a stoked longboarder and video editor for Mad Monkey Boardshop of Kennewick, Washington, the project helps show support for causes chosen by the skaters that affect them personally. While Cruisin’ for a Cause, the team shares facts about the diseases or disorders and breaks down stereotypes about skaters by showing how skaters support community health. Starting Friday, August 10, the team began riding for these causes: autism, brain injuries, cancer, clinical depression, Down syndrome, fibromyalgia, schizophrenia and Tourette syndrome. The skaters hand out T-shirts, stickers and other prizes to participants and bystanders they encounter while doing their series of treks. The project began in the Tri-Cities, Washington, and team members have already visited Seattle, Yakima and Pullman so far. The team plans to visit more cities and even spread the stoke around the world with the help of fellow skaters. Anyone is invited to ride with the team and help spread the stoke and awareness and to be a part of the positive community we offer. facebook.com/CruisinForACause

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NOTEWORTHY >> PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS RUBBER CITY GRAVITY GAMES The first annual Rubber City Gravity Games can be summarized in a few short phrases: 40+ practice runs, live-streaming webcast, fortunate weather and one of the best race vibes of any event.

Women’s champ Rachel Rayne.

Photo: Colleen Cleveland

Home to the inaugural Rubber City Gravity Games, Akron, Ohio, is no stranger to world-class gravity racing. For 75 years, Derby Downs in Akron has played host to the All American Soap Box Derby World Championships. Recognizing the possibility to host other gravity-based sports, the AASBD decided to kick it up a notch in 2011 by starting a relationship with the downhill community. AASBD board member Bob Cohen led the charge by reaching out to industry notables such as Marcus Rietema and Michael Brooke.

Shortly after, organizers, racers and city officials were all on board working toward the goal of growing downhill racing and participation through safety, education and a dedicated place to ride.

Photo: Colleen Cleveland

In 2012, a not-for-profit corporation was formed to govern the Ohio Gravity Series, a series of downhill events held at Derby Downs thanks to the AASBD providing the use of their facilities. Events included “Start to Skate/Learn to Luge Days,” Open Hill Days, demo events and, finally, the 2012 Rubber City Gravity Games! The program successfully crosspromoted gravity racing with the Derby by exposing these two groups of racers to

46 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

Junior II class podium. Photo: Brent Veverka

other types of downhill events. The series also introduced area skaters to the world of downhill.

Finally, after a season full of events, it was time to introduce the local downhill community to some of the top racers in the world. Hundreds of hours of planning and meetings went into creating a twoday IGSA NorAm race with the goal of getting in as many runs as possible!

Despite precarious weather the night before the event that was described by some as “monsoon like,” by daybreak the clouds broke and the race was on! The event started on time thanks to huge support from the City of Akron, which sponsored the event by providing police, road closures, rider transport and a newly paved race road thanks in part to Shelly and Sands who donated their time and effort towards completely repaving most of the race course.

Qualifying went seamlessly and even ended early, allowing race officials to reopen the hill for more practice. Kyle Wester from Boulder, Colorado, dominated qualifying in the Open Downhill Skateboarding division. Wester posted a time of 52.810 to lead the first round and then lowered his time even further to a 51:431 in the second round. His time was more than a full second faster than Matthew English, who qualified second with a time of 52.462. Mike Jakubiec was third with a time of 53.114. Luke Melo was fourth with a time of 53.178. Quin Finocchio rounded out the top five and also led the Jr. II division with a time of 54.122.

Saturday night saw a repeat of Friday’s monsoon conditions, but once again come race day it was all blue skies and dry ’phalt. Despite the name “Rubber City,” from Akron having been the home of several major tire manufacturers, there was only urethane left on the new pavement as racers battled it out all day long.

Matt English won a hotly contested

Open Downhill Skateboarding division by beating out top qualifier Kyle Wester, with Luke Melo taking third and William Royce rounding out the final. Due to the smooth operation of the race, the event officials were able to run off all of the positions in heat races from the quarterfinals onward. Winning the Consolation Final for positions 5-8 was Mike Jakubiec, with Quin Finocchio sixth, Max Vickers in seventh and Cam Brickenden in eighth. Greg Paproski won the Junior I class, Junior 2 class honors went to Quin Finocchio, and Rachel Rayne took the Women’s class, with notable local rider Jenn DeMarco taking third, and Street Luge going to top qualifier Justin Crenshaw.

Talks are already under way for a 2013 season of events including the second installment of the Rubber City Gravity Games. For more information and complete results, visit OhioGravitySeries.com.

longboard shoe. Michael was also a contributing editor for core77.com, a design-centric blog. He often gave advice in his posts about shoe design and design philosophies. I really enjoyed his posts.

Also didn’t hurt that he was at Converse during the time I was really into all the high-end Converse lines they were putting out. I thought at the very least he would give me some insight as to what was going on in the industry in terms of production and the skate market. Surprised the s--t out of me when he wrote back an hour later. His reply was that he was familiar with Brooklyn Workshop and the Skatecycle, and congratulated me on the design award I received for that. At the end of the email he wrote, “Let’s make a shoe.” I was only thinking to seed the idea and hopefully make these in a few years, after introducing our board.

But you don’t say no to an opportunity to work with a guy like this. And so here we are with the Elby.

BROOKLYN WORKSHOP DESIGNS WORLD’S FIRST SKATE SHOE FOR LONGBOARDING An interview with founder Alon Karpman

How did these shoes come about?

Alon Karpman: We have been working on a longboard design for the past few years as our next product. But because we are working with new and difficult materials, and a production process that doesn’t exist, it’s taking longer than we hoped. I commute to work on my longboard and, like most people who ride, was wearing through my sneakers pretty rapidly. This got me thinking about what it would take to make a shoe geared toward longboarding. I decided to send an email to Michael DiTullo. He’s a designer that started out at Nike and Jordan, and then, when Nike bought Converse, was promoted to design director of Converse. He was there for about eight years. The goal was to get some advice on the idea of a

What are some of the key features that you’ve put into the design that makes them attractive to long boarders?

We are currently running a contest where people send pictures of their busted shoes. Over and over again you see holes in the same spots on the uppers. I think most people who wear out their shoes quickly will recognize the rubber overlays on the usual areas that are prone to wear out. But everyone needs to keep in mind that this is our first offering and is meant to be a general freeriding shoe. It’s not specific for downhill or super long-distance pushing.

It is an extremely comfortable shoe with coverage on the problem areas and an abrasion-resistant sole.

What has been the initial feedback from skaters?

Overall it’s been amazing. I’m surprised by how many have been waiting for this. I think the biggest thing about this is that

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NOTEWORTHY >> PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS the future is that I am highly obsessive and can’t stop myself from putting in a problematic amount of time into these shoes. One thing I hope every longboarder can be happy about is that they will not suffer in silence anymore! For info and to purchase, visit brooklynworkshop.com.

KISSING HANDS AND SHAKING BABIES TOUR

Photo: Jeff Vyain

we invested a substantial amount of money and resources to finally have the market catered to. I hope everyone understands that this is the first shoe, not the last. And all feedback (good/bad) is welcome so we can continue to evolve and make it better. It’s nice to see how people connect with the shoe and how they appreciate the commitment we have made into the sport.

Longboarders love to footbrake like crazy. How will your shoes help lessen the wear on the sole?

A lot of people enjoy vulcanized shoes because they have thin soles and a great amount of grip. But the downside is that thin and grippy soles are made from softer rubbers that wear our really fast.

Our focus was to get a compound that could retain all the grip and board feel but not wear out so easily. No sole is indestructible, but at least we can get it to last longer than what’s available on the market right now. The chemistry isn’t easy, but we got it. A typical Vans vulcanized shoe is at about a .02 in the lab we tested. Ours is a .11. That’s 10 times more abrasion-resistant, while still being just as grippy — not an easy thing to achieve.

That doesn’t mean it will last 10 times longer; it just means that it will last longer. The next step we are working on is to get even more vibration dampening on the sole, and especially the heel, without losing any board feel.

Should skaters expect high-tops? What about other future features?

Michael is working on padded mid-tops as we speak. And all I can tell you about

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The Switchback Longboards KHSBT (Kissing Hands and Shaking Babies Tour) was a trip from coast to coast with the intention of meeting as many customers as possible. As an online shop, we usually only get to skate with the closest of friends and always seem to miss out on skating with our extended family.

In three weeks we visited 18 different cities for events, leaving time for one day of surfing in Lawrencetown, courtesy of Happy Dudes Surf Emporium, and one day of skating some of the best runs in Canada over on the east coast. During our journey we skated everything from flat streets to mountain runs and quite a few dirt paths.

We traveled in our favorite yellow school bus, pulling a cargo trailer outfitted with a bunk bed setup, courtesy of Douglas Metal Works. With all our gear and all the giveaway product packed into the trailer and bus, there was still room for 11 people — barely. The trailer was also outfitted with solar panels to keep our computers and cameras charged while editing 20 or so videos — one of each city, two weekly videos, two race videos and a few more yet to come.

The full-time bus crew consisted of Nick Jean, Kelsey Crozier, Riley Brown Town, Dominique Vukorep, Andrew Drakeford, Jeremy Banting, Braden Tibbles, Justin Readings and Scott Nuttall, and we picked up a few stragglers along the way, including Rylan “Raggie” English, Cam Brick, Beau Ho and Adam Winston.

Every day we had a long drive, the longest of which was 11 hours overnight leaving from one event and arriving at the next. In true Switchback fashion we were on time at almost every event; the first one we were late for was Montreal, and that wasn’t even our fault, really.

Overall the KHSBT was a huge success for us. Along the way we saw everything imaginable, including the northern lights, the largest goose, the biggest nickel/teepee/blueberry, Jasper the bear and every province’s sign, and we had a hell of a time skating with everyone we met on the tour. We can only hope that everyone else enjoyed it just as much.

Now all that’s left is to thank our sponsors for making the whole thing possible! Rayne Longboards, Hawgs Wheels, Predator Helmets, Bear Trucks, Vicious Grip and Hollow Point Bearings brought us from Vancouver to the east coast and back in one piece. Without them we wouldn’t have made it on the first ferry ... which we missed anyway.

Visit switchbacklongboards.com/tour to check out videos from every city, to see who supported us, where we went and the trouble we got into along the way.

LONGBOARDING FOR PEACE UPDATE We are now working with a number of companies to spread the stoke on Longboarding for Peace. Landyachtz, Honey, Sector 9 and Triple 8 graciously donated product for our initiative with Grant Shilling

in Comox Valley, British Columbia. You’ll learn more about this in our next issue. A special thank you to Metro Wheels, Rey Trucks, American Stoke.com, Tungsten Bearings, Light Bohrd and Road Shark, who have all teamed up with Longboarding for Peace to help spread the word.

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NOTEWORTHY >> PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS THE FIRST FAMILY OF SINGAPORE LONGBOARDING

By Acid Fernandez As a foreigner and a longboarder in Singapore, I find myself hanging out at the usual skate spots and bumming around at local longboard shops. I get to see all sorts of people taking up longboarding.

Often you will see dads or moms, or both, buying their sons or daughters their first longboard or upgrading to new gear. We find ourselves joking to the kids, telling them how lucky they are and asking if their mom or dad could adopt us.

I thought that the DeBeast family was just like the usual group that would come around the shop and buy their kids a longboard, but I soon realized that every member of the family actually has their own gear.

This made me curious about how they became a family of longboarders, so I sat down with the family patriarch, Dynno DeBeast.

Who are the members of the DeBeast Family?

16-year-old Muhammad Shakeel, a.k.a. Danny DeBeast 13-year-old Dinie Azraff, a.k.a. Dinie DeBeast 11-year-old Muhammad Danish, a.k.a. Danish2big DeBeast 9-year-old Danish Azraff, a.k.a. Danish DeBeast

SECTOR 9

The Field Bag is a unique way to carry your longboard and equipment. It converts from travel bag to backpack and vice versa. It has numerous pockets, along with a pouch for your helmet. The bag folds out to 52” x 11.25” x 9”. The outer board straps make for easy transportation, and everything is secured by inner board straps. sector9.com

50 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

together, and definitely a great workout for those extra calories.

How often does the family skate?

We skate as a family about once or twice a month with other longboarders but do come down to our favorite park at Bishan (Singapore has small parks situated in every state) to meet up with the other gals and guys from the longboarding community even when not skating, sometimes inviting them to our homes to talk about what’s latest in the longboarding scene, both local and abroad.

Does the family learn tricks together?

Yes, we learn the sport and tricks together; our mentors are our kids.

33-year-old Siti Rosita, a.k.a. BeautyAnn DeBeast (Mom) 44-year-old Zainudin, a.k.a. Dynno DeBeast ( Dad) Who was the first member of the family to take an interest in longboarding?

My eldest, Danny DeBeast, requested my permission to buy a second-hand longboard, a Globe pintail with [Original] S10 trucks and Zombie Hawgs wheels. Dinie DeBeast, who was already into skateboarding, joined the sport after trying his brother’s deck, and the rest soon followed (including mom and dad). We now each have our own longboard and spares too.

RAYNE The Rayne Avenger is a classic shape and has been updated with a new core and a phresh new graphic.

It features pressedin 3D wheel wells from the Vandal, adding room for large wheels and creating better locks for your feet. Rayne’s new core, Fat Bottom, is thick in the middle, thin at the edge and sandwiched

As parents, what can you say when your children decided get into the sport? How did the whole family get involved?

As parents, we want the boys to have activity/sports that they like, and we support them when they took up longboarding. Though there is risk with all sports, the risk was even more with longboarding. Thus, we never give it a second thought when it comes to safety; we invested and bought them safety gear and advised them on safety.

Longboarding is a fun-filled family activity and sport. [My wife and I] finally took up longboarding ourselves. We have a great bonding time having sesh

Will the DeBeast family be staying on their boards for a long time?

We can see that longboarding will stay with the family. My wife and I are planning to get a rack just like the one in LBL (Longboard Love) skate shop for the more than 12 boards that we have presently.

Any advice to other parents about taking up longboarding as a family sport?

For those parents with kids that are into longboarding, try it out, mingle with their friends, get to know the longboarding community.

Parents, if you think that longboarding is only for kids, you don’t know what you are missing!! Have fun and skate safe.

ZUMA

between two layers of triaxial glass. Also, after two careful, quiet years of testing and tweaking, Rayne has launched its first run of wheels, “Sinful Pleasures.”

The “Greed” lineup includes a series of square-lip, DH-oriented wheels in 66mm, 70mm and 75mm diameter, all in 80A durometer, and a round-lip, freerideoriented wheel in 70mm diameter and 80A durometer. rayne.com

Zuma Wheels has introduced a series of 76mm wheels ranging from 80A to 86A durometer. The "Signature Series" wheels are rider-tested and 100% American made. zumawheels.com

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SKATEBOARD SHOPS LIST ARIZONA Sidewalk Surfer 2602 N. Scottsdale Road Scottsdale 480.994.1017 admin@sidewalksurfer.com • www.sidewalksurfer.com CALIFORNIA IFYI Inc 1083 Bedmar Street Carson Board Gallery 3333 Newport Boulevard Newport Beach 714.902.3769 Cellular Skate 6787 Carnelian Street Alta Loma 909.941.1004 Mike McGills Skate Shop 335 First Street Suite #S Encinitas 760.943.7730 Ollie Angel 235 Palm Avenue, Imperial Beach 619.575.7357 Mike’s Bike Shop 5507 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles 323.935.4338 Viva Skateboards 1709 Howard Road Madera 559.664.8997 Bill’s Wheels Skateshop 1240 Soquel Avenue Santa Cruz 831.469.0904 Purple Skunk Purpleskunk.com 5820 Geary Blvd. San Francisco 415.668.7905 CCMF/Toyland 1260 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805-801-6653 ccmfjay@yahoo.com The Trading Post 622 Upham Street San Luis Obispo 805.801.6653 ccmfjay@yahoo.com Sonoma Old School Skate and Surf 1001 Broadway Sonoma 707.938.5500 skatesos.com Cellular Skate 287 Mountain Ave Upland Tel: 909.981.8856 cellskate@verizon.net Maui and Sons 1415 Ocean Front Walk Venice Beach mauiandsons.com COLORADO All Board Sports 1750 30th Street Boulder 303.415.1600 Diabolical Boardshop 4255 S.Broadway, Englewood CONNECTICUT Skate Pusher 57 McIntosh Drive Bristol 860.593.4550 Skate Valencia 68 Leonard Street, Bristol 203.524.4675 GEORGIA Feral 190 Park Avenue, Athens 706.369.1084 Skate Madness 13800 Hwy. 9 N., Ste. D 145 Alpharetta 770.410.3456 skatemadness.com Woody’s Halfpipe 6135 Peachtree Parkway Suite # 603 Norcross LOUSIANA Board Lords Mall of Louisiana, 6401 Bluebonnet Blvd.

Suite # 2044, Baton Rouge, 225.769.1222 MASSACHUSETTS Boardroom 6 Armory Street Northhampton 413.586.8857 MICHIGAN Ollies Skate Shop 120 ½ E Maumee Adrian 517.265.2031 Dubz Bikes and Boards 14 North Washington,Suite A, Oxford, MI 48371

52 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

Want to know where to find Concrete Wave мagazine? Would you like to find all the amazing skate gear you see in these pages? Look no further than our shop list. If you’d like to have your shop listed here, it’s easy. Simply send a check for $115 to Indaba Group PO Box 1895 Carlsbad California 92018 or PayPal tailtapinfo@yahoo.com, ph: 760-722-4111. You’ll get 10 copies of 5 issues mailed out along with this complete listing. For international rates, please email us. Yes, shipping is included. If you think your local shop or park should be carrying Concrete Wave, email mbrooke@interlog.com.

MINNESOTA Old School Skaters 1119 NW 2nd Street Faribault 612.578.3326 www.oldschoolskaters.net MISSOURI Genesis Skateboarding 13 NW Barry Rd. #147 Kansas City 816.456.1307 genesisskateboarding.com MONTANA Wheaton’s 214 1st Avenue West Kalispell 406.257.5808 wheatonscycle.com BlackTop Surfshop 176 5th Avenue West North Kalispell 406-752-6006 NEW JERSEY Black Diamond Skatepark 400 Route 38 Unit 1610 Moorestown NEW MEXICO Koa Nalu Surf Shop 8254 Menaul Blvd NE Albuquerque 505-332-SURF koanalu.com Timeship Raicing 825 Early Street Suite H Sante Fe 505.474.0074 timeshipracing.com NORTH CAROLINA Soul Ride Skatepark 6049 Victory Lane Concord 704.454.7433 soulrideskates.com We’re Board Inc Skatepark and Shop 1423 North Church Street, Ste 104 Burlington NC 27217 OHIO Old Skool Skateboards 19E College Avenue, Westerville roxtar55@hotmail.com OREGON The Uprise 1110 NW Van Buren Ave, Corvallis 541.754.4257 541.480.4254 thelongboardstore.com The Longboard Store 1238 SW Wheeler Place Bend 541.480.4254 thelongboardstore.com Daddies Board Shop 7126 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland 503.281.5123 daddiesboardshop.com Gorge Performance 7400 Southwest Macadam Avenue Portland 503.246.6646 The Mountain Shop 628 NE Broadway Portland Rip City Skate 1510 NE 37th Ave. Portland PENNSYLVANIA Rayzor Tattoos 4 South Front Street Steeltown RHODE ISLAND Seven.Ply 3 Canal Street Westerly 401.348.0656 TENNESSEE Planet Sk8 7024 East Church Street Suite 2 Brentwood 615.377.1947 Sk8sations Skate Shop 3032 N.John B.Dennis Hwy. Kingsport 423.245.0994 tbec@charter.net VIRGINIA EastCoast Boardco. 10358 Fairfax Blvd. Fairfax 703.352.4600 x:8 213 25th Street Va Beach Black Cat Skateshop 1325 A West Main Street, Charlottesville 434.244.0014

WASHINGTON Gravity Sports 126 Rainier Ave South Renton 425.255.1874 Mountain Goat Outfitters 12 W. Sprague Avenue Spokane Motion Boardshop 8316 Aurora Ave N., Seattle, 206.372.5268 motionboardshop.com ALBERTA Avenue Skateparks 9030.118 Avenue NW Edmonton 780.477.2149 Easy Rider 4211.106 St., #153 Edmonton 780.413.4554 Pipeline Surf Co 780.421.1575 Comasports 10B-200 Barclay Parade SW 403.233.8841 powerinmotion.ca Royal Board Shop, 814 Edmonton Trail N.E., Calgary, Alberta 403-277-3601 Royalboardshop.com BRITISH COLUMBIA Area 51 191 Station Street Duncan 250.746.8869 a51.ca Raven Skate Shop 411 Campbell Street Tofino 250.725.1280 ravenskateshop.ca Salton Rides Saltholidays Island, BC 250.537.4984 saltonskate@canada.com Switchback Longboards 4385B Boban Dr. Nanaimo 250.751. 7625 ONTARIO Hammer Skate Shop 2225 Queen Street East Toronto, 416.698.0005 Hogtown 401 King Street West, Toronto 416.598.4192 McPhails 98 King Street North, Waterloo 519.886.4340 QUEBEC DLX/Deluxe 2480, chemin Ste.Foy Ste.Foy 418.653.0783 dlxdeluxe.com OVERSEAS AUSTRALIA Boardshop Australia — boardshop.com.au 04 15883371 — friendlyfolks@boardshop.com.au Cre8ive Sk8 — 95 Anne Street Aitkenvale, Queensland, 4814 Australia BRAZIL Ultra Series Skate Shop Tel.:55(41)3023-2480 — ultraseriesskate.blogspot.com FRANCE hawaiisurf.com GERMANY seasondistribution.com, concretewave.de Hackbrett Longskates Im Wechselfeld — 12 St. Peter hack@customlongskates.com longboarders.de — Gustavstrasse 49 90762 Furth kontakt@longboarders.de — Tel: 0911 9772500

JAPAN Y & T Fussa Fussa — 2348 Fussa Fussa City — Tokyo — 1970011 Clover Skateboard Shop — 1-21-3-1201 Befu Jyounan Fukuoka 8140104 — Japan ITALY The Skateshop via A. Grossich 11, 20131 Milano Italy theskateshopmc@gmail.com ph: 0039 (02) 706 019 71 Turtle Surf Shop via Mazzini,1 , 17051 Andora (SV), ITALY NETHERLANDS Sickboards Marcelisstraat 80b, 2586RX Scheveningen, The Netherlands, 31-70-7533548. Sickboards.nl NEW ZEALAND Serenity Island Surf & Skate Café 202a Wainui Road — Gisborne — serenityisland.com Ultimate Boards 7 Wagener Place, St. Lukes, Auckland, 1025, New Zealand ultimateboards.co.nz UK octanesport.com skateboardsofchoice.co.uk Bath, United Kingdom — Tel: + 44 1249 715811 Sk8s Go — General Juan Cano 40 — Colony San Miguel Chapultepec — Mexico, D.F 52-55-58132448 Soul dh Alameda Picaflores — 245 San Borja — Lima 41 — Peru Skate of the Nation — Unit 6 GYY Building # 1 Tomas Morato 1100 — Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines Indiana Sports GmbH — Elbestrasse 14 — Wald, 8636 Switzerland — Contact: Christof Peller ON.LINE RETAILERS allboardsports.com daddiesboardshop.com ffashop.com genesisskateboarding.com longboardskater.com longboardshop.de longboardstore.com longboardskater.com motionboardshop.com muirskate.com oldschoolskates.net pressuredroplongboards.com sickboards.nl sidewalksurfer.com sk8supply.com socalskateshop.com tactissk8.com tailtap.com vslboardshop.com

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 53

COMPANY PROFILE >>

WEFUNK STEALTH DIVISION

BY MICHAEL BROOKE

The GNARVIGATOR

Wefunk's new headquarters in Toronto.

efunk was one of the first to use very high-end composites to create downhill masterpieces.

Founded almost a decade ago by Alex Luxat, the brand enjoyed a cultlike status. A few years ago, Luxat’s background in design and engineering moved him to the world of Formula 1 racing. “I wound up getting a job at Toyota in their F1 Division,” Luxat says. “Toyota came close to winning the coveted first-place title and I wound up learning a tremendous amount.” After this foray into car racing, Luxat decided to get back into longboarding. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out with his partner and Luxat faced an uncertain future. But designing and building longboards is where his heart is, even though it might be hard. “It’s the one thing where I can put the most energy,” he says.

In what appears to an alignment of the stars, Luxat wound up meeting Leslie Huszti, who had a background in high tech and had fallen in love with longboarding. Huszti and his wife, Lisa, were involved in a horrific car accident in 2010, which sidelined both of them for several months. “The accident left me directionless and my health became an issue,” Huszti says. “I knew that I had to do more cardio, but wasn’t sure what to do.” In July 2011, he got a

W Stealth Division didn’t just create a phenomenal deck; they also came up with the most advanced piece of technology ever mounted on a longboard: the “Gnarvigator,” the world’s first and only full telemetry-enabled rider information system for longboarding. “Telemetry is something you’d find in an F1 car,” says Luxat. “It gives you a huge amount of information at the time you are driving, or in this case, riding – like a ‘black box’ you’d find on an airplane.” It’s equipped with onboard GPS, solid-state data logging, Bluetooth wireless data and voice (for real-time data relay via wireless Bluetooth headset) and tri-axial accelerometer. Key performance metrics tracked include speed, start/stop run time, altitude, vertical drop, average speed, velocity and G-force (entering and exiting turns), as well as GPS position with RDGPS proprietary error-correction algorithms.

Plans are under way to make the Gnarvigator available separately as a universal attachment for all types of longboard decks, allowing you to retrofit anything in your quiver into the ultimate full-telemetry “smartboard.” The product will consist of two parts: the onboard Gnarvigator module and a watch interface that reads, interprets and displays the data in a meaningful fashion. The target price for the system is $399, which would also include a free year of system access. System access for subsequent years is targeted at $80 per year.

Luxat believes this technology would be invaluable to product designers, top racers or anyone just looking to maximize their downhill experience.

“With this technology you can verify and quantify exactly what is happening with the board,” he says. “It gives you the total picture.”

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THE MACH 1 CARBON COMPOSITE from Stealth Division

phone call from a friend telling him to try longboarding. Once he did, everything changed, and Huszti began searching for a way to blend his background in GPS technology with longboarding.

Huszti began sifting through the tremendous amount of longboard info on the Web. It was difficult going, but he kept at it. After a rather frustrating experience trying to work with a local manufacturer, Huszti again went online late one night. “I couldn’t sleep ... [I] kept searching and saying to myself, ‘There’s gotta be someone who could do this stuff,’” he says. At around 3:30 a.m., he found what he’d been looking for. “I ran across a blog that mentioned Alex and his F1 background and made the connection with Wefunk. It was then when I emailed him and explained my background.” Within an hour, Luxat called, and both men concluded that they had to work together. “We have to do this! I’ll build the deck, you build the technology,” Luxat boldly told Huszti.

Since teaming up, the duo has been intently focused on creating something truly exceptional. The fruits of their labor paid off with their $8,000 longboard. Yes, you read that correctly: EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS for a complete longboard!

This amazing creation debuted earlier this year as part of Stealth Division, a premium sub-brand of Wefunk. Stealth Division also released an equally distinctive truck, which likewise garnered an exceptional response. “This truck is not just my creation,” explains Luxat. “Leslie [and] Wayne Gallipoli from Surf-Rodz had big roles to play. I tried to clean up the design so that it would fit with Stealth Division.”

The truth is that no matter what type of longboard you’re riding, it’s all about the user experience. Wefunk and Stealth Division are pushing things forward on their own terms. “Everything takes time to get right, and we’d rather take our time,” says Huszti.

There is no question that the vision shared between the two gentlemen creates a unique chemistry. I was struck not only by their passion but their commitment to really challenging the status quo. “To have the kind of magic that we have together, you cannot put a price tag on it,” says Huszti. The combination of these two brilliant minds seems to show that Wefunk has got its groove back. CW

THE $8,000 COMPLETE (Deck only: $7,000) So what exactly do you get with an $8,000 complete longboard? Well, for one thing, a tremendous amount of publicity. Besides hundreds of thousands of hits on their website, the board was featured on tech-related websites like gizmag.com and in American Express’s magazine for holders of its Black card.

The deck itself weighs only 1.3 kilos.

That’s about 2.86 lbs.It takes a full week to complete one deck. This doesn’t include drying times – this is just time spent working on the deck. “Certain things have to take place at specific times,” says Luxat. “If I have to get up at 3a.m. to work on the deck, that’s what I do. It’s handmade, and you can’t rush it.”

“It’s really a provocation,” he continues.

“But the thing is, we brought the shape and technology down to a $229 price for our regular production model.”

It’s constructed of seven layers of F1 grade pre-preg carbon fiber over a core made of ash veneers and Airex polymer foam. The core features a center channel with a carbon fiber inlay for unmatched torsional rigidity and reduced drag. The nose and tail sections are reinforced with Makrolon polycarbonate for high-velocity impact resistance. The top of the deck features two separate grades of grip engineered for maximum control. The front grip is less coarse and permits shifting of the front foot, while the rear grip is made from Corundum, a synthetic sapphire crystal second only to diamond in hardness. The Corundum provides an extremely grippy surface and is resists the deterioration from hot shoe soles that can accompany aggressive footbraking at high speeds.

Only 10 boards of these boards were made – and yes, there have been buyers, including one chap from Australia. The key thing is that this is an actual working product that pushes things to heights not previously imagined.

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 55

A MOMENT IN TIME

I decided I wanted to start shooting everything that interested me with only my iPhone and Instagram — including action shots. I figured what better way to show old school and new school merging than to shoot skateboarding with the iPhone. My hometown of Hermosa Beach provided the initial inspiration, with some local kids taking it back to the alleys and streets. Doing a shoot with my oldschool skater friends Laura Thornhill and Tony Jetton against the modern backdrop of downtown Los Angeles brought it all full circle.

— Cindy Whitehead, OG skater and avid iPhone shooter

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: LAURA THORNHILL AND TONY JETTON, “ONE MORE BEAUTIFUL GIRL”; OLD-SCHOOL SKATING IN HERMOSA BEACH; SUPER MARIO – HERMOSA BEACH; LAURA, DOWNTOWN L.A. – “TUNNEL VISION”; LAURA THORNHILL SPINNING AT PERSHING SQUARE; LAURA DOES A LITTLE SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP; LAURA CARVING SOME CLEAN LINES AT DISNEY HALL; CHLOE GETTING HIGH ON A FRIDAY NIGHT.

56 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 57

TRAVELS with the

BY DUSTY RAY

S

o I just drove 1,600 miles from Missouri to San Diego in a tiny car with two daughters, a stinky little dog, my smoking hot wife, four longboards and a cooler full of energy drinks. I had been back in Missouri for a few months staying with family. While I was there, I was unemployed, with not much money.

But you don’t need money to skate, so my wife and I skated every day. We hit trails and back streets, rolling through the parks under giant trees, cruising past bikers, baby strollers and holly rollers.

It took me by surprise the first few times that a stranger came up to me at the park to ask me about my longboard. Sometimes it was ladies who were jogging, or a jock still in college; all kinds of people were interested in what I was riding. I picked up skating just about a year ago while I was living in San Diego. I thought I was way behind on this lifestyle; turns out I am way ahead. I never even did this when I was a kid; now here I am in my late 30s, with salt-and-pepper hair and children of my own, rolling all over my old stomping ground.

58 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

if rst in a series After 180 days in my hometown I was ready for a road trip. My family and I packed up our Kia and headed to Colorado. I was excited to skate in Colorado. I had learned to snowboard while living there, and now I was going to take my new skills of longboarding back to the mountains.

Skating in Colorado is amazing. I love the weather; there is no humidity. It’s a little rocky here and there, but still one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

We dropped in on some old friends and places to show off our newfound love. We skated all over Manitou Springs – lots of paved trails to explore all over this state. Plenty of shade to be found, cool breezes and cool people. When in Colorado, make sure you take a roll through the Garden of the Gods. It’s these kinds of places that make me appreciate longboarding even more.

From there we dipped down to New Mexico to continue our journey, traveling down Interstate 25 to Interstate 40 west. I really learned a lot on this trip about not judging a book by its cover. I feel like the long-

board helps break down so many walls; people feel like they can come up and start a conversation with me a lot easier about my longboard than anything else I have ever done. While in New Mexico I talked to a dozen different folks while I was skating in rest areas and truck stops. I have seen firsthand how skateboarding can and does help create a little more love on this planet.

Making our way across New Mexico was so much fun. We stayed overnight in Albuquerque in a Drury Inn. These hotels are awesome – dog- and skateboarderfriendly. To add some good memories to my daughters’ trip, I always let them bend the rules a bit, and we’d always skate our decks down a few hallways.

I have been a father since I was 19 years old. It was a lot easier to be goofy and do childish things with my first child because I was just a kid myself. But I feel like longboarding has helped me find that spark again with my youngest. Little Hayley Ray is 11, and I admit I lost my spark of having carefree fun with her for a couple of years, but I am proud to say that the spark is back, and I am stoked about it.

Pulling into Arizona felt like a big achievement to all of us. We knew we were just one more state line away from California. Arizona is full of outdoor adventure. As we rolled into Flagstaff, I saw at least five or six longboarders right away; this is definitely a hip town. The snowboarders here keep their skills sharp in the off season by longboarding around town; the town is old, but the vibe is young and full of life. Here we checked

into another Drury Inn; that way we did not have to dress our dog up like grandma to sneak him in.

The next morning we were loading up getting ready to finish up our trip. While I was waiting for the girls, I was carving up the parking lot, and a 40-something security guard pulled up to me. I thought to myself, Oh, great, here we go. This guy is going to give me a hard time.

But when he gets out of his little truck, he just says, “Is that a Loaded board?” I look puzzled but say, “Yes – yes it

is.” “Scoot it over here,” he says. “Let me take it for a spin.”

He hops on the board, cruises down a hill, pops it up on the sidewalk, carves it up and jumps off. He tells me that he and his son ride every night and he’s been thinking about buying a deck like mine, and thanks for the test ride. Like I said, you cannot judge a book by its cover.

Back in California, what a long, strange trip it has been, from the Midwest to the West Coast. I was happy to be back. We made it into San Diego at sunset and headed straight for the beach to skate along the Pacific.

It is a great feeling to be rolling along the ocean with the sun slowly disappearing behind the water.

I take a little from every place I visit. Life is a trip; get out and see all you can. Every one of us gets 1440 minutes a day – how will you spend yours?

I went from Missouri to California traveling and skating all along the way, and I never had a bad experience. It does not matter if you live in the middle of the desert or next to the beach; there is always some cool place to skate, and there is always someone waiting to ask you about longboarding. I try to skate a little every day. Sometimes it’s just to my mailbox and back, sometimes it’s across town, sometimes it’s from town to town, or even from state to state, or country to country, or worldwide. The more you skate, the more others will skate. I am happy to say this trip was just like every other – full of great people, beautiful places, awesome memories and humbling experiences. Until next time, I am the Humble Hippie. Keep it real. CW

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 59

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Rider | Josh Evans Photo | Nigel Dawes

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On September 27th 2012, we organised a skater’s Kritical Mass in Sydney. It was our communities answer to negative reporting of longboarders on Australian TV. This was our chance to start an annual event, to showcase the positive aspects of our sport.

By Rob McWhinnie

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 61

The T he Gravity G of o

Nor orway rway

by Luca Coleman

There I was, in the wet and howling wind of East Sussex England, in muddy leathers waiting for a run at IGSA Bo Peep Crash and Burn. I was with Early Skateboards rider TB, who was telling me about this mystical land that he calls home. He was missing Norway as he stood there telling me about it. By contrast it sounded like heaven.

He spoke of a place of the world’s steepest roads with endless switchbacks, deep in vast tree–clad gorges, surrounded by snow melt cascading down hundreds of metres above and below you. The purest nature you could imagine with winding roads that go for miles. There was going to be a race down one of the mountain road with 4 hairpins and a bridge going over a river with a waterfall right next to it that splashes your visor with spray as you bomb down. The race was part of an extreme sports festival called Ekstremsportveko.

qualified 6th overall. After making it through to the 3rd round I came up against Lundberg and Mathias. Coming into the second hairpin it was real tight and we all got tangled except for Erik who was in first. We all crashed and I got my board last and ended up getting 3rd in the race, 9th overall but I was not racing like I usually do.

There was no anxiety and no pressure. I was relaxed and care free. It was a great feeling.

I wasn’t bummed d out I just took it for what

That night I asked my girlfriend Alix if she wanted to go with me to Norway. It would be a total adventure as neither of us had ever been there.

The next day we made plans and booked our flights. We were taking a chance and camping for the week, even though Norway is notorious for raining non-stop at this time of year.

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There really is no other place like Norway. It’s vast and super lush with blue sky seamlessly blending into snow-capped mountains all around you.

The people there are all friendly and speak really good English (unless you look like a Norwegian).

If you get lucky with the weather there are some roads that will melt your mind.

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When we arrived we set up camp and settling down for our first night in a Scandinavian forest, and who comes trudging through the woods?

Adam Persson, Mathias Borg and Erik Lundberg.

Sick. They had just driven 16 hours from Sweden!

The next day, we made a plan to go and shred with them, TB and other locals. One of the highlights was Stolheimklaver. 18% gradient with more switchbacks than you care to count. It’s a master class in sliding and cornering but still so much fun. Stoked to have skated there with TB

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Bangalow

While Bangalow is close to some of Ozzie’s best surf breaks, there’s an underground cult of locals.

Cameron Powell is one of them and he doesn’t really give a shit about sandy undies, wet towels and getting dropped in on by some old kook at Lennox Head. Guys like Cameron don’t care much for Bangalow’s fresh flowers, vegetables and fruit markets either. His cult is more interested in the natural beauty speeding past in a blur. They bomb clean roads in new developments that will one day be lined by mansions owned by pseudo goat herders whose pockets are lined with the green barter. Until then, Cameron and his mates will enjoy the smooth, quiet hills and snub the hustle of the local surf scene and maniacs at Lennox Head.

As you come into town, past the one pub that keeps the townsfolk watered, Bangalow instantly charms. It’s all about 360 degree verandas, perfectly groomed gardens and God’s gift to skaters... winding hills along sleepy, classic country roads. But this is no ordinary bush town.

Bangalow has sophisticated tastes – as a short kick-push past the cafe’s, galleries and shops on the main street will confirm. There are sensational views for miles and miles – from the north to the east, there’s a wealth of elevated, steep and scenic hills. The kids who reside here live the skating dream!

Bangalow is a place that’s proudly referred to by local Aboriginal folk as “Bangalla”, which means ‘a low hill’ or ‘kind of palm tree’. I can’t figure that one out... the hills are steep and there are more towering, white-barked gum trees than palms.

A lot’s happened in Byron since then, but it remains largely unchanged. During the school holidays there’s still a hectic hustle and bustle of main tourist streets, which transform from what’s generally a hippy commune into a fanfare of over-priced tie-dyed sarongs and marked-up, discounted surf wear. But get behind the wheel, put the pedal down and just 15 minutes out of town the whole area is still a sleepy joint any time of year.

Situated about 10 minutes drive out of Byron Bay, Bangalow is a tiny, Northern New South Wales town close to the famous Ozzie surfing breaks of Lennox Head, Ballina and Broken Bay. The area is the most Eastern point in Australia, where I was one of the first, legless spectators, slumped on the beach, waiting to break in the new millennium. In hindsight that mojito was a bit crunchy... but who gives a shit on NYE, right!!

Dreaming

by Nigel Dawes Rider | Cameron Powell Photo | Nigel Dawes

NEW YORK CITY MEMORIES WORDS & PHOTOS: MICHAEL BROOKE

Skaters hanging around, trying to assess what to do next.

THE DRAMA UNFOLDED A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE OFFICIAL RUNNING OF THE BROADWAY BOMB, BUT THAT DIDN’T STOP ANYONE FROM HAVING A BLAST IN THE BIG APPLE. HERE’S JUST A TASTE OF WHAT WENT DOWN. >>

Matt Burke of Blue Sky Longboards.

At the Blue Sky Mile Challenge, Cami Best won the women’s division and Steven Sanchez pushed his way to a new world record in 3 minutes 35 seconds.

64 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

More than 2,100 riders participated in the Broadway Bomb, and many found their way down to a post-race picnic.

The signage was ominous.

The media were out in full force on Saturday morning.

High jump comp orchestrated by King Solomon.

Blair Butterworth of Smokin Mad Love, Nathalie Herring, Wayne Gallipoli of Surf-Rodz and Brian Bishop of Original Skateboards.

The biggest longboard we could find!

John Zekas andTammy Schueler were there in support of their fallen daughter, Alix Rice.

Paul Kuyt of Rey Trucks with team rider Janelle Stout.

Alexei (aka Looshes) Novitzky from Skatecase Skateboards shows off his unique longboard.

One of New York City’s true skate legends, Rodney Smith of SHUT Skates.

Ryan Daughtridge of Bustin, Joey Pulsifer of Paris, Marcus Bandy of Wheelbase mag and Solomon Antonell of Resource Distribution at the Longboard Loft.

Jimmy Soladay kept things rolling.

Brian Petrie of Earthwing proudly displays his product.

The party at Uncle Funkys was pretty intense!

The Earthwing Slide Jam raised over $1800 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Photo: Brian Babish

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 65

长板在中国

BY FRANCESCA TERZI IT IS WELL KNOWN that longboarding is practiced in Asia. For sure while browsing your favorite websites or magazine you have found reviews about Malaysia, the Philippines and Japan.

But unless you have read the article ‘Slide Fest in Beijing China Recap’ by Pollo Romo (http://loadedboards.com/2012/01/slide-fest-beijing-china/), you might never have seen the words “longboard” and “China” in the same sentence.

Well, now I can tell you: Longboard (长板 – Zhãng bãn) does exist also in China. Maybe the scene is not yet as captivating as in many other countries, but I really hope this article will raise up a bit of curiosity on what this new generation of enterprising Chinese are doing.

If you have the opportunity to come to China, it doesn’t take much time to understand that in China the skateboard market is very profit-oriented. If China nowadays counts probably more than 4,000 skateboarders, it is mostly due to the attention that big brands like Quiksilver, Vans and Nike put into fostering the skaters’ love by organizing tournaments and events all over China – as it happened in other action sports such as inline skating, BMX and snowboarding.

This change caught the attention of a small group of Chinese youth, who started exploring alternative ways to reach the same feelings of skate or BMX and found their own expression in longboarding.

The longboarding phenomenon is more interesting because, unlike with skateboarding, there was no brands’ or marketers’ influence at all. Chinese longboarders

Shanghai.

Nuts On Wheels, ni Photo: Giulio Fag ioli

66 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

Outlaw organized by UNITED Skateshop (Philippines) and Nuts On Wheels, Shanghai.

Photo: Francesca Terzi

were the architects of their own culture – a new mindset where nobody was pushed by the dream of becoming famous or by the spirit of competition. They created a community based on co-working, relaxing and enjoying the moment where every individual little discovery or improvement is an enhancement for the whole Chinese community, and where people experiment to ease the newcomer’s path and to facilitate access to the discipline.

Longboarding, more than “traditional” skateboarding, seems to cancel social classes and differences. It is NiuBi (cool), and, most important, it involves both boys and girls. While other skateboarding in China is a mostly boy-only discipline, longboarding has more girls participating and being an active part of the group instead of just grouping and cheering the boys as it happens in the skateboard world.

And even if longboarding arrived in China just two years ago, it has already started spreading in all the big Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing, Xi’An, Chengdu and other southern cities such as Xiamen, Shenzhen and Dali.

I would like to begin this journey into Chinese longboarding where everything started, Beijing.

T.O.H. (Terror of the Highways) is the name of the first Chinese longboard crew. Johnny7Km, well known on every Chinese social network as “K,” founded it in 2009 in Beijing. Even if some skate lovers were already aware of the existence of longboarding, he was the very first person to push and spread the discipline all over China.

K had an important key-role in the entire Chinese longboard scene. He created the virtual bridge between China and the rest of the world by downloading videos and information from Western websites and re-uploading all the material on Chinese video-sharing platforms in order to make all the material accessible to anyone in China. K speaks good English, but he is aware that most of the content is difficult to understand for most of his followers.

While he taught to his friends the principles of longboarding, the group started filming their first tutorial videos following the format of the Western ones by trying to explain all the steps in their own way.

The city center of Beijing is flat, but to be fully enjoyed, longboarding requires hills, or at least slopes.

The best solution the group found was to ride on the fittings of Beijing’s highways by night. That is how Terror of the Highways found their name.

The main problem was still where to buy equipment.

Luckily, China is the world’s factory, and many brands are producing there. K found a good manufacturer and started producing T.O.H. boards and selling online in order to provide his friends the necessary equipment to begin.

That was the turning point. From that moment on, the group in Beijing grew from five to 100 people. Today it counts at least 300 riders.

These riders organized the first Chinese longboard event on November 26, 2011. On that day, 30 riders tried their best in front of the Olympic Stadium of Beijing. Alejandro Romo, a professional longboarder from Guadalajara, Mexico, won most of the races. Alex is another key connection; once he got back to Mexico, he helped K to import Loaded and Orangatang into China.

Since last month, T.O.H. is the official channel for longboarding in China. They opened an official website and are the distributor of the first two longboard brands coming to China.

The group has grown, and the longboarders are very technical and skilled thanks to the influence of two passers-by: Jerry He and Caloy Sambrano.

Jerry He is an American Chinese guy who went back to China for his college summer holidays, bringing his longboard with him. Jerry was planning to skate with the pandas of Chengdu, but he discovered he was not the only longboarder in China. He participated actively in all the activities of the group, he taught N.O.W. all the fundamental and unspoken rules of the discipline and pushed the first girls to try it. Now there are about 10 girls owning a longboard in the group.

SPOTS

At the same time they were building the Olympic Park surrounding the Olympic Stadium for Beijing 2008, urbanists offered longboarders a good solution to the highways. If you’re going through the city, try to pass by the hill in front of the Olympic torch. And if you also ride shorter boards, just plan an entire day at the famous Woodward.

Like any good tour-leader, I cannot skip Shanghai, the “Oriental Paris,” where two crews are waiting for us: the Chinese N.O.W. (Nuts On Wheels) and the French-born (now international) Atomic Krew.

If you are interested in visiting the city, there is no better guide than those who were born there.

Nuts On Wheels (Xiao Wei and Didi), Shanghai.

Photo: Giulio Fagiolini

Nuts On Wheels are a Shanghai-based group of longboarders, quite crazy and funny people, as the name suggests. N.O.W. was born in the summer of 2011 and today counts around 40 members.

The founder was Jake, an Australian-born Chinese boy who started skating alone in the streets of Shanghai while going to work.

Atomic Krew, Downhill in Zhejiang.

Photo: Julien Moreau

The crew started posting their videos on Youku (the Chinese YouTube) and after a while, Caloy Sambrano, a Filipino professional rider living in Shanghai for work, joined the group.

This was a key moment for N.O.W. Caloy taught to the guys the importance of safety and safety gear, gave them the right directions to improve their skills and linked them with the Filipino longboard scene. In less than one year, he organized two outlaw races, asking his sponsors, the United Skateshop (Manila) and mylifeonboard.net, to contribute with small prizes.

The N.O.W. Crew organization is very different from T.O.H. There are no leaders, and the group is more based on the principle of “Share the Stoke” than on popularity.

Everyone participates in his own autonomous way. The next step for the crew will be exploring the surroundings of Shanghai and trying the real downhill on mountains.

If you’re eager to discover rice terraces and skating through bamboo forests, it’s better to look for Atomic Krew. Eric Loriot, an all-action-sports man, started organizing downhill trips in 2009 when, after having some troubles with the Atomic SkateNights in Shanghai (where he used to gather more than 100 inline skaters), he had to move his events to the countryside.

Now Atomic Krew is a wonderful mix of skilled inliners, mountain bikers, Freebord and longboard riders who bomb every kind of mountain or hill, raising villagers’ curiosity.

The cool factor of the crew is in its mix of disciplines

and of nationalities: Chinese, French, Italian or English, no matter where you come from, it’s just ... see you at the end of the slope!

Shops and SPOTS

E-Free (at the Science and Technology Museum subway stop) is selling longboards at a variety of different prices, from Chinese cheap boards to Landyachtz and Loaded.

Shanghai is famous for skateparks. In 2010 the government built the biggest skatepark in the world, SMP Skatepark, at the edges of Shanghai. But the park is built for professional skateboarders, BMXers and inline skaters and is not well adapted to common skateboarders. And after just two years, SMP is failing; the park has never been maintained, and all the facilities are out of order. In any case, the park does not fit longboard needs.

So the highway bridge of Ianpu Park, the ramps of the Science and Technology Museum and the Expo Park are the few alternative options – plus the mountains, which are more than one hour away from Shanghai.

The last stop before leaving China is Xi’an, where for skaters and longboarders there is much more to do than just visiting the Terracotta Army. Just dropping by Shadow Skateshop or Viceversa bar, you will meet Xiao Jian. The Xi’an local skateboard community is big enough to organize real sponsored competitions and events, and Xiao Jian, owner of Shadow Skateboards and Converse sponsored skater, is preparing to open the first indoor skatepark in town — an underground park across the street from the shop’s current location at the Beilin History Museum.

But one day, one of Xiao Jian’s friends showed him a pintail longboard and how to dance it. It was 2011 and Xiao Jian had just started snowboarding and surfing.

Soon, with the help of his Czech flat-mates, he produced his first series of pintail longboards, branded Bloom.

Although Bloom is still at the beginning phase of its history, the brand is already very famous on all Chinese social networks and is gathering new followers every day.

Shops and SPOTS

As mentioned above, the only skateboard shop in Xi’An is Shadow. It is located in front of the only skatepark in Xi’an, at the South Gate of Da Tang Fu Rong Yuan, near the south lake.

If you want to find local skaters, just check the slopes one hour away from downtown at the gates of the University of Xi’An. Moreover, the old Chinese capital is known for its beautiful mountains and landscapes, and the community is training to start testing the roads.

That’s the end of the tour – unless you wish to end up in the hilly Hong Kong. In that case, the locals’ Facebook community will be hailing to guide you wherever you want. 再见, Zàijiàn riders! CW longboardingchina.tumblr.com

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 67

Miles Essert skims the edge through the infamous corner called "the Gooch." Photo: Cameron Bowser

Zak Maytum leads James Kelly and Calvin Staub as they charge through a hairpin in the quarterfinals.

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BUFFALO BILL

DOWNHILL WORDS & PHOTOS: JILLI BETHANY unday, Sept. 30, 2012, called for mostly sunny skies with a small chance of rain — yeah, right. The fourth annual Buffalo Bill Downhill (BBDH) wouldn’t be a true “bloodspill” without some heavy rain and another freak accident. Last year a helicopter crashed; this year a rider hit a deer at 40 mph. Welcome to BBDH 2012. The event is nothing but sheer excitement.

This was my third time photographing the action at BBDH, and I was super pleased to see how much the event has expanded since 2009. Longboarding sponsors, both large and small, and different every year, have contributed to the popularity and recognition this event has been achieving.

Even more so, I’m pumped to see the Colorado longboard community ignite over the past several years. This state fully embraces longboarding as more than a board and wheels that takes you places, but as a true competitive sport that tests both courage and endurance.

The day of the event, Zak Maytum (owner of Venom, the title sponsor) dominated his heats until the finals, when young Northern California rider Byron Essert flew past him and took first place.

Oregon’s Alex Tongue, an ever-present threat, took third place, and Canada’s Kyle Martin took fourth.

With nonstop hairpins and surprising speeds that can creep up on even the best, Lookout Mountain will forever be in the heart of Colorado riders. It’s been said that “this hill evolves you from boy to man.”

Riders traveled from as far as Canada, Washington and Oklahoma to experience this mountain. The spirit of longboarding is clearly here to stay, thanks to new riders surfacing and, just as important, the ones who’ve been riding for decades. CW

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BBDH 2012 podium, L to R: Alex Tongue, Zak Maytum, Byron Essert.

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 69

FRENCH FRIES, TRAPPIST BEER

AND LONGBOARDS!

BY MATHIEU BONTE

The Belgian longboard scene is probably one of the most astonishing longboard experiences. Because of the rain, wind, the influence of the ocean, hard winter, unpretty summer, not-so-lovable streets and lack of adapted infrastructure, you’d better have balls to keep on longboarding and fully embrace the attitude of “whatever the weather, whatever the conditions.” Belgium is a tiny piece of territory, surrounded by France, Holland, the U.K. and Germany. This blend of cultures and mentalities surely explains how the longboard

Photo: Xavier Ethuin

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scene grows in various ways: downhill, freeride, slide, dancing and flat tricks … “It is a strong paradox to see the increasing level of our riders in the Kingdom of Belgium (yes, it is a Kingdom!),” says Mata7ik, active member of LRBX Longboard Club and co-founder of the A7ik Cross-Art Collective. “They burn the asphalt and start to be followed by brands, longboard ambassadors and pro riders. Maybe our little land is willing to show the world that we can skate, we can make longboard art, and we can gain respect!”

BELGIAN LONGBOARD HISTORY

2005: Longboarding became something in Belgium. The Boardhell Project was founded, with the organized “‘Frit’ Ride Longboard Events.”

2007: The A7ik Cross-Art Collective was born – a blend of art projects with the longboard as a common theme.

2009: Boardhell became “Blütcher Longboard Clüb,” and the Events switched to a new name: Wallonhill. People were arriving from Belgium, France, Germany, the U.K. and Holland to ride closed roads in the Belgian mountains, in pure nature. Riders also got used to come to each new event that was organized.

2010: More and more riders gathered in Brussels to ride, dance, slide and downhill … LRBX Longboard Club was born!

2011: LRBX launched its Longboard School. They now propose trainings and courses everywhere in Belgium (for schools, summer camps, private groups …).

2012: The longboard scene is exploding: longboard freeride events, slide jams, board customization, board shaping in Brussels and Bruges, longboard schools …

LINKS

CUSTOMIZED BOARDS denismeyers.com mata7ik.com LONGBOARD ASSOCIATIONS & EVENTS blutcher.com lrbx.be

LONGBOARD ART & PHOTOGRAPHY a7ik.net anthonyprevost.com michamargo.com petitd.be BELGIAN BOARD MAKERS blutcher.com facebook.com/WoodNoteBoards

THE ART SIDE OF THE LONGBOARD COMMUNITY

The longboard in Belgium was also reinforced thanks to many artists who shared their passion for the ride and used it as a source of inspiration. The A7ik art collective was formed in 2007 out of a need for an escape from everyday life, an escape from the “commute-work-commute-sleep” routine. Since then, many artists from different backgrounds and visions have joined the crew. Be it big or small, the influence of skateboarding is palpable in the work of each member.

Mata7ik spends most of his time customizing longboard decks, handdrawing his now well-known characters and patterns with an obsessional and distinctive way. As a kid, he was always cutting out surf and skate magazines, collecting stickers and watching never-ending surf and skate videos. A few years later, he decided to start drawing and creating his own little world, made of funny, weird characters, mixing his influences (skate, surf, design, street art). Using poscas (paint markers), paint, ink, stencils and old paper prints, he keeps on designing new boards models for boarding companies and also customizing boards for the longboard community, just for the fun of it.

Micha Margo is a fashion photographer and photo artist who fell in love with longboarding. After following major longboard events and being a pillar in Belgian longboard pics production, he is now focusing on further projects such as mixing fashion and longboard or designing boards with photography techniques.

Anthony Prévost is a Madrid-based photographer who specializes in portrait and landscape photography. Due to his interest for skateboarding in a broad meaning, he is drawn to incorporate skate elements in his shots whenever he sees them. More than the skaters, he’s inspired by the places they ride, which has led him to start shooting empty skateparks in the tradition of landscape photography.

Xavier Ethuin from Blütcher is deeply getting involved in video making and editing and is getting a widespread reputation at every single longboard event! When passion meets longboard and video … the result is a bomb!

Cédric Scheers, founder of the LRBX Longboard School, says: “It’s funny to see how longboard gets a unique flavor in Belgium. Longboarding is not just a unique way of riding on four wheels; it’s a real way of life, whatever the season, whatever the conditions. Wintertime? Let’s ride indoors, let’s edit some crazy videos and set up exhibitions with customized boards. It’s summertime? Let’s ride all day long, attend European longboard events and shoot videos and pictures!”

The “little Belgians” keep on proving to the world that they live for longboarding: riding every day, customizing boards with passion and love, shooting videos and photos and attending many longboard events. Keep track of what happens, since 2013 will be a very promising year for us.

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 71

T H G I R D E E H T O SHR AR T HE GN T

Rob Carter at a secret spot in San Francisco.

Photo: Nick Klein

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BY R. BULIUNG, PH.D., Research Associate, Cities Centre, University of Toronto

was around 15 years of age the first time I got kicked off a hill while skateboarding. It was 1985, somewhere between Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and I would see Future Primitive that year on VHS (a big fat videotape, for you kids out there). I was pushing a Lester Kasai “Clown” deck with Tracker Sixtracks and 90A PowellPeralta Rat Bones. So yeah, I was riding this vert board on the street. I was no Tommy G., but it all seemed to make sense to me at the time – what I was doing, what I was riding, why I was riding it, and why it appealed to me to be doing something that a lot of people didn’t seem to understand. Today, not much has changed. I skate boards of about the same size (different shape) or longer – depending on the day, location and transport needs.

My first “skateboard versus the world” experience occurred in Brantford, Onterrible, Canada. The hill, which was really something skaters living in places with actual mountains would consider a bump, was located beside my high school. I’d developed a habit of skating to school and then spending some quality time riding downhill (practicing speed checks, power slides, etc.), back up and then down again at roughly the same time of day that the school parking lots began to choke on cars (small-town Onterrible – yes, there were pickup trucks and Camaros by the dozen). Oddly enough, I basically find myself doing something similar these days – although now I’m a professor of Transport Geography, skating to my university campus. Notably, I’m not the only academic shredder; others I’ve located include former ’90s pro Ocean Howell, and Iain Borden.

The “radness” did not go unnoticed. My geography teacher, annoyed by our shared presence, or fearing for my safety (really depends on whom you talk to), predictably worked to have my “right to shred gnar” revoked – at least on that hill, which happened to be a public road – using the predictable threat of endless detention. I think there were senior “school officials” involved, and other members of what I viewed at the time to be a rather oppressive authoritarian regime, but I can’t entirely recall.

What was the effect of this unrestricted ban on my favorite activity at the time? First, it reinforced my desire to skate because the “authorities” had confirmed for me that what I was doing was indeed anti-establishment. Second, I just took my show elsewhere.

My story is not unique; skaters get kicked out of places – fact of life. From the first moment four wheels were slapped onto a 2x4 (more than 50 years ago!), some onlooker, horrified by a foreboding sense that the apocalypse was nearing, was conjuring some way to put the genie back in the bottle. In other words, conflict between skateboarding (sorry, I’m one of those “if

I

“THE ROAD IS A PUBLIC SPACE. IT’S A PRIVILEGE TO USE IT, NOT A RIGHT.” – Les Robertson, Rayne Longboards

it’s got four wheels and a board, then it’s a skateboard” people) and “society” is not new.

In 1966, during one of skateboarding’s many high periods (at some point in every decade since the 1950s there seems to have been another wave of interest), a filmmaker named Claude Jutra captured an early illustration of the tension between “skating and society” on the streets of Montreal, Canada, in his documentary short, The Devil’s Toy. Early in the film, Jutra’s narrator asserts that skateboarding “was like a plague that spread from city to city … a dreaded disease which needed only pavement to multiply.”

Seriously?

Much later, Kebbek produced a sweet series of board graphics dedicated to some of the spots shown in Jutra’s film. (Thanks for the tip, A-rad).

Same deal in Toronto, Canada. At around the same time, in a similarly entertaining attempt by the least conservative media option around (Canada’s CBC) to try to come to grips with the skateboarding menace, Lloyd Robertson interviewed Gay Cochrane, then Ontario president of the National Sidewalk Surfers Association. The news anchor in the story’s lead-up stated that “The police are directing an organized campaign to stamp out these menaces, but surfers are organized too …”

These examples, from a long time ago, tell us that conflict between skaters and the city is nothing new.

Well, I can assure you the police campaign failed miserably; not only do I skate nearly every day on the streets of Toronto, the city has an incredible skate culture (all disciplines), skateparks that have played host to legends (Lance Mountain, Eric Koston), and yeah, I met Tony Alva in a local skate shop. And longboarding is thriving thanks to local community hubs like Longboard Living, as well as the many other skate shops that have expanded to include longboard inventory.

Bans don’t work. In my opinion, they work against their intended outcome, increasing the resolve of skaters to continue doing what they do, which is a good thing.

Some people and institutions have always viewed skateboarding as a threat to the established order of things. And by things, I mean the urban and suburban truths that many hold as being self-evident: Roads are for cars (and sometimes bicycles); sidewalks are for people; mall and plaza parking lots are for shopping; office plazas in urban downtowns are for entering/leaving

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A lonely pathway in Hamburg, Germany, is the perfect place to shred undetected.

Photo: Gordon Timpen

office buildings and buying street meat; urban parks are there to serve the placid recreational needs (or more acceptable forms of art and athleticism) of the working public; and so on. More recent examples of the tension I am describing can be found on YouTube using the search tag “skater kick out.” The 2,000 or so hits produced by such a search primarily tell stories set in the kinds of places I’ve just mentioned. The colonization and adaptation by skaters of the bits and pieces of cities and suburbs built for other reasons is arguably viewed by some nonskating adults and unsupportive institutions as a menacing practice carried out by ungodly, otherworldly young people (non-adults).

Fast-forward to 2012, and we have what I think are, when considered historically, relatively new stories about conflict in skateboarding – not so new in terms of any of us being surprised that conflict still occurs, but

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perhaps somewhat new with regard to location.

Decades earlier, with the rise of street skating, urban downtowns became key destinations for skaters (they still are), some of whom actually lived within a reasonable distance of the spots, and some who would flood into the city from surrounding suburban areas. The street scene remains alive and well, with something new added to the mix: downhill/freeride in the leafy suburbs.

One of the most recent heavily publicized examples of conflict occurred on February 6, 2012. A pickup truck driven by a man named Chuck Duffy collided head-on with a 15-year-old longboarder on a blind corner in North Vancouver, Canada. The corner in question is located in a suburban part of North Van, North Van itself being a suburb of the city of Vancouver. It was not the first time skaters and drivers have come into conflict in that area.

Laguna Beach, California, is another example.

Located between Los Angeles and San Diego, it’s a suburban playground serving up a downhill/freeride dream.

In both North Van and Laguna, physical geography (roads painted on hilly terrain), the rising popularity of longboarding and the regular use of these places as primarily residential areas that people drive around (for work or other reasons) conspire to produce both good times and conflicts.

The North Van and Laguna examples suggest, if you dig deeper into who’s going there and where they live, that a kind of reverse migration is occurring – a mass movement of skaters doing the downhill/freeride thing from everywhere to suburban spots and beyond (how many remote “mountain road meets downhill” longboarding vids can you find online?). Places, incidentally, that at no other time have experienced anything quite like this.

I’m not saying that skating on hills in the suburbs is

new. It’s not. But the number of people doing it today – coupled with the occasional co-opting of buses and parental vehicles to shuttle skaters back up, and the capabilities offered by modern equipment – is completely different than it was 20-30 years ago. The conventional order of things – roads are for driving, sidewalks are for walking, plazas are for shopping – is being turned on its head by creative, athletic longboarders who are using the hilly streets of the leafy suburbs in new and exciting ways.

The reaction from the public and public institutions has been mixed. In the case of North Van, fines are being proposed, and in Laguna, bans are being enforced. But have these measures had any impact, or will existing and emerging legal challenges to longboarding have any impact?

If history tells us anything, it’s that legal responses that include fines and bans will do little to limit ongoing interest in skateboarding. At best, skaters might stop what they are doing briefly (while the authorities are hanging around), or shift their activity to a different time of day or place. The Devil’s Toy was shot just prior to a citywide ban in Montreal, at the time, of the “elongated roller skate”; the authorities didn’t even know what they were dealing with. Today in Montreal, you can skate legally on bike paths, off-road paved trails and in skateparks. Skating on public roads is not entirely legal, and so it is true that you cannot, legally, commute by skateboard in Montreal (but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen). What impact have these fines had? In a recent piece in Spacing magazine, Alanah Heffez reported that street skaters, for example, are willing to risk heavy fines to skate in Montreal’s Peace Park. (http://spacingmontreal.ca/2010/06/27/seeinglike-a-skateboarder/).

Bans don’t work. They simply cause skaters to change how they do things, while creating at best either a pause in the activity or a shift in where and when it is practiced.

Another way to look at fines, in particular, is that they kind of represent the cost of doing business, a user fee of sorts. A skater runs the risk that he/she will receive a fine – but the reward seems to be greater than the risk. While I’m thinking about the economics of fines, it’s also important to remember that not everyone can afford precision trucks – and so heavy fines force an unequal burden onto the skate community, with the poorest kids paying a heavier price. These kids might eventually be priced out of the activity altogether because they simply can’t afford what I see as kind of a discretionary user fee, meaning that the fines are not always enforced, all the time, everywhere.

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY? Kelsey Crozier (Switchback Longboards), Ryan Theobald (Landyachtz) and Les Robertson (Rayne Longboards), recently found some time to chat with me. Our conversations were focused on this issue of skater conflict and the response from the public and government. All three discussed the issue of rider experience and the role of more-experienced riders in setting an example with regard to safety.

On the issue of conflict, Crozier said, “Drivers don’t want to get into a collision with a skateboarder, and skateboarders don’t want to hit a car, parked or otherwise.” While this might seem obvious, what he’s saying is really the root of it: Skaters and drivers (note that skaters are sometimes also drivers) don’t necessarily want to be in conflict with one another. So how do we get to a place where that conflict doesn’t exist?

A good place to start would be to acknowledge that some sensitivity is needed on both sides. As Theobald put it, “Riders are getting younger. It’s a real challenge to [have] kids on roads who don’t drive yet and aren’t familiar with the rules of the road. It’s hard for them to understand what motorists are going through when they see people longboarding around them.” Crozier agreed, saying, “Some of the young guns don’t have a driver’s license yet and don’t fully understand how traffic flows.” On the other hand, I’m sure there are plenty of drivers who can’t begin to understand the attraction of skateboarding.

Crozier suggested that bans could actually increase the risk of skater injury. “Ticketing and/or an all-out ban is just going to have more people running from authority,” he said. “When you’re running from the law, you’re taking bigger risks and, I think, are way more likely to get into an accident.”

Robertson concurred, saying, “Making kids criminals through bans is not the solution.”

More to the point, nobody seems to know exactly, particularly in the case of North Van, how a system of fines would operate. At the moment, according to Robertson, bylaw officers would be charged with the responsibility of sorting out what qualifies as recklessness and what doesn’t. There is a huge gray area here, particularly if officers have never skated, which would arguably render them incapable of making an informed judgment, beyond obvious infractions such as blowing through stop signs.

To clear up this uncertainty, Robertson has argued that longboard use (a necessary distinction is made here with skateboards) could be governed under the Motor Vehicle Act – “like a bike”. Currently the act treats skateboards of any type as something different from bicycles, and affords municipalities with the power to develop bylaws directed at regulating and controlling people using “roller skates, sleighs, skates, skis or other similar means.” I suppose what we are talking about here falls under the “other similar means” reference.

The author proudly shows off his signed Tony Alva deck.

The legal status of the skateboard is a complicated conversation; there are so many skate disciplines to consider. Those of us who skate see the landscape one way, the others who don’t skate find it pretty easy to lump everyone into the same group. The reality is that we’re not. As Robertson put it, “The problem is not the college cruiser; skateparks are not in traffic; street skaters like spots [although in my view the street is one big spot – check out old/new footage of Ricky Oyola or Bobby Puleo]; longboards are in traffic.” It is this more frequent mixing of longboards and vehicle traffic that lies at the heart of the current conflict.

This is not an entirely new debate. It reminds me very much of the ongoing conversation in our major cities about bicycles’ versus cars’ rights to the street – although according to Robertson (and based on my experience in Toronto), the bicycle occupies a more privileged position in our cities than the skateboard.

In the end, I seem to be left with more questions than answers. Why are some places more skaterfriendly than others? How do we define recklessness?, Who’s in charge here? How do we best get people and institutions together in a way that minimizes conflict?

What I can tell you is that none of the people I interviewed support recklessness, and they are all interested in producing an environment that supports the longterm growth of longboarding. The issue seems to be, then, identifying precisely what qualifies as reckless riding, and who is going to be invited to what table to sort this out. Clearly, our ideas about recklessness depend upon who is riding and who is watching! I would like to acknowledge Sector 9 for getting me back on four wheels and a board, and Earthwing, Comet and Krooked for keeping me rolling these days. CW

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PHOTOSECTION

Trevor Preston Photo: Nick Stevens

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Emil finds the flow in Hamburg, Germany.

Photo: Gordon Timpen

Gideon finds parking garage nirvana.

Photo: Gordon Timpen

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K-Rimes attacks Maryhill.

Photo: Ben Young

Juergen Gritzner, boardslide at the Venice Beach skatepark.

Photo: Ray Rae Goldman

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What a difference a day makes. Maoz Trudler and Eden Gil enjoy a quiet moment in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Photos: Yahav Trudler

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Argentinian photographer Barbara Britvin has been experimenting with light and has created some fascinating pieces.

Above: Manu Stabile spreads the longboard love.

Right: Nico Aaon rides the light.

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Above: The sprinkler was too much of a temptation for Adam Winston.

Left: Michelle LeBLanc and Charly LeBlanc enjoy a quiet moment.

Photo: Jonathan Nuss

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Fabricio Potenzone enjoys a moment of solitude on a dry lake bed in Argentina.

Photo: Carola Dottori

Ted Major enjoys a tranquil moment near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Photo: Stan Evans

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Chris Farmer, Venice Beach skatepark.

Photo: Ray Rae Goldman

Ian Comishin finding his line in Taicang, China.

Photo: Marc Robitaille

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Trevor Preston, followed by Max Wippermann.

Photo: Nick Stevens

Geoff Sagara hits the dirt.

Photo: Lance Dalgart

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RIDER PROFILE >>

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STILL ROLLING

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

PHOTOS BY JEFF BUDRO

VICTOR EARHART CELEBRATES SIX DECADES ON A SKATEBOARD I WAS BORN IN 1946, and in 1953 I rode what was called a skateboard, which at that time consisted of a 2 x 4 and a roller skate. In 1954 my parents moved to Northern California and I had to make my own board made out of a 2 x 4, some bent nails and old roller skates.

There was no real skateboard scene. Skating with my friends Barry Kanaiaupuni and Mike Turner, who were world-class surfers at the time, created the scene in the PB area slaloming down hills.

The first skateboarding scene that got me involved was a skate demo.

I got a free board and I was the only one to drop in on the ramp. That started the fire.

I went to three different junior high schools and took wood shop. After I completed my requirements of making spice racks and a bird house, I started making skateboards out of pallets. In the late ’50s, clay wheels came out. Steel-clay-urethane. In the mid-’60s we moved to PB and I started skating the boardwalk. Nobody was on the boardwalk with skateboards. So I started giving my pallet boards away, getting more people riding skateboards. I was unaware of other skate scenes.

I bombed my first hill at 7 years old with steel wheels. Clay wheels made it easier. We were also barefoot. Shoes were for pussies. From 1726 years old we were bombing hills all around San Diego. In 1965 SkateBoarder magazine’s first issue came out with an article about the Concourse [garage] in San Diego. I still skate parking garages every Friday night. Come join!

In the mid ’70s, skateparks started popping up all over. Some rich kid showed up at one of my local skateparks with his bike and posse. It ended up being Bob Haro of Haro Bikes. In the ’80s I had a chance to go work at a skateboard shop in Temecula. That’s where I met some pro skateboarders for the first time – Steve Claar and Jason Jessee, to name a couple.

Because of working at the shop, I began attending other demos at other shops and meeting other skaters with the same passion that I had for skateboarding. Then I found out in the late ’80s about Roger Hickey, who had races going in San Dimas. Meanwhile I was still skating the Concourse every Friday night. Rain or no rain, it didn’t matter. That’s where I met Denis, Steve and Dave. They were starting a longboarding company called Sector 9. I also found them at a race in San Dimas and got ahold of one of their boards, a 42” pintail, and fell in love with it. That’s when I parked my SMA and switched to a 42” pintail. I later traded my 38” SMA for a tattoo.

The rest is history. Sector 9 put me to work. I’ve been at Sector 9 since 1995.

Because of Sector 9 I’ve been to a few races in Colorado, Canada and some local events. I am SO STOKED that the younger generation along with their 40to 50-year-old dads are picking up on the same vibe. It is really exciting to see where the scene is going. And now we have these kooks like Louis Pilloni and Jeff Budro who are not satisfied with going 40 miles an hour – they have to add high-speed stunts. I don’t why they’re doing it; I guess because they can. I’ve been skating for 60 years now and hope to continue skateboarding for the next 40. Now tell me your stories at Facebook.com/Victor.E.Sector9 and www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkEGSC7H6N4 CW

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MINI-TRIP GOW (Girls Over Wheels) is a team of girls from Barcelona who are always skating the streets of our city. For some time, we’ve been planning to do a mini trip together, and when one of us offered the home of her parents in Puigcerdá (small mountain town located in the Catalan Pyrenees, 1 km from France), we decided it was time.

One weekend, two cars loaded with boards, and eager GOW on the road. We couldn’t stop counting the days remaining to undertake the trip to the mountains. Sounds like a nice plan; there was only waiting for the big weekend to check the result.

FRIDAY At the expected Friday, a few of us armed the first car to Tetris mode, the trunk filled with boards, safety gear, helmets and food, and a little cramped headed to Puigcerdà. Friday would be a day for site inspection. Vicky, who already knew the area, made a path for the different spots that we would skate the next two days. It was time to taste the new roads and make contact with nature.

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THE RIDERS: Alba del Rey Ana Maroto Andrea Durán Clara Clarafosca Cristina Mandarina Eider Walls Eli Melero Guio Mar Marina Pérez Marta Guillen Vicky Volpini

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Andrea

Eider Walls

Marina

Guio

Christina Mandarina

SATURDAY Saturday came and we skated some of the roads we had seen the day before.

We practiced new tricks, taught and learned from each other, made some pictures and enjoyed the longboard.

These moments were something magical, moments that we lived together, which gave us more and more confidence to go down together. Finally, really tired from a long day, we decided to combine forces to receive the other half of the crew that was to come that night. The second car, loaded the same way as the first and full of energy, came to PuigcerdĂ just in time for dinner. All we brought was a little food to share with others, but it ended up being a source of union between us: a raclette dinner with cheese, more cheese, vegetables and meat. It was hilarious!

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Vicky Volopini

SUNDAY Finally, on Sunday, with the complete team ready to skate, we filled our backpacks with our gear, helmets, water and food, and went to skate gnarly, incredible roads. For some, it was the first time down such a long road at such a high speed. But we were in several spots, with sections for all levels, so everyone got to enjoy the great weekend of skate. We went up and down over and over again, thinking of nothing more than at present. At one point we all went down one after another, without stopping, screaming with adrenaline – one of those feelings that can only be understood when you experience them for yourself. It was among the highlights of the entire weekend. When the light started to leave, we retreated to home, took a short break and started packing things to return. Throughout the weekend, we felt good vibes and breathed much positive energy, which comforted and encouraged us to do more mini trips together. Finally we again headed for Barcelona.

We were all really glad of this great weekend.

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Clara Fonseca

GOW is an open group to anyone and any proposal related to the longboard.

Although we are very different from each other, we share something very intense, something that makes us not want to stop having fun between us, something we love, something that makes us forget our differences and be like we are one ‌ longskate.

That is why this trip, full of this shared feeling, made us together so much more. A short weekend but intense, an incredible opportunity to get to know a little more, gain more experience, enjoy together and share more longboard. CW

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PHOTOS: KEIR VICHERT

ARTIST PROFILE >>

NATHAN BISHOP NATHAN BISHOP began designing custom grip tape work more than 13 years ago.

His first deck was the “Green Dragon,” a Santa Cruz 30th Anniversary reissue of a Rob Roskopp deck that Nathan had owned as a kid. He knew that in order to gain his girlfriend’s approval to hang it in their apartment, it would have to be a striking piece of art, and he set out to create just that. The end result impressed everyone who saw it, and before long, custom “Bishop’s Boards” were being made for all his friends. Years later, Nathan met Walter Froese, the owner of Zion Snowboards in Vancouver. Walter convinced Nathan to pursue his work more seriously. This led to a collaboration with Zion Snowboards and a cross-promotional campaign. The resulting Zion boards

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received a lot of positive attention. This was the jump-start that was needed to take Bishop’s Boards to the next level. Since then Nathan’s prolific output has been displayed in skate shops and art galleries around the Vancouver area. In the relatively short time since the launch of the “Bishop’s Board Shop” Facebook page, interest has begun to swell. New “Likes” and friend requests are being received daily from skaters around the world. This worldwide attention has been both inspiring and gratifying for Nathan, and he is looking forward to more exciting things to come. Nathan never duplicates his work; each board is 100% original, so every client receives his or her own unique work of art. CW

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ARTIST PROFILE >>

Michelle Sanchez

Rebel, challenging and nonconformist. I’ve always thought that the best way to challenge your own self and improve your own skills in art is by doing what you want, and “running in the opposite direction that everyone follows.” I wanted to do whatever with my illustrations except anything usual, anything common. I’ve decided to unify two of my passions: Skate & Art. Creating a line of skates, surfboards, wakeboards and clothing stuff for “streetwear,” that matches perfectly with the idea of my project.

I was raised up having fantasy, sci-fi and terror as my favorite genres. They still influence me to this day. I love that my boards showcase many fantastic creatures; these are some kind of “doors” to the fantasy world, in which is based all my artwork. I love to play with light and dark and raise incredibly strong and powerful colors — like a rush of energy that takes you immediately into the image, making you be a part of it. CW facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Sanchez/147119618665733

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I DO WHAT I DO

BY MICHAEL BREAM

I

d like to say that I had a plan — that I sat and thought this through long before I started. But no, not this time. I followed the simple advice that my dad has been giving me for years: “If you want something done right, you’ll have to do it yourself,” he would say, with a knowledge that has been built up over decades. So that’s what I did in 1994 when I graduated from UC San Diego.

The timing was ripe. As a fresh graduate in computer engineering, my employment prospects were great — so great, in fact, that I had the opportunity to take a little time for making the decision about whom I would work for. In between interviews I would surf, skate and tinker around the carport at my little college apartment in Solana Beach. It was at this time that I started to make my first longboards. Our local surf shop had some boards called “Topps” that were basically just surfboard shapes in the 5-foot range. They were terribly unfunctional and no fun to ride, but there was a certain attraction to these longer, smoother-riding skateboards.

I immediately knew that if these boards could be made to be maneuverable, they would actually be pretty fun to ride. So I made my first board, a 4-foot beast that rode like something half its size. It had large wheel cutouts that allowed for hard carving, and a functional tail so I could still throw a random boneless here and there.

Not long after that, my friends talked me into making a couple of boards for them. There was one “go-to” shape that they kept asking for, over and over.

That original shape would later become the Gravity Hyper-Carve — designed more than 18 years ago, and still a brisk seller to this day.

So why do I do what I do? A large part of it is that I like to solve problems. This is the cornerstone of an engineer’s education, and it sort of stuck with me. The boards on the market at the time I started were terrible, but how is it that a college kid with a small shed full of tools and a carport could easily make a board that was better than anything on the market at the time? The answer was simple: because I had nothing to lose. I had nothing invested in the market. I had no company, no employees and no responsibilities, and this allowed me to take chances that I wouldn’t otherwise take. I had total freedom over design, without the concerns of a typical company to weigh me down.

History tells us that this is where we work best. This was the same environment at companies like Apple, Microsoft, General Electric, HP, Facebook, AT&T, etc.

All of them were started by one or two individuals who could really innovate with hardly any restrictions. They

“A large part of it is that I like to solve problems. This is the cornerstone of anengineer’s education, and it sort of stuck with me.” Michael Bream takes it way back with a barefoot bert on a vintage '70s board.

(and I) worked to solve problems, and to see the joy of those whose problems they solved.

Innovation comes from individuals. Scale comes from corporate organization. Two guys in a garage can’t make a million of anything. And a corporation is simply not a place to innovate. Corporations scale the innovations of individuals into production in large quantities.

Thus, it all starts with the individual.

So I started out with our first line of boards: the MiniCarve and the Hyper-Carve. Nobody had seen anything like them, and their size was a little intimidating for anyone who saw them. I found myself almost forcing surf shop owners to please just ride the board around their parking lot or around the block. I begged them to just try it. And this is why I do what I do. When you see their expression for the first time that tells you they “get it,” you never forget that feeling — that feeling of being responsible for changing the way someone thinks about something for the better. Being able to change their opinion, without speaking a single word, based all on the hard-found innovations. All of my design thoughts, late nights in the woodshop and countless hours sanding and staining wood came down to this single moment of joy of seeing a surfer discover something

completely new, that was actually something quite old.

So this is it. This is why I do what I do. Nowadays there’s more competition, and our designs have been seen and ridden worldwide, yet we still work on oldfashioned ideas that we feel shouldn’t die. We still produce all of our products right here in our local area, and we try to impress people with good old-fashioned quality product for an honest price. We still find people who haven’t had a chance to enjoy the smooth ride of a longboard, and we still get stoked when we can see the expression on their face of total and complete satisfaction, with a hint of surprise that these elements have been here all along.

I still do what I do, and I am still looking at ways of improving things that have been around us for quite some time. I’ve been spending a little time lately developing electric cars for the same reason — to see the joy of people who have been around something for years, without knowing how close they are to something totally new, something incredibly capable of bringing them a joy that they didn’t know existed.

That feeling will never grow old on me. That feeling should never grow old on anyone. Never stop innovating. That’s why I do what I do. CW

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i RIDE

BY MICHAEL BROOKE I RIDE I RECYCLE (IRIR) is the first national (soon to be global), grass-roots skate deck recycling movement. Dedicated to the protection of our environment by keeping broken skateboard decks and manufacturer wood waste out of landfills, IRIR aims to be the industry solution. I Ride I Recycle shifts skateboarding from a disrespected art form to one that embraces recycling, environmentally responsible manufacturing, reusing wood waste and broken decks, supporting charities and local skate shops, promoting skatepark builds in low-income areas and empowering youth with an eco-friendly DIY mentality.

Started by Bruce Boul and Rich Moorhead, founders of Art of Board, a company that creates hard tile surfaces and retail displays, peel-and-stick wall graphics and printed textiles from discarded skateboard decks, the movement’s goal is to encourage skate and surf shops, skateboard manufacturers, skateparks and individual riders to join the movement and recycle their broken long and short board decks.

“Rich and I created IRIR because we were using broken decks to create our Art of Board wall tile. So, it originated as a need for more wood material,” says cofounder Boul. “However, we realized that an international movement would not only keep this wood waste out of landfills, but we could use the movement to support skate shops, bring skaters in the doors, create community in the local skate scenes, teach kids about sustainability and give back to skate charities like the Tony Hawk Foundation, Life Rolls On and Grind For Life.”

A consortium of like-minded, “green” brands has come together under the I Ride I Recycle name to promote sustainable business practices and products ranging from swimwear and longboards to sunglasses and retail surface tile made from broken, recycled skate decks.

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“I Ride I Recycle is the action sports industry’s recycling and sustainability umbrella,” says Boul. “We’re really excited to evolve and include more companies to become part of a movement that’s not only doing good for the environment, but also creating community and supporting charities.”

More than 300 shops participate in the program. “It’s growing every day” says Boul. “Though IRIR started out as a national (U.S.) movement, we’re now international. We’ve got shops in Canada and Baja California, Mexico.” Plans are also under way to take IRIR into Europe, Australia, Brazil and Southeast Asia in the next year.

“There is something about being one with the environment when you’re longboarding or skateboarding that makes you in tune with nature,” Moorhead says. “I think for that reason, most surfers and skaters care about the planet and want to make a difference and do what’s right. We are promoting companies whose products are made from recycled materials or are otherwise environmentally friendly, thereby keeping waste out of our landfills.”

Though IRIR was birthed out of and remains rooted in skateboard culture, it’s becoming more apparent that whether you ride a longboard, short board, surfboard, boogie board, wakeboard or snowboard, you want to “ride and recycle.”

“Our goal is to be known as the industry standard to provide action sports brands with sustainable certification,” says Boul. “We’re thrilled to align with the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) and [numerous] brands to deliver a comprehensive recycling service to skate and surf shops while bringing an incentive to the customer to come through their doors.”

Boul says the industry has been extremely enthusiastic toward the program. “The only challenges we’ve really faced was getting the program well-oiled so that it was simple and easy for shops. And it’s grown so fast that we’ve had to keep up with the demand from shops and parks wanting to be involved. And that’s a great challenge to have!”

I asked Boul about his plans for the future. He wants IRIR to be known internationally not only as a skate deck recycling movement, but also as the action sports industry standard when it comes to sustainability and creating positive change. “We will have IRIR shops in all 50 states and abroad,” he said. “We are planning a U.S. tour in our new IRIR tour bus and we’re talking to major potential sponsors now.” Team Pain has created IRIR ramps for the tour and they’ll be promoting sustainability and skate events everywhere.

A mobile app will be released soon that lists all IRIR shops. Skaters will be able to find skate spots/parks and IRIR skate shops anywhere in the world. “It will link back to all the shops, too, to help them sell product and promote their shops and their events,” says Boul. To top things off, they are also starting a sales and distribution company that will feature IRIR-certified brands. They plan to sponsor riders and have a skate team as well.

IRIR already works with Skate One/Powell-Peralta in Santa Barbara by recycling their wood waste, and they plan to add many more manufacturers. “We can and will be a solution for them for these Dumpsters of wood that they pay to have hauled away to landfills,” says Boul. “This gives them something great to talk about!”

Boul urges skaters to see IRIR as a call to action. “If you want to see skate shops thrive and skateboarding as a sport thrive, then join the movement,” he says. “IRIR collects wood waste and gives back. It’s a 360-degree revolution that is taking the industry by storm. Shops and manufacturers can join on our website and individual riders can also sign their local shops up. It only takes a minute.” irideirecycle.com CW

Previous page: Art of Board founder Rich Moorhead uses every square inch of each deck recycled through the I Ride I Recycle movement, creating zero waste. Photo: Renee Rosensteel

Left: I Ride I Recycle and Art of Board cofounder Bruce Boul. Photo: Renee Rosensteel

Above: An office at Life Rolls On, a subsidiary of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, in Culver City, California, decked out by Art of Board. Photo: Tara Wujcik

Below: Close-up of wooden tiles made from discarded decks, and other areas at Life Rolls On. Photos: Tara Wujcik

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