vol 11 no 2

LONGBOARDINGFOR PEACE

Vol.11 No.2 FALL 2012

$4.95Worldwide Agreement Number1.61803399

16 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2012

CONTENTS >>

30 EDITORIAL

42 NOTEWORTHY

52 OTTAWA LONGBOARDING

59 OASIS: A PUSH TO SUCCEED

64 AN URBAN WILDERNESS

68 RIDER PROFILE: YONI ETTINGER

73 A.SKATE FOUNDATION

74 FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO SKATE

78 WHY I DO WHAT I DO: PD OF SKULL SKATES

81 LONGBOARDING FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

90 THE THRILL GENE

94 ARTIST PROFILE: DEVIN STACEY

96 THE DOCTOR AND THE LONGBOARDER

102 THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION

106 ISSA REPORT

108 IGSA REPORT

FALL 2012

East

Coas

ter D

rew

Hoffm

an ge

tting

his b

onele

ss on

e on i

n Man

hatta

n Bea

ch, C

alifor

nia. P

hoto

: Lan

ce D

algar

t


Vol. 11 No. 2 FALL 2012

PUBLISHER/EDITOR Michael Brooke | [email protected]

SENIOR EDITOR Blair Watson

ART DIRECTOR Mark Tzerelshtein | MarkintoshDesign.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Buddy Carr

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Karl BornsteinPam Clark

DOWNHILL EDITOR Jon Caften

IGSA WORLD CUP EDITOR Marcus Rietema

SLALOM/FREESTYLE Richy and MariaEDITORS Carrasco

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Erik BasilMalakai Kingston

CORRESPONDENT Jim Kuiack

I.T. DEPT. HEAD Rick Tetz of CalStreets.com

COPY EDITOR Jonathan Harms

PROBLEM SOLVER Bud Stratford | [email protected]

HEAD OFFICE 1136-3 Center Street, Suite 293Thornhill, Ontario L4J 3M8 ph: 905.738.0804

SKATESHOP DISTRIBUTION Buddy Carr DesignsPO Box 1895, Carlsbad, CA [email protected]: 760.722.4111

CONTRIBUTORS (In order of appearance): Guy Shitrit, Lance Dalgart, Jordan Langdon, AliceMartins, Paul Wright, Tim Rafferty, MCC, Jonathan Strauss, Daniel Vogt, Joey Bidner, Margot Paul,Brian D. Knoll, Kayla Marok, Kaelen Walsh, Oasis Skateboard Factory, Dan Schwartz, SarahSchwartz, Yair Hasidof, Drew Burke, Josh Johnson, Joel Fraser, Emily Kane, Dan Bourqui,Eduardo Massaiuqui Kanashiro, Ryan Ganley, Carola Dottori, Devin Stacey, Joseph Garas, MarkMulville, Tammy Schueler, Bob Knab, Ben Schofield, Steve Trewhella, Richy and Maria Carrasco,Gustavs Gailitis, Lance Smith, Monique Soderhall, Jani Soderhall, Jani Soderhall, Jon Huey,Dave Kessler, Jeri Becka, Liz Kinnish.

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 notarriving? Email us... don’t go postal. We can sort it out. [email protected]. We will notifyyou when your subscription expires. Publisher’s permission is required before reproducingany part of this magazine. The views and opinions expressed in Concrete Wave are not nec-essarily those of the publisher. We happily accept articles and photos. Please contact thepublisher directly at [email protected] before you submit anything. We are looking fora variety of stories and images as long as they are skate-related.

COVER: Yoni Ettinger longboards for peace. Photo: Guy Shitrit

OPENING SPREAD: Brian Fiegenwald. Photo: Jordan Langdon

TM

FINE PRINT. The photo across from these words was taken somewhere nearOttawa. It is truly a concrete wave — handcrafted by Mother Nature. In an upcomingissue we’ll tell you more about it, but for now, just enjoy the image. It’s been a verybusy summer and I can’t really start to conceive of what the fall is going to be like.There are an endless number of events that hit all disciplines. I estimate that 90%of our readership is within a one-hour drive of a skate event coming up within thenext few months. (Have you booked your place for the Broadway Bomb on October20?) Practically every week my mailbox gets hit with another “We’re going to long-board to raise money/awareness for [X charity].” Go online and you’ll get hit witha barrage of comments about product you’ve never even heard of before. Thereare new companies, new ideas, new ways of doing things, and it shows no signof stopping. It can be overwhelming and exciting at the same time. I do this fora living and I can barely keep up. And yet it is what it is. This is what makes theworld of longboarding so incredibly fun and intriguing. You have diversity andvariety combined with passion. The stoke is high because there is room for alltypes of ideas and people. And it’s not just one type of demographic. We haveyoung folks and old folks. Males and females are included. This is a dramaticchange from where we were 10 years ago. For some, it can be prettyuneventful when it comes to thinking about how things used to be. But some-times you have to take a moment to let it sink in and realize that we’ve comea long way. This moment of reflection has been brought to you by the FinePrint. See you on the road or at the skatepark!

SEARCH/SPARK/STOKE

SEARCH/SPARK/STOKE


EDITORIAL >>

I am composing this editorial on what is our last full dayhere in Israel. Concrete Wave has spent a full month in theMiddle East, spreading the joy of longboarding to commu-nities far and wide. You’ll learn the details of our missionfurther on in this issue. It was truly an incredible anddeeply humbling experience. We are very happy to reportthat it exceeded our expectations, and plans are under wayfor more initiatives.

We called our tour “Search/Spark/Stoke,” and that’sexactly what we did. Although I came up with the idea ofLongboarding for Peace, I am very much determined thatownership of this idea belong to longboarders worldwide. Tothat end, there’s no board of directors, and we don’t haveany celebrities endorsing our efforts. If you’re reading thismagazine, we simply encourage you to start your own ini-tiative that helps promote peace. If you’d like to share whatyou’re doing with us, we’d be happy to publish it.

When it comes to peace, there are indeed many layers.There can be peace-building initiatives between nations,between religions and even within communities. I had ahunch that longboards could be used as a way to build rela-tionships and foster peace. I also knew that simply sharingthe joy of riding with as many people as I could reach would

add to my overall enjoyment of my visit. Many longboarderswould agree that spreading the stoke can be as much fun asthe act of riding. The photo above was taken in Jericho – anarea most Israelis don’t visit these days. While the politicsof the Middle East is highly complex, longboarding provedone of the best ways to simply put a smile on people’s faces.These kids had never ridden a skateboard before, yet within15 minutes they were rolling around, having a blast. Thesheer exuberance of both the Arab and Israeli kids mademe hopeful for the future.

Some might dispute that a deck with two trucks andfour wheels could be an instrument of peace. They can’tcomprehend or begin to understand the potential that alongboard represents. But we know Concrete Wave readersare different. We know you don’t just see the opportunitiesthat longboarding presents, you act upon them. On many ofthe beaches in Israel there is a sign written in Hebrew,English and Arabic. It states simply, “Go in peace.” Weheartily agree.

Enjoy the issue!Michael Brooke,

Publisher

LONGBOARDINGFOR PEACE

Arthur Rashkovan teaches in Sderot. Photo: Alice Martins

The 102-degree heat in Jericho did not dampen enthusiasm for longboarding.Photo: M. Brooke

42 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2012 CONCRETEWAVEMAGAZINE.COM

NOTEWORTHY >>P R O D U C T S , P E O P L E , E V E N T S

RONIN/GMR

Full Circle Distribution is proud to addtwo new brands to its offerings: RoninTrucks and GMR Boards. Ronin trucksare machined and assembled in Glen-dora, California. These bad boys breakspeed records around the world,including Mischo Erban’s recent Guin-ness World Record set at 80.74 mph!Madrid riders Zak Maytum, Max Dublerand Calvin Staub also ride and race onRonins. fullcircledistribution.com

PARISIntroducingthe world’s bestskate tool from yourfavorite truck company!This tool is strong, ultracompact and full of allthe vitamins and nutri-ents your nuts and boltsare looking for. It has sockets in 3/8”,1/2”, 9/16”, a #2 Phillips and 1/8” Allen Ltool. paristruckco.com

ARBORArbor has a newversion of theclassic pintail inthe skateboardlineup this year.The Mindstate isa drop-throughstyle skateboardthat brings youlower to theground for thecushiest ride yet.Four plies ofmaple and two layers of fiberglass makethis board a flexy carver and help todampen road vibrations. Arbor added bigwheel cutouts to the front so you can ridelarge wheels and roll over anything.Arbor Skateboards also added two addi-tions to their Icon Downhill Series: theProdigy and the Cypher. “We are reallyexcited to be delivering high-perfor-mance downhill skateboards,” says

Arbor’s marketing director, Brad Farmer.“We feel like we nailed it with the Cypherand Prodigy. When designing theseskateboards, we looked to our team, andthe functionality and performance thesedecks offer is a direct result of that.”arborcollective.com

EARTHWINGThe new Yoni Ettinger modelhas just been released. The8-ply is for serious DHfreestyle/sliding and the 7-ply for park riding. It has amild W concave so it feelsgreat charging in and out ofturns at speed for DH, and ithas a nose and tail made forreal street skating. Yoniinspires many, and this is amanifestation of that inspi-ration. He skates fast, heskates big, and this deckallows him to squeeze just alittle more out ofskateboarding.Also new are theEarthwing Grip-tonics. The core is as largeas the contact area, pro-viding the already perfecturethane with the support it needs towear correctly and perform the right way.This core was made for Griptonicswheels, and the performance is out-standing for versatile DH skateboarding.earthwingskateboards.com

DUBIOUSHere’s a ratherunique take ont r a d i t i o n a lwheels – the60mm x 44mmCNC-machinedaluminum rim and 66-82mm replaceabletires. Dubious Design believes every riderwants a board that makes a statementabout who they are. They offer standardand custom rims and tires for whateverkind of board you ride. The aluminumrims provide a durable and lightweightalternative to the typical urethane wheel;customized urethane tires can be madeto your exact requirements of durometerand profile. dubiousdesign.com

HOLESOM

Freshly minted Holesom team rider NoahSheffler rides their new deck, theSexkitten, along with their new pucks.The Kitten is a scaled-down version of theSexbomb and measures 36.25 incheslong. The pucks are packaged togetheras one set; green smells like Key Limepie and orange smells like Dreamsicle. Aportion of proceeds supports the LagunaBeach Animal Shelter. holesom.com

DIPSTICKThe Dipstick is a greatnew way to propelyourself while long-boarding. It can beused in many differentways because of itsunique design. Thespring-loaded actionhelps to propel therider and cushion the blows to the ground,making it rider-friendly. The custom roundfree-spinning wheel at the tip lets the rideruse his/her imagination while riding onmany different planes. It can be used to con-trol speed while going downhill and can bedeployed as an outrigger when going aroundcorners at high speed. dadipstick.com

TAHOEThe Pint from TahoeLongboards wasinspired from their love ofrunning ditches in So Caland week-long rompsthrough New York City’salleys and constructionzones. This true twin-tipboard is a great way tomake fun out of urbandecay. Optional techslider/pool rider setupalso available. The Pint,like all TLB decks, is handmade with pridein California. tahoelongboards.com

FUJITA

At 3.5 ounces, the Fujita Xtreme HD Actionvideo camera is the smallest actioncamera available. Easy to use with thepush of one button. Mount on a helmet orboard, bike and more. Three models avail-able: the 5-megapixel Bullet HDLiteHD/720; the 12-megapixel Bullet HD2HD/720; and the 20-megapixel Bullet ProHD/1080. Features include fisheye lensand built-in microphone. Includes allaccessories. fujitaxtreme.com

SWERVESwerve builds longboards usingBaltic birch and a variety ofpresses to give any shape youdesire. Their boards are com-pletely handmade and arecompletely customizable.Swerve Longboards wasfounded in 2012 in WestLafayette, Indiana, and hopes tosee you bombing some hills verysoon. swerveboards.com

LIGHT BOHRD

Light Bohrd longboards feature patent-pending LED technology to activate LEDlights to illuminate the board’s graphics.The technology is embedded in theboard, charges wirelessly and turns on bythe board’s motion. It will stay lit for sixhours. In daylight their standard and Pro-Series freeride and cruiser models standout with resilient graphics holding up towear and tear. At night, illuminatedgraphics look cool and provide for aunique and exhilarating experience.lightbohrd.com

Photo: Don Sheffler

FALL 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 43

RIDE, RUN N RECORD

A new app allows you to record your routeand see your stats: top speed, averagespeed, distance and time. Drop pins showyou the details within a few feet of yourroute on a Google Maps layout to keeptrack of where you were. With the Com-parison Button, overlay your newest run ontop of yours or a competitor’s last run tohelp you improve. Upload your route andfind new places using the online feature –see others’ favorite spots and their stats.Just open the app, name the run, lock thephone and go! Available for iPhone, iPodTouch and iPad, iOS 4.2 or later.

GOPRO

GoPro has just made it easier for peopleto capture professional-quality contentduring any activity. The company has offi-cially released its Wi-Fi BacPac™ + Wi-FiRemote Combo Kit, allowing people tocontrol multiple GoPro cameras at a timeusing either a smartphone, tablet or theincluded waterproof Wi-Fi Remote. Addi-tional features include live streamingvideo from GoPro cameras to smart-phones, tablets and directly to the Web.The waterproof and wearable Wi-FiRemote can control up to 50 GoPro cam-eras at a time from a range of 600 feet(180 m). gopro.com

MONSTER PAINT

Monster Paint is an easy-to-apply aerosolspray that seals and protects your deck. Itmeans that artwork stays beautiful whileyou’re able to have some actual grip on yourdeck. It takes up to 24 hours to cure and onecan grips up to five decks. Distributorsinclude vkskate.com and litezpeed.com.

TRACKERArtist and animatorJohn Lamb createdthe first surfinganimated cartoon,“Secret Spot,” in1973, and also thefirst skateboardinganimated cartoon,“ H i g h D r i v e , ”shown in Spinn’inWheels (1975). Johnwent on to win anAcademy Award in 1980 for Scientific &Technical Achievement in Animation. Johnwas also placed into the Rock and Roll Hallof Fame in 2011 with his cel from the TomWaits video “Tom Waits for No One.” Johncreated the art on this vintage retro line ofearly ’70s Tracker skateboards, pulling fromhis archive of images created back in theday. Tracker’s line of vintage retro skate-boards are built with the highest qualityaerospace aluminum and space-age heat-treated hardware. trackertrucks.com

ROAROCKITThe RoarockitS k a t e b o a rdCompany hasr e c e n t l yexpanded tomeet the needsof independentboard builders and classrooms aroundthe world. From the new RockitRuler(used to find the center line and aligntruck holes) to their popular SummerCamps and spacious new workspace inToronto, Roarockit continues to be theleader in the DIY skate/longboard com-munity. Also recently introduced is their1/16” solid birch veneers (not your lum-

beryard plywood), glue and high-densityfoam, plus – finally! – drastically cheapershipping rates to their USA customers!roarockit.com

AIRFLOW

Balance Master is designed by three-time Downhill Skateboard WorldChampion Martin Siegrist and consists ofa rubber ball and a board. In contrast tomost other products on the market, theBalance Master uses a ball, hence it rollsfreely in all directions. The deck featuresa unique triple core with a flat bottom anda concave standing platform for properboard feel when balancing. Six replace-able cushions eliminate noise whenfalling off the ball and avoid scratches onflooring. Riding a Balance Master willtake your balance to the next level andstrengthens feet, ankles, knees and core.airflow-skateboards.com

JELLY

Jelly Skateboards possess a tremendousflexing ability, which is made possible byusing high-impact engineering-gradematerials. By using cutting-edge mate-rials they are able to create a ratherunique riding experience. The result: Theflex of a snowboard meets the flow of asurfboard. jellyskateboards.com

VINTAGE SKATEROCKVintage Skaterock covers every piece ofmusic written, performed and/or waxedfrom 1960 to 1979 with any connection toskateboarding. The book comes with acomplete discography of all Skaterock

songs of that era, including all recorddetails, a review of each band/record/song,plus scans of the record covers and labels.vintageskaterock.de

LONGBOARDING FOR PEACEJeremy Wray, one ofthe Strategic Con-cepts roster ofartists, createdthis brand newlogo for ConcreteWave’s latest ven-ture. stcoin.com andindiegogo.com/longboardingforpeace

BABY ON (LOADED) BOARDCongrats toDiane andPablo Castroof LoadedBoards onthe birth oftheir secondson, Danilo,who wasborn July 1.

REGNIER HONORED

Congrats to Claude Regnier, who wasinducted into the Cornwall Sports Hall ofFame on August 11, 2012. Also, in June2012, Ottawa’s Dovercourt RecreationCentre named its skatepark after Claude.



Women’s Division1. Charlie Daigneault2. Elena Corrigall3. Nadine Fontaine

Juniors 14-17 yrs1. Jonas Richter2. Spencer Smith3 Aidan Lynds

Super Grom1. Quinn Dubois2. Kennan Macartney3. Jack Craddock

Young Masters (Age 30+)1.Jeff Budro2. Lee Cation3. Jose El Loco

BRITANNIA CLASSIC

The 5th Annual BritanniaClassic presented by HawgsWheels was a tremendoussuccess. The event was heldMay 25-27 in BritishColumbia, Canada, and had a$5,000 cash podium. Onehundred sixty top interna-tional riders shredded forthree days in dry, sunnyweather and enjoyed ourhalf-freeride and half-raceweekend format. The down-hill track is described bysome as “the best we have.”

Rebounding from hisbroken ankle at the 2011 Bri-tannia Classic, Kevin “K-Rimes” Reimereasily beat out defending 2011 champPatrick Switzer for the win. The big sur-prise of the weekend was 16-year-oldByron Essert of California taking thirdplace in his first visit to Canada. Bigthanks go out to Switchback Longboards,Landyachtz Skateboards and all ouramazing volunteers for all their support.Please check out our three-minute videofilmed by Hemstock Films and Sea to SkyCable Cam.

Open Division1. Kevin Reimer2. Patrick Switzer3. Byron Essert4. Dillon Stephens5. Nick Breton

I LOVE DOWNHILL RACEJune 23-24, 2012, Windham, N.Y.Finally, a Pro Race in the Northeast!By Tim Rafferty“Are you cold?” I ask young Daniel as westand outside the Cave Mountain BrewPub in Windham, New York.

“No,” he responds, despite the mild airtaking over the night. “This,” he states,pointing to a half-drunk 16-ounce bottle ofPepsi, but mocking the “gives me thechills” motion of shivering. We all chuckle.

Daniel is 16 years old and fromGuadalajara, Mexico. The climate wherehe’s from is summer always, hence mycuriosity. He is here racing for RayneLongboards and informs me it is hissecond trip to America.

There were plenty of thrills and spills,smokin’ sneakers and lots of action intothe hay bales. The nighttime slide jam wasa raucous event MC’d by Noel Korman ofthe Shralpers Union. The crowds lined thestreet, cheering all the sliders on. Everyonehad an awesome time soaking up thescene. Luke Ayata took a close first placeahead of Brian Bishop. The crowd did thejudging (loudest cheer).

The weather was perfect for the eventand everyone in attendance was ready forthe action. The street luge races proved tobe quite the action we were all craving. I hadnever seen a race in person before, and itwas absolutely insane to witness the actionof the riders screaming by, handling the cor-ners, braking and bracing for the finish line:1. David Dean • 2. Justin Crenshaw3. Christian Conaway

The Am race was on, and it wasthrilling to see the fun these folks werehaving. All took on the course with greatadmiration and gusto. A few minor tech-nical difficulties changed things up a bit,but none of us seemed to mind, and theresults for the Ams were as follows:

1. Nathan Ryan • 2. Alexis Labrecq3. Avery Wilcox

Women’s Division1. Cordelia Welch • 2. Monika Restrepo3. Nayhomi Cruz Ramos

The Pros were up next, and it was soincredible to see these folks race. All thefans were really cheering them on andgiving them all the support they could. Afew early eliminations left Patrick Switzerand Mischo Erban out.

The final race was down to JamesKelly, Alex Tongue, Benjamin Dubreuil andCharles Ouimet. Tongue proved to keephis strength and concentration up for thefinal leg of the race and took the win. Kellyfinished second and Dubreuil third.

All podium riders were rewarded with atrophy and a custom Bustin board with Surf-Rodz trucks. James Kelly proved why he isindeed the American Dream. Upon havingthe board handed to him, he seemed a bitconfused and said, “Really? Uh … OK …”Then he looked out into the crowd andasked, “Anyone want a skateboard?” A 16-year-old kid in front of me started jumpingup and down and yelling “ME, ME!” So Kellyquickly handed him the board. The kid waspsyched. Very classy move, James!

The raffle generated $800 for the Adap-tive Action Sports Foundation. Massiveamounts of hails and praise must go out toall the sponsors for their raffle prizes, time,dedication and money. Thanks to WindhamMountain for their exceptional hostingduties, and extra special thanks to MarcDean for organizing this race and finallygiving the Northeast what it has been sodesperately waiting for. All plans point toanother run next year, and we all talkedabout how great it would be if we couldhave more of these events at some of theother major ski areas in New England. (Payattention, Vermont – you’re on the radar!)

Dillon Jacobson leads Jordan Perrett.Photo: Paul Wright

And the winners are: Alex Tongue (1st), James Kelly (2nd) and Ben Dubreuil (3rd). Photo: Ryan Ganley

Kyle MartinPhoto: Paul Wright

of MCC’s El Salvador implementingagency. “Now we can do that in six hours.”

The competition, held prior to the roadopening to the public, provided spectatorswith an exhilarating and unique introduc-tion to MCC’s accomplishments innorthern El Salvador as its five-year,$460.9 million development compactnears completion. mcc.gov

IDSA IN SOUTH AMERICABy Jonathan StraussSouth America’s first push race sanctionedby the International Distance SkateboardAssociation (IDSA) was a huge success,with more than 150 skateboarders, menand women, from all over Colombia in pur-suit of a top prize of 1.5 million ColombianPesos ($800 US dollars).

Manuel E. Rivera, longtime skate-boarder and organizer of Push Colombia,managed to receive the support of themayor of Bogota and his program ofhealthy living, the Institute of Recreationand Sport (IDRD) and its program DUNTfor Urban Sports. Longboard Colombiaincluded the race as part of the annualFestival del Verano (Summer Fest).

This race brought skateboarders fromall over Colombia for a chance to be apart of history, as the sport is reallybooming – the community has tripled inthe last year.

The race was totally dominated, how-ever, by the 26-year-old they call“Yellow,” a.k.a. Angelo Zapata, who wonby nearly lapping every single competitoron his locally sponsored Sector 9 deck.Yellow not only has huge experience withlong treks on skateboards and bicycles

EL SALVADOR LONGBOARDINGPhoto courtesy of MCC

The Guachipilin Classic Downhill, a long-board event held on El Salvador’sLongitudinal del Norte Highway in July,helped showcase El Salvador’s bestskaters competing on the country’snewest stretch of highway. The adrena-line-fueled event was part of a larger effortby the Millennium Challenge Corporation(MCC), a U.S. Government foreign assis-tance agency, to help Salvadorans achievea long-standing dream of opening up thepoorer Northern Zone and connecting itwith the rest of the country.

The competition drew hundreds to theregion to watch more than 45 skatersfrom El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Ricaand the United States attain speeds of 50mph as they competed in open, noviceand junior categories. American profes-sionals Ross Druckrey and Micah Greenhighlighted the event, which saw skaterscompete on a three-kilometer stretch ofnewly paved road. Participants and spec-tators enjoyed shaved ice, traditionalpupusas and other food in between heats.

The course – nestled in the greenmountains of northern El Salvador – is asmall portion of the 220 kilometers ofroad and 23 bridges built or rehabilitatedby MCC. The new and improved roads willhelp spur regional trade and businessactivity throughout the region, helpingraise incomes for almost 800,000 peopleover the next 20 years. Events like theGuachipilin Classic Downhill are designedto boost tourism to the region. “Before,there was a total disconnect [between theNorthern Zone and other parts of thecountry], and it took over 12 hours totravel from the east to the west of thecountry,” said Jose Angel Quiros, the CEO

throughout all of Colombia, he is a hugeadvocate of adventure and outdoors. Theclincher of the weekend is that Yellowwas able to pay for his last semester ofcollege with the victory. As soon as he isdone with school, he wants to join theworldwide circuit in Push and Downhill.

Already approved for next year’s Fes-tival del Verano is an IDSA-sanctionedhalf-marathon skateboard race, whichwill take place in the first two weeks ofAugust.

RESULTSOpen:1. Angelo “Yellow” Zapata 2. Esteban Riaño3. Felipe Lopez

Women:1. Paula Catalina Fonseca2. Camila Avella3. Sandra Kabas

BAREKNUCKLE

The 2012 Yungas from Bareknuckle Long-boards is a fun board designed foraggressive streetstyle longboarding. Shortwheelbase, wide cutouts, topmount setup,mellow concave and camber turn theboard into a fun machine with vivid ridingbehavior. The 2012 “On Fire” edition comeswith handmade wooden intarsia graphicsand is available in soft and hard flex coredesign. bareknucklelongboards.com

POGO

The Titanal-Kevlar construction makes thenew Impala durable and stiff while giving ita vivid feel when being pushed hard. TheImpala comes with an endless amount ofwheelbase options ranging from 25.6" to31.3" with an overall length of 38". Themellow concave combined with a 1/2"rocker feels just perfect and makes it apleasure when you ride it barefoot. Long-distance pumpers' choice number one!pogo.biz

CORRECTIONSIn our previous issue, LiquidEmotion wasthe light-kit manufacturer used to light theboards in the night shot, not Light Bohrd.

In our previous issue, the photo captionedas Vincent Kitzhoefer actually showedanother young skater, Milos Salsbach.



Angelo "Yellow" Zapata leads the way.

More than 150 skaters competed for the 1.5 mil-lion Colombian Pesos prize.

Vincent Kitzhoefer Photo: Daniel Vogt


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. Ifyou’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 [email protected], 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, ship-ping is included. If you think your local shop or park should be carrying Concrete Wave, email [email protected].

SKATEBOARDSHOPS LIST

ARIZONASidewalk Surfer2602 N. Scottsdale Road Scottsdale [email protected] • www.sidewalksurfer.comCALIFORNIAIFYI Inc 1083 Bedmar Street Carson Board Gallery 3333 Newport Boulevard Newport Beach 714.902.3769Cellular Skate 6787 Carnelian Street Alta Loma 909.941.1004Mike McGills Skate Shop335 First Street Suite #S Encinitas 760.943.7730 Ollie Angel 235 Palm Avenue, Imperial Beach 619.575.7357Mike’s Bike Shop 5507 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles 323.935.4338Viva Skateboards 1709 Howard Road Madera 559.664.8997Bill’s Wheels Skateshop1240 Soquel Avenue Santa Cruz 831.469.0904Purple Skunk Purpleskunk.com5820 Geary Blvd. San Francisco 415.668.7905CCMF/Toyland 1260 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805-801-6653 [email protected] Trading Post 622 Upham Street San Luis Obispo 805.801.6653 [email protected] Old School Skate and Surf1001 Broadway Sonoma 707.938.5500 skatesos.comCellular Skate 287 Mountain Ave Upland Tel: 909.981.8856 [email protected] and Sons1415 Ocean Front Walk Venice Beach mauiandsons.comCOLORADOAll Board Sports 1750 30th Street Boulder 303.415.1600Diabolical Boardshop 4255 S.Broadway, EnglewoodCONNECTICUTSkate Pusher 57 McIntosh Drive Bristol 860.593.4550Skate Valencia 68 Leonard Street, Bristol 203.524.4675GEORGIAFeral 190 Park Avenue, Athens 706.369.1084Skate Madness 13800 Hwy. 9 N., Ste. D 145Alpharetta 770.410.3456 skatemadness.com Woody’s Halfpipe6135 Peachtree Parkway Suite # 603 Norcross LOUSIANABoard Lords Mall of Louisiana, 6401 Bluebonnet Blvd.Suite # 2044, Baton Rouge, 225.769.1222 MASSACHUSETTSBoardroom 6 Armory Street Northhampton413.586.8857MICHIGANOllies Skate Shop 120 ½ E Maumee Adrian517.265.2031Dubz Bikes and Boards14 North Washington,Suite A, Oxford, MI 48371

MINNESOTAOld School Skaters 1119 NW 2nd Street Faribault612.578.3326 www.oldschoolskaters.net MISSOURIGenesis Skateboarding 13 NW Barry Rd. #147 Kansas City816.456.1307 genesisskateboarding.comMONTANAWheaton’s 214 1st Avenue West Kalispell 406.257.5808 wheatonscycle.comBlackTop Surfshop176 5th Avenue West North Kalispell 406-752-6006NEW JERSEYBlack Diamond Skatepark 400 Route 38 Unit 1610 MoorestownNEW MEXICOKoa Nalu Surf Shop 8254 Menaul Blvd NEAlbuquerque 505-332-SURF koanalu.comTimeship Raicing 825 Early Street Suite H Sante Fe505.474.0074 timeshipracing.comNORTH CAROLINASoul Ride Skatepark 6049 Victory Lane Concord 704.454.7433soulrideskates.comWe’re Board Inc Skatepark and Shop 1423 North ChurchStreet, Ste 104 Burlington NC 27217OHIOOld Skool Skateboards19E College Avenue, Westerville [email protected] Uprise 1110 NW Van Buren Ave, Corvallis 541.754.4257 541.480.4254 thelongboardstore.comThe Longboard Store 1238 SW Wheeler Place Bend 541.480.4254 thelongboardstore.comDaddies Board Shop 7126 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland503.281.5123 daddiesboardshop.com Gorge Performance 7400 Southwest Macadam Avenue Port-land 503.246.6646The Mountain Shop 628 NE Broadway PortlandRip City Skate 1510 NE 37th Ave. Portland PENNSYLVANIARayzor Tattoos 4 South Front Street SteeltownRHODE ISLANDSeven.Ply 3 Canal Street Westerly 401.348.0656TENNESSEEPlanet Sk8 7024 East Church Street Suite 2 Brentwood 615.377.1947Sk8sations Skate Shop 3032 N.John B.Dennis Hwy. Kingsport423.245.0994 [email protected] 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

WASHINGTONGravity Sports 126 Rainier Ave South Renton 425.255.1874Mountain Goat Outfitters 12 W. Sprague Avenue SpokaneMotion Boardshop 8316 Aurora Ave N., Seattle, 206.372.5268motionboardshop.comALBERTAAvenue Skateparks9030.118 Avenue NW Edmonton 780.477.2149Easy Rider 4211.106 St., #153 Edmonton 780.413.4554Pipeline Surf Co 780.421.1575Comasports 10B-200 Barclay Parade SW 403.233.8841 powerinmotion.caRoyal Board Shop, 814 Edmonton Trail N.E., Calgary, Alberta403-277-3601 Royalboardshop.comBRITISH COLUMBIAArea 51 191 Station Street Duncan 250.746.8869 a51.caRaven Skate Shop 411 Campbell Street Tofino 250.725.1280ravenskateshop.caSalton Rides Saltholidays Island, BC 250.537.4984 [email protected] Longboards 4385B Boban Dr. Nanaimo 250.751. 7625ONTARIOHammer Skate Shop 2225 Queen Street East Toronto,416.698.0005Hogtown 401 King Street West, Toronto 416.598.4192McPhails 98 King Street North, Waterloo 519.886.4340QUEBECDLX/Deluxe 2480, chemin Ste.Foy Ste.Foy 418.653.0783 dlxdeluxe.comOVERSEASAUSTRALIABoardshop Australia — boardshop.com.au04 15883371 — [email protected] Sk8 — 95 Anne StreetAitkenvale, Queensland, 4814 AustraliaBRAZILUltra Series Skate ShopTel.:55(41)3023-2480 — ultraseriesskate.blogspot.comFRANCEhawaiisurf.comGERMANYseasondistribution.com, concretewave.deHackbrett Longskates Im Wechselfeld — 12 St. [email protected] — Gustavstrasse 49 90762Furth [email protected] — Tel: 0911 9772500

JAPANY & T Fussa Fussa — 2348 Fussa Fussa City — Tokyo — 1970011Clover Skateboard Shop — 1-21-3-1201 Befu JyounanFukuoka 8140104 — JapanITALYThe Skateshop via A. Grossich 11, 20131 Milano [email protected] ph: 0039 (02) 706 019 71Turtle Surf Shop via Mazzini,1 , 17051 Andora (SV), ITALYNETHERLANDSSickboards Marcelisstraat 80b, 2586RX Scheveningen, The Netherlands, 31-70-7533548. Sickboards.nlNEW ZEALANDSerenity Island Surf & Skate Café 202a Wainui Road — Gisborne — serenityisland.comUltimate Boards7 Wagener Place, St. Lukes, Auckland, 1025, New Zealandultimateboards.co.nzUKoctanesport.comskateboardsofchoice.co.ukBath, United Kingdom — Tel: + 44 1249 715811Sk8s Go — General Juan Cano 40 — Colony San MiguelChapultepec — Mexico, D.F 52-55-58132448Soul dh Alameda Picaflores — 245 San Borja — Lima 41 — PeruSkate of the Nation — Unit 6 GYY Building # 1 Tomas Morato1100 — Quezon City, Metro Manila, PhilippinesIndiana Sports GmbH — Elbestrasse 14 — Wald, 8636Switzerland — Contact: Christof Peller

ON.LINE RETAILERSallboardsports.comdaddiesboardshop.comffashop.comgenesisskateboarding.comlongboardskater.comlongboardshop.delongboardstore.comlongboardskater.commotionboardshop.commuirskate.comoldschoolskates.netpressuredroplongboards.comsickboards.nlsidewalksurfer.comsk8supply.comsocalskateshop.comtactissk8.comtailtap.comvslboardshop.com


OttawaLongboarding:

TURNING COMMUNITY INTO CULTURE BY JOEY BIDNER


THE OTTAWA LONGBOARD COMMUNITYThe Ottawa longboard community has a vibrant anddynamic culture. We not only have a great group of riderswith a wide selection of hills and spots to skate, but overthe years we have worked together to promote a culturebased on positively spreading the stoke of the sport. Thisincludes how to keep a spot from getting blown out, howto appropriately deal with cops and authority and how topositively and peacefully fight for our right to skate wherewe deserve. Every community deserves a longboard cul-ture like this. We hope our example inspires you to formyour community into a culture.

HOW IT STARTEDThe start of our community began in the summer of2009 when a group of us in Ottawa realized that oneaspect was missing from the equation to turn ourgroups into a culture. At the time the only way locallongboarders got together was via the “Who wants toride on Saturday” thread on Ontario Longboard Forum.This was OK, but for the newcomer, it was a bit intimi-dating to approach what seemed to be a buddy session.

We realized that we needed a consistent weekly ses-sion that would be organized for the best interest of thewhole community, not just a part of it. This meant notjust doing sessions that catered to our own ride styles,but making time for every ride style. We created a Face-book page called “Sunday Ottawa longboard sessions,”which over time turned into the group “Ottawa Long-board Community.” On this page, we would organizebeginner sessions, push cruises, DH, dancing, freeride,freestyle, longboard garbage cleanups, late-night ses-sions, parking garage rides, photo shoots and annualraces. We took the time to find a place for everybody andanybody. This is what began the open longboard com-munity we have today.

With the amount of attentionToronto receives, you might thinkit is the capital of Canada.However, I can assure you it is not.The capital city of Canada is in factOttawa, and as you will soondiscover, it’s a truly incredibleplace to longboard. ConcreteWave spent a weekend getting toknow a little bit about thisremarkable place. We hung out ata slide jam and participated in a20-km race around the city. Wecan’t say enough great thingsabout this place and its veryhospitable longboarders. – Ed.

Major's Hill bomb spot is not only epic and scenic; it also has a boul-dering wall. What more could a longboarder want? Leading the packhere are Alex Charpentier, Alex Parent, Joey Bidner, Dale Buchana,Andreas Janse and Alex Harper. Photo: Margot Strangemaggie Paul


TURNING A COMMUNITY INTO A CULTUREThe definition of a culture is “a system of shared beliefs,values, customs, and behaviors that the members ofsociety use to cope with their world and with oneanother.” Turning a community into a culture is the ulti-mate goal. Becoming part of a culture is not somethingyou can fabricate; it calls for appropriate timing, theappropriate people and ideals in mind created by yoursituation and surroundings. Once the communitybegins to work together in shaping the local and globalscene, a culture is born.

Bringing people together and developing our cultureis something that happened quite spontaneously for usin Ottawa. The first piece of this important puzzle goesback six years, around the time I started my longboardcompany, Bohdana Longboards. Soon this passion forbuilding boards turned into a passion for building a com-munity. (The two really go hand in hand. Anybody startinga small local brand should seriously try to become a vitalpart of their community.) Having a company organizingthe sessions gave the more serious riders motivation tojoin a session and keep coming back. Coming to a ses-sion meant more than just riding; each person could testboards, give feedback and spit ideas. This sprouted thefeeling of being part of something.

Even though I may not have used every idea, I alwaysencouraged people within the community to speak theirmind about my boards and the industry we were in. Moti-vating people is what a community is really about. Throughthe company, people found their voice and a place in thescene. This was the catalyst in the equation that broughtour community together and that would result in thebeginning of a culture. A community turns into a culturewhen the people within it have a helping hand in shapingand changing their community and surroundings.

Once we were established as a community, we foundthat there were issues within our society in acceptinglongboarding. Tackling these issues is where our com-munity really came together and turned into somethingmuch more than just riding as a group.

TURNING CONFLICT POSITIVEIt is no secret that longboarding is still not sociallyaccepted. Every day you hear about longboarders get-ting ticketed, disrespected and banned from places toride. From the public’s eye, it’s pretty obvious why wemight not be accepted. We seem unpredictable; wehave no visible brakes and no visible signals. Of coursewe do have ways to brake and signal, but the publicoften isn’t aware of them.

It takes mutual understanding, respect and com-munication for our sport to become accepted for whatit really is. This is something we voice to the communityat every session. It’s been amazing to see not only thetransformation of the individuals within the community,but also the response from our society.

Getting longboarding accepted in your city is some-thing you can do every day when you ride. First, it beginswith how you handle yourself in a conflict situation. Noteverybody understands what we are doing, and this iswhy pedestrians and cops might give us flak. Our firstinstinct might be to lash back, say “f-- the system” andtake a defensive stand. This is absolutely the wrongapproach. If you forever want to be in conflict with thesystem, by all means go ahead and satisfy your ego, butif you honestly want to see longboarding move up andbe seen as a real alternative, respect is the first step. Allit takes is a bit of kindness to that person telling you off,and their minds can instantly become changed aboutour sport entirely.

Eric Chernushenko, an 18-year-old Ottawa long-boarder, explains his experience with this concept: “I’velearned just how much of a difference being polite andcourteous to other people makes,” he says. “Manypeople don’t understand our sport, so we are oftenapproached by people in a hostile manner. By simplysmiling and waving, I’ve seen many people’s faces go

from indignant rage to surprise and curiosity. Becauseof our polite attitude, we often find ourselves beingwatched by dozens of curious pedestrians and home-owners. Sometimes they even take out cameras andask us if they can take pictures!”

The results of this approach have been amazing tosee. There were many spots in Ottawa that we wereconstantly getting kicked out of. Once we started leavingrespectfully with smiles while waving to the cops tohave a nice day, they began to lighten up and actuallyallowed us to skate! The word moved around, and even-tually cops all over the city were taking our sport muchmore lightly and respectfully.

The effect was not lost on the riders, either. ColeCooper, 13, who recently joined our community, says hehas benefited from riding in our group: “I have learnedsafety and how to respect the roads and people as Iskate,” he says. “More importantly, I have learned how todeal with police politely and how to not blow out a spot.”

DON’T FIGHT THE SYSTEM – USE IT!The next step was how to get through to the systemabout really changing laws about our sport. We alreadyhad a big community of levelheaded individuals on thesame page about positively promoting our sport; all weneeded was a little bit of organization to really make themuch-needed positive change.

Not too long ago, the city banned longboarding atour most cherished spot, “Major’s Hill,” because of theinsane amount of activity on the downtown section ofthe bike path. This really kicked us into gear to get thespot back. Upon first hearing about the ban, many long-boarders were angry; they raised their fists to go protestto fight for our spot back.

But with a lot of reasoning, I managed to talk thecommunity out of this approach. Meeting such a situa-

The Ottawa community after an annual outlaw race. Photo: Kayla Marok

Ottawa's 9-year-old Tristan Bell at Maryhillwith Mischo Erban. Photo: Brian D. Kroll


tion with anger never resolves anything – just as tellingoff a security officer who has no say in making the rulesdoes absolutely nothing but worsen the situation.Rather, we first had to realize why the city closed thespot to us. It was not because of injuries; there neverwere any. It was simply because they didn’t know andunderstand the culture we have. The city officials werenot aware that for years we have been working as agroup to teach longboarders how to respectfully handlethemselves on the road. Rather, they saw us as roguelongboarders riding as individuals, taking advantage ofa sweet spot. Miguel Olivier, one of our communityorganizers, says the misunderstanding betweenauthorities and longboarding stems from “the lack ofsociety’s education on the sport.”

So our first move was to educate them. We beganthe process of registering our group as a not-for-profit organization, to give us some legitimacy to stepinto a place of professionalism and speak our mind.We then contacted the officials of the National CapitalCommission (NCC) and set up a meeting to discussour situation and how we wanted to use our group tovoice the rules of riding in the streets to longboarders.This alliance has dropped laws against longboardersand the result is smarter, safer longboarders. Soeverybody wins.

“We can gain acceptance and understanding withcommunity outreach, open discussions with the localgoverning bodies and constant education about safety toour riders,” Miguel says, and his words have come true.Just recently we had the final meeting with the NCC, andthey are allowing us to ride Major’s Hill again! This provesthat with patience and understanding it is possible tochange how people see and accept our sport.

Here is the tip of the day to get the ball rolling: Whendiscussing these issues with government bodies, theylove to see that you have made a “risk managementanalysis” dealing with your current situation and put inplace a “code of conduct” to solve the issues. You wouldnot believe how helpful it is to know the proper termi-nology when showing your ideas.

RULES OF THE ROAD!An easy way you can positively promote your sport everyday is to respect the rules of the road. Drivers seeing yousignal and stop at stop signs will then be able to gaintrust in driving alongside longboarders. We need toaccept that we can get a ticket just like a person in a caror on a bike can. This is part of the respect that we aretalking about – respecting that we are a part of the rulesystem. Just as people in cars need to wear a seat belt,longboarders need to wear a helmet. Cars need to signaland stop at stop signs; so do we.

You may ask, is it worth it to follow the rules and be apart of the system? Many of us chose longboardingbecause of its freedom. But no matter how we chooseto express ourselves, we cannot turn our back on oursociety and system; we must work with them. This waywe can find our own ways to be ourselves within them.I’m not saying you have to become a “granny driver” ona longboard. We all know the sport is about expression,so when the street is empty we must slide across it andtake control of the urban jungle!

OTTAWA’S HOT SPOTSWe’re quite blessed in Ottawa to have a real variety ofpristine longboard terrain. We are situated on the Cana-dian Shield, one of the world’s oldest mountain ranges.With 570 million years of erosion, they are not the talltowers they used to be, but they still have the wisdomand experience any old legend would. We’re not onlylucky to have the hills, but Ottawa is one of Canada’s bestbike cities. This means we’re plastered with amazingbike paths and, for the most part, understanding drivers.The city also closes full roads on Sunday for cyclists andlongboarders to enjoy the open road.

One of our greatest treasures is Gatineau Park.Ottawa is just a step away from the Quebec border, andonly 20 minutes from downtown is the home of ourbiggest DH in this natural conservation park. The hillsare big, perfectly paved and closed to cars every Sundayfor cyclists and longboarders to enjoy! They are alsoclosed to cars full time from October to May. This leavesa bit of time before and after the snow to go crazy. AlexCharpentier, 18, says, “The hills are really scenic. You’rein the middle of nature with nothing but these big,sweeping hills. It’s like the scariest bliss you can findyourself in.”

We used to get busted out of the Gatineau parkbecause, like many, they didn’t understand where wewere coming from. So we organized a meeting with theNCC of the park to explain our group and how wewanted to work together in voicing the concerns of thepark to the longboarders . In turn, we could ride in har-mony with everybody in the park, resulting in a sharedenvironment. We took the responsibility to voice theconcerns of the park to the longboard community andasked for everybody to respect them. From then on, wehave been blessed to be able to ride the park every Sat-urday and Sunday morning while it is closed to cars.

IT TAKES MUTUALUNDERSTANDING,RESPECT ANDCOMMUNICATION FOROUR SPORT TO BECOMEACCEPTED FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS.

“

Joey Bidner, Bohdana Longboards owner andOttawa community organizer, hard at work.Photo: Jordan Langdon


The NCC is so happy with our cooperation thatthey’re allowing us to have a full DH race in the park onthe fastest section. This is a big step for our scene. Thiskind of cooperation means more than just a race. TheNCC of the Gatineau park is looking to help longboardinggain recognition in the area by having these events. Eachyear we will work toward making a bigger and betterevent to spread the word of our sport and our coopera-tion with official organizations. This kind of cooperationwith government bodies is truly a step forward in long-board culture. We hope to take this approach in dealingwith many other issues relating to the acceptance oflongboarding in our society. The Gatineau Park DH racewill be held November 3, so be sure to add it to your listof official events to hit this season.

Every week our community hits new and differentspots, but we are lucky to have a handful of iconic stablespots. Major’s Hill is one of them. This amazingly steephill sits right downtown across from Parliament, over-looking the Ottawa River, and is the home of a sessionalmost every day of the week. At any time, longboarderscan post on the Facebook group wall that they are goingto ride Major’s, and people are bound to show. It is anepic spot with beautiful scenery, easy to get to, and evenhas a natural bouldering wall! What more could a long-boarder ask for!

Ottawa is filled with small residential neighborhoodsplastered with hills. These areas are ideal because oflow traffic and unique terrain. Many of the roads inthese residential areas don’t follow the typical grid pat-tern of urban layout; thus they give you sweeping turns,hairpins and C-driveways. If you’re in Ottawa, check outneighborhoods like Rockcliffe, Orleans, Gloucester orSandy Hill. You won’t regret it.

HOW TO KEEP THE COMMUNITY VIBRANTKeeping a strong and balanced community can be hardwork. Often a scene can become introverted. Much likea high school clique, newcomers may feel intimidatedby a tight-knit social group. This is an important issueto remember when becoming part of a communitybecause it happens completely unintentionally. Justorganizing unique sessions is not enough to make new-comers truly feel welcome. It is up to each individualwithin the community to constantly invite and motivatethe new longboarders.

When somebody new comes to a session, it’s impor-tant not only to introduce him or her to everybody, butif they’re of a lower skill level, to mentor them for a ses-sion or two. It can be intimidating for a newcomer to seethe whole group hike to the top of a hill when he or shemight not be able to. Having somebody to start halfwayup the hill with them will boost their confidence andhelp them feel like they are really being accepted by thegroup. Carlos Lascoutx, a vibrant community member,says, “People are very friendly in the Ottawa scene. Theyare willing to help out and teach each other. Every timewe meet up with a longboarder, we ask them, ‘Hey, doyou want to come out riding?’”

Hannah Sykes, 13, says she’s experienced that kindof welcoming attitude: “I love how everyone is so nice. Iremember when I was at a session in Chelsea; a lot ofpeople were trying to help me do a 180 Coleman slide.It was so great to have people that were helping me.”

The responsibility also falls on the session organ-izer. Every community has its regulars, and the regularsoften want to ride the same style of sessions, pushingtheir own limits. This pressure is inevitable; but it isimportant to keep in mind those who are not yet in thescene and to continue organizing sessions that appealto newcomers, like beginner clinics or a push cruise.This is the only way for the door to stay open.

LOCAL SHOPSIt’s essential for every scene to have supportive shops.Some of us are lucky enough to have skate shops thatreach out to the community. Most core skate shops havebeen so devoted to the skate industry that there is actu-ally a lot at risk when looking to become involved with thelongboard scene. It sounds odd, but there is still sometension between skaters and longboarders, and shopowners are worried about tarnishing their “core” skatevibe by supporting the longboard movement. In Ottawawe are lucky to have a really supportive skate shop, Topof the World. They sponsor just about every race we setup, they stock locally built boards as well as a lot of coregear, and they help promote events and sessions.

If you are not so fortunate as to have such supportiveshops in your community, it’s up to you to gain theirattention! Anybody within their longboard communitycan turn the minds of shop owners to start working withthe community. This will not only bring recognition inthe community, it will stoke the community up by

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?FIND YOUR COMMUNITY ANDBECOME A VOICE WITHIN IT.

Ottawa freestyle genius Jordan Montoya.Photo: Kaelen Walsh


knowing they’re supported by something tangible.Eric Dionne, one of the owners at Top of the World,

agrees. “Longboarding is the fastest-growing categoryin skateboarding over the past couple of years,” he says.“Longboards have opened up skateboarding to a wholenew demographic that wasn’t necessarily into doingtricks and rippin’ a skatepark. At Top, we have recog-nized this demand and have opened our doors to thiscommunity. Even though some ‘core’ skate shops arenot embracing the demand for longboards, we recog-nize skateboarding on every level. The longboardcommunity is very involved, organized and demandsmany different products for cruising, freeriding anddownhill. Because of the demand, we have expandedour longboard shop and continue to learn and grow withthe sport. Top plans on continuing to grow with the sportand to continue being more and more involved directlywith the longboard community with events, sponsor-ship and social media.”

THE GODFATHERIf there is one person who can claim he was there at thebeginning, it’s Claude Regnier. Claude has been activein the Ottawa skate scene since the 1980s, and he’salways been proud to represent Canada and especiallyOttawa. He’s competed in countless slalom competi-tions, run summer skate programs and even operateda number of skateparks. Now that the scene is evolvingand longboarding is carving its own path, I asked him

about what makes the place so special. “You can reallyenjoy all kinds of skateboarding,” he says, adding, “Weare so close to the Quebec border – it’s a 10-minuteskate.” Ottawa is a fully bilingual city (English andFrench), and the diversity of skating you’ll find hereseems to mirror the city’s rich history and culture.

THE GROMSAn important piece of a community is the involvementof the younger generation of riders. Because long-boarding is in general more accessible thanskateboarding, you find more young riders getting intothe sport. We noticed right from the start that the gromshave all the potential in the world due to their fearlessnature, but many were still a bit intimidated to joingroup rides. So it was really important for us to makebeginner sessions and slide clinics for these youngguns to feel like the sesh was made for them. Having acommunity and some mentors is vital for these youngriders. As Cole Cooper says, “Being in the group helpsme set goals and learn new tricks. It makes me feelmore connected to the people around the city I normallywouldn’t be friends with.”

Most often, however, it’s the parents who arenervous about leaving their kids with a bunch of olderskaters to take their golden children into the streets. Sowe always warmly invite parents to join the sesh, orsimply reassure them that their kids are in good handsand that we take that responsibility seriously. JustinBell’s 9-year old son, Tristan “Bellaboy” Bell, is cur-rently racing on the IGSA circuit, and Justin says heappreciates the help and support that people in theOttawa longboard community have shown Tristan:“Without all of this, my son would not have had theguidance to be where he is today,” Justin says. “Withthe group in place, it also gave me the security as aparent that my son was in good hands.”

When a grom comes to a sesh for the first time, itis really important to be his or her mentor and to

show him or her to how to progress safely. All it takesis one bail and that kid’s parent may never let theirkid ride with the group again! Hannah Sykes sayssuch sessions have helped her: “I’ve learned to focuson my own longboard skills and not be unhappy justbecause some people are better than me. I love it nomatter what!”

FROM THE LOCAL COMMUNITY TO THE GLOBAL COMMUNITYThe longboard community cannot stop at your citylimits. It is important to do what you can to inspire com-munities all over the world. A year ago I created alongboard spot-finder app to help bring communitiesand longboarders together. This free iPhone, Androidand Web app allows longboarders to post spots basedon rider type, difficulty level, pavement conditions andtraffic level. This allows longboarders to explore in theirareas to find new hills that cater to the style they’relooking to ride.

The main feature of the app that helps organize ses-sions is that you can link any spot or event in an externalWeb page. So if you are creating a session on your localforum or Facebook page, simply copy/paste the link theapp provides; when users click the link, whether they’reon their computer or their phone, they will be broughtto your spot on the app. No more using Google Maps toreference your spot!

You can also post your community. In a “communityspot,” you can add the link to your community’s organi-zational forum or Facebook page. This will allowlongboarders who are not aware of the community toget in touch with it.

And if you are worried too many longboarders aregoing to find your secret spots and you want to justbring your buddies together, you can post a private spotthat only your Facebook friends can see. Download the“Longboard Spot Finder” on iPhone or Android, or useit online at longboardcommunity.org. CW

Louis David Plouffe, Ben Phillips and Jeff Reich at aSunday morning session at Gatineau Park. Photo:Margot Strangemaggie Paul

A tight group of riders gets ready to rail a left-handeron Major's Hill with Parliament in the background.Photo: Margot Strangemaggie Paul


An Urban BY DAN SCHWARTZ

When I left the West for the East Coast, Iwas convinced I’d left anything shockingor significant 2,500 miles away, torn and

bitter like a bad breakup. What was I doing: Idahofor Providence? Peaks for parking meters? Skiingfor … what?

It wasn’t an easy trade-off. The past five years,I’d been in training as a wilderness guide. In Ver-mont, during the earlier years, I met the cold — thattype of temperature that crawls up your frame andrattles your jaw loose. When you’re skiing in it, onthose bitter days, your teeth stick together, andwhen you’re climbing in it, your hands turn to blocksof wood. That was my classroom for most of myeducation.

Then I left for Idaho, and that’s when I met themountains. They were big, far bigger than anythingI was used to. On their peaks, the world seemed sofar away. Skiing down those suckers sometimestook hours. And in a storm, a whiteout, you oftenfelt like you were in space. In those conditions, you’dwobble on your skis, drunk from vertigo.

And you quickly got into trouble. The thresholdbetween thrill and kill was so thin. But all of it wasso important to me. All that pain and fear andbeauty — it stripped the fat from my life. It vali-dated my existence.

Now I’m in Providence, sitting at my computer,telling you our story – well, mostly theirs. I supposeI should start with Alex. He’s my younger brother.We grew up just across the Providence, R.I., borderin Rehoboth, Mass., a small, semi-rural town.Really, a rather bland place, so as kids we oftenplayed in the woods. During that time, neither of uswere addicts; Alex hadn’t found longboarding, and Ihadn’t really found skiing.

But when Alex was 15, I came home onesummer from Vermont. He was doing somethingstrange in our driveway. He had this long board withtrucks and wheels, and he was crossing his feet

Hoping for an early thaw, JP Preussscans the horizon in Idaho.

Photo: Dan Schwartz


over from bow to stern, stern to bow as he rolled upand down the driveway. He called it dancing.

But it didn’t really start for them, Alex said, untilearly that fall. Alex, Sam Douglass and Cooper Dar-quea — the three of them inseparable when theywere that age — were bored over vacation, the kindof boredom that often dragged them to the Xbox orto the woods to do things the parents didn’t like.

One day, Alex showed up with the neighbor’slongboard, and the three of them took it to thenearest development. One would take the boarddown a hill; the other two would watch. They did thisfor a few weeks.

Also around this time, they discovered the AdamColton/Adam Stokowski videos. When I was up inVermont, Alex would send me an inbox full of them.

And when I came home that summer, Alex sat me infront of my dad’s computer, and we’d watch handfulsof these videos in single sittings.

Perhaps it was that vicarious tug from thevideos, or maybe it was having to share that oneboard; but several months later, both Alex andSam got their own longboards — and not longafter that, Cooper got his.

After that winter and into that summer, they losttheir interest in the Rehoboth developments. Theyjust weren’t enough. The three were growing up, andRehoboth pavement was becoming golden summermemories. So they took to Providence, the closestcity — their next obvious option. If it weren’t for Prov-idence, Alex said, they’d still just be little kids pokingaround on their longboards on rural streets.

And to me that makes sense. My fourth and lastsummer in Vermont was the same way. That winterI’d torn my ACL skiing a stupid cliff line, and beingcrutch-bound, hobbling through deep snow acceler-ated my urgent desire to get the hell out. I knew I’doutgrown Vermont.

So three months after the surgery, I startedtraining hard. Six months after that, I left for my ownexpedition to Alaska.

There, bouncing around base camps in the com-pany of six other climbers for a month, I found myProvidence. It was an austere place, glacial and blueand jagged and violent. At night, the mountains wouldspit down rock and ice. Death from above, we calledit. It was a big deal.

Moving base camp one day, we were headed tograb the last load of our old camp. We were ropedtogether in teams of three and four, eight arm spansbetween the climbers in each team (the idea being ifanyone fell into a crevasse — a people-eating cleft inthe glacier – the other two or three in the rope teamwould catch them before they fell too far to recover).

Tied together like that, you’re not very agile. Andwhen climbing up a steep field of scree and boulderswith dirt as the only mortar, things tend to loosen

Alex Schwartz takes time to contemplate. Photo: Sarah Schwartz

Alex (green flannel), Sam Douglass and Cooper Darquea chargingin Rehoboth, Mass. Photo: Sarah Schwartz

Alex and Cooper slip and gripthrough a 90-degree bend.Photo: Dan Schwartz


up, especially in Alaska. Death from above, remember.So I was noodling my way up at the end of the team,

my new ACL screaming at me, when the head of theteam slipped and backed up against a boulder.

He began screaming.“Rock! Rock! Rock!” he yelled. “Big rock!”My helmet was cocked across my eyes, so I had to

crane my head and lean back away from the mountainto see it. It was airborne and it was big, the size of amini-fridge, just seconds above me, floating off the faceof a cliff. Around it orbited a galaxy of smaller rocks. Ifelt like a meteor was bearing down on me.

Before it touched down, I rolled behind a sloped rockwall. The big boulder tore down past me, the groundthundered with violence and little stones ricocheted offmy helmet and back.

When I returned to Vermont, my friend Kayla saidshe could see the mountains in my eyes — said she sawsome sort of change in myface. Perhaps she saw theway I looked through thingsback in Vermont. Maybeshe saw in me what I’dseen in Alaska: a worldmuch greater than me, acommunity much largerthan me, a force that nearlyconsumed me.

In May, Cooper left forhis own expedition to Cali-fornia, where he skatedwith some of the Loadedand Orangatang team.When he returned, when Iwas back home from Idaho,there was a look in his facethat reminded me of thatboulder. He’d seen it, too.

“A lot of people wouldjust say [it’s about] chasing adrenaline,” said Cooper.“To me, it’s a whole lot more than that because it’s thepeople, it’s the community, it’s everyone that you meet.It wouldn’t be the same if it was just skateboarding.”

But still, a lot of people look at them as if they’recrazy. “People just constantly say, ‘Oh, it’s dangerous.’But so is everything else in the world,” he said. “It’s allcalculated risks.”

I told him the same was true for my side of it. I said, “I getthat with skiing and climbing. ‘Why are you going out there?’people say; ‘There’s a couch and a TV at home for you.’”

But how can they know if they haven’t seen? And howcan they see if their cable package doesn’t show them?But of course it’s not on the TV. It’s in the eyes of yourfriends; it’s how they carry themselves after it, how theycompose their faces, how things are so small after-wards. And Cooper knows that.

“I’m a whole lot better at finding a mutual connectionbetween human beings,” he said, “even if they’re not a

skateboarder. I’ve found something that resonatesbetween us.”

Sometimes this can create a rift, however. In earlyJune, the three of them graduated from high school,and the night before graduation, the school held adinner. It was a preppy thing at a snooty country club,and nearly everyone wore jackets and dresses. Late intothe dinner, Alex and Cooper and several other studentswere called up to the head of the room.

A small speech was to be said about each of them.As Cooper was being anointed by his speech — trivialand domesticated little things from his childhood — Iwatched him. He was out of place. This wasn’t him. Hewas being pulled from another direction. Everything inthe room seemed so contrary to who he was becoming.

And the same was true for Alex, though he’s headed inanother direction. In late August, he’s leaving for college.So is Sam; though he’s long since been pulled off his board

by the complexities and tragedies of his late teenage years,and that has pulled him from the Providence Crew.

Cooper, though, is probably headed to California.Already he skates for Loaded Boards, OrangatangWheels and Clutch Skateboards.

It’s a tender and transient time in their lives. They’releaving each other — and they’re leaving the streets thattaught them fear and beauty and community. Soon, all thatwill be left are those warm summer memories that theymade between high school classes and summer vacation.

For Alex, there was one night on Thayer St. thathe won’t forget. It was a Friday, 11:30 p.m., and hewas with Sam and Cooper. They were biding theirtime observing the strange, hipster nightlife that fes-ters on Thayer St.

Then they picked up and left for the mouth of theEast Side Trolley Tunnel, a bus tunnel that windsbeneath the city. They were about to do something real.

It was an act of premeditated mischief, Alex said;

everyone waiting outside for their bus knew it. Theywere three kids with longboards outside a bus tunnel –what the heck else were they there to do?

When the bus finally came, everyone loaded on to itexcept those three. When it pulled into the mouth of thetunnel, the three pulled in after it, away from all thatstreet light and Friday nightlife. Inside the tunnel, thebus rolled away until its red, glaring eyes faded. It wasjust the three of them.

The deeper they went, the quieter it became; it evenmuffled their slides. And it was dim. They’d splash throughorbs of light from the ceiling and oil and grime on the pave-ment. “We were in our own little bubble,” Alex said.

Just before they shot out the end, the tunnel startedgrowling behind them. Headlights followed, and thenthey were out on the sidewalk in the cool night air. Thenthe monster ripped out by them and into the city.

Alex downplays the act’s significance, but he did say thatsince then, he’s much more comfort-able skating in traffic. He’s verymodest, anyway.

Cooper’s most defining memorywas at 4 a.m. one morning in Provi-dence, when that blue pre-dawn huewas starting to creep into the sky. Ithad been on his mind for a fewweeks — that hill on Angel St. — andpushing there from his house onlytook him eight minutes.

It was an eerie time, he said, whenthe city wasn’t a city. There were nocars, and the birds were just waking.Only the drunk and nefarious wereout on the streets, but still, they stayedaway from Angel. That morning,Angel was entirely Cooper’s.

“Scientists say that when youhave a really adrenaline-filledmoment, and you try and come

back to it, you think of it in slow motion,” said Cooper,and that’s how he recalled it.

“I can remember every moment,” he says: those firstfew botched and bashful runs, then standing up top one lasttime and pushing off. He remembers snapping through thatintersection –40 mph — thundering over the bricks that linethe crosswalk there; he was floating. It was sublime, he said.

“Since then,” said Cooper, “I’ve felt that I’ve just beengetting better and better at skateboarding. That was thekey that opened up a lot of doors.”

Those are the memories that define a place. WhenAlex and Sam leave for college, and if Cooper makes itout to California, those are the things that will float intheir minds when they are lonely and scared. Those arethe things they know as home.

And for me, though I’ve spent more time in the moun-tains than I have the streets, hearing their stories mademe realize that we all share this home together because,after all, they’re all made up of the same things. CW

Alex and Cooper hit the grave-yard run. Photo: Sarah Schwartz


RIDER PROFILE >> Backside air at the Tel Aviv Skatepark.


Iremember when Brian Petrie of Earthwing Skateboardssent me the email. “I have seen the future,” he wrote,“and his name is Yoni Ettinger.” I was intrigued and won-

dered what the future might be. When I took a peek at some of theshots and videos of Yoni on his 40” longboard, I soon realized thatYoni Ettinger, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, more than 7,500 miles fromHuntington Beach, could indeed be the future of longboarding.

“I’ve been skating street for over 20 years,” Yoni says. “Last year Ihappened to be on YouTube and watched a video of Sector 9’s JeremyPeckham. He got me hooked and inspired me to blend street skatingwith longboards.” Israel does not have a huge number of shopsselling longboards, so it took some time to locate an appropriate deck.Yoni finally found a site and received his product. In a strange twist offate, he broke one of the two boards he had purchased and wound uptrying to contact Earthwing directly. “I called Brian directly and askedif had more decks. He then viewed my video and was amazed.” Withina few weeks, Yoni was a pro rider for Earthwing.

“From the start, I was always a technical skater. I have done verywell in games of SKATE,” says Yoni. “But taking tech moves anddoing them on a longboard is very challenging. However, I feel like akid again.” Yoni is a powerful, fluid skater who combines style withtech. At 35, he looks like he could pass for 25. When we toured thevarious skateparks of Israel together, it was amazing to see howmany folks knew him. He was always ready to lend a hand and sharethe stoke with everyone.

Still, bringing street moves to longboarding was not as smooth atransition as one might think. “At first people were laughing,” Yonirecalls. “My body took some time to adjust to things. Eventuallypeople realized that it was just as core as street skating.”

Yoni realizes it can be hard for skaters to get outside of the boxesthey put themselves in, but says, “I know why I do this. For me, it hasreignited the passion I have for skateboarding.” As time has pro-gressed, Yoni’s skating style has gained both acceptance and apassionate following.

“I’ve been teaching skateboarding for 12 years and seen whatskateboarding can do for hyperactive kids,” he says. “There is a bigmovement here in Israel to give Ritalin to kids who appear hyperac-tive. I’ve seen very hyper kids take to skateboarding. It gives themfocus and allows them to thrive. That’s better than any drug!”

Yoni has created a number of how-to videos on YouTube, whichare proving to be quite popular. “My plan is to continue doing thesevideos,” he says. “I also want get to the California coast within thenext six months.”

Yoni is continuously looking for skate spots while pushing theboundaries of what can be achieved on a longboard. He is grateful forhis sponsor’s support, saying, “I know that Brian of Earthwing believesin me and this pushes me forward.” His 40” deck is now available. Thegraphic was done by his wife, Tally, who plays a huge part in his life –and perhaps an even bigger one soon. As Yoni says, “I hope one day inthe near future to have two kids and a wife that skates!” CW

Yoni EttingerBY MICHAEL BROOKE | PHOTOS: YAIR HASIDOF

Launch over what looks like a torture device for angry motorists who dislike skaters.

Yoni says that longboarding has reignited his passion for skateboarding.


A.Skate founder Crys Worley with Avery Cork.


Skateboarding has always been counterculture. Even as itedges closer to the mainstream, skateboarding remainson the fringe. It’s still an emblem of rebellion, still a little

outlaw. Skaters don’t follow the herd. They’re often thought of asdifferent. Those of us who skate view skateboarding as an outletto express our individuality and creativity. What better sport torepresent kids who are too often thought of as outsiders?

Autism, as defined by the autism science and advo-cacy organization Autism Speaks, is “a general termused to describe a group of complex developmentalbrain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Dis-orders (PDD).” Basically, it’s like a switch is flipped in thebrain and suddenly the child is unable to develop orcommunicate in a traditional way. The statistics onautism are staggering:• 1 out of 58 boys is diagnosed with autism.• 1 out of 252 girls is diagnosed with autism.• 1 out of 88 children is diagnosed with autism.• It’s more common than childhood cancer, juvenile

diabetes and pediatric AIDS, combined.• It is a growing epidemic. No one knows what causes

it. And there’s no cure, genetic link, or real explana-tion yet for why kids have autism.The goal of A.skate is simple: Teach kids with autism

to skateboard, and teach awareness to a demographicthat might not otherwise know about autism. We believethat skateboarding and board sports are a good fit forchildren with autism because they are not social beingsand are often sensory-seeking individuals. Skate-boarding does not require a coach, rules or the need to bea team player. The movement of riding or rolling aroundgives persons with autism the same comfort from stressand anxiety as it does for persons who are typical andchoose skateboarding as their outlet source for therapy.

WHY A.SKATE WAS STARTEDWhen Crys Worley’s son, Sasha, hopped on his boardat the age of 5, there was a magical connectionbetween the two. Sasha could roll back and forth inthe hallway, up and down the driveway, and all over

for hours and be the calmest he had ever been in hislife. As he progressed, friends helped build a 20-foot-wide halfpipe in Sasha’s backyard, where he learnedto drop in and skate more independently. With theclosest skatepark an hour away and not exactly suit-able for beginners, this option allowed Sasha to runout the back door when he was feeling angry, anx-ious, or just wanted some alone time to skate.

Because of his autism, it was really difficult forSasha to have a brotherly connection with his youngersibling, Fallon. Through skateboarding Sasha has beenable to make that connection because it’s not compet-itive at this point and allows them to parallel playwithout too much interaction that could lead to melt-downs and fights. Crys held get-togethers with friendsand their children after seeing the benefits skate-boarding had on Sasha.

HOW A.SKATE WAS STARTEDCrys Worley started A.skate basically in parking lots inAlabama, then by traveling throughout the Southeastwhen visiting friends or family and using social net-working and autism message boards to find participants.Within a few months it was clear that there was an urgentneed and a huge demand, leading to the formation ofA.skate Foundation as a not-for-profit organization.

SEARCH/SPARK/STOKEA.skate has grown so big throughout the world that it hasbeen difficult to meet the demands of every city thatrequests events. A.skate searches areas that have sup-porters who can become involved and help fundraise to beable to reach out to more children when an event is held.Currently clinics serve approximately 60-80 children withautism at each event. Getting the local community involvedhelps spark the autism community’s interest by connectingfamilies with an activity that allows their child to be active,and it sparks the skateboard community to be a part ofsomething positive and to learn about a widespread andmisunderstood disorder – one that, even if they're not con-nected with it now, they more than likely will be in the nearfuture, if the current statistics are any indication. We teachcompassion and understanding.

A few things that A.skate offers to children on theautism spectrum:• Skateboarding clinics in a sensory and autism-

friendly environment with one-on-one instruction• No cost to the participant• Grants for skateboarding and safety equipment

Volunteers and participants are on a STOKE high whenleaving A.skate events! We constantly hear stories fromparents of how their child rarely smiles or speaks, but avolunteer is able to witness full-on conversations betweenthem and the people around them; the kids talking to kidsabout their experience, and the parents having a bondingmoment with their children. There’s so much opportunityfor good things to happen, and it’s limitless. CW

You can help! For more information or to volunteer: askate.org • 205-862-6822 • facebook.com/askatefoundation • twitter.com/askaters

Sasha hits the ramp. Crys with Carrie and Josh Armstrong (center) and Peter Karvonen.

BY A.SKATE FOUNDATIONPHOTOS: DREW BURKE

O ur battle for the right to skate is dawning, and for this fight ourtroops are ready. For some time now many cities and townstouched by the influence of skateboarding have been held back

from fully being able to reach their board-culture potential. Often thisis because of the communities’ overall legal stance on the use of skate-boards, including longboards, as a reasonable means of transportation

on their streets and roadways.Some skaters are have been lucky enough to havetheir hometowns react positively, or at least neu-

trally question the use of skateboards, hopefullyleaving the thrashing locals with some help to

build the scene and skate culture. Unfortu-nately, for others the collective decision fromthe non-skate communities is far grimmer,and the simple act of enjoying four wheelsand a piece of wood has been determinedillegal in any place not privately owned

(and used with consent) or at a city- ortownship-designated skateboardingpark or spot. Many smaller cities

addressed this issue for thefirst time in the 1990s (my cityin 1991), if not far earlier

during one of the skate popularity high points — unfortunately meaningthe deck-wielding generations to follow lost the chance to freely cruisethe streets for any reason, without the threat of a fine or possible boardconfiscation (if they can catch you).

This type of reaction to skateboarding has caused massive damageto local skate scenes, leaving some bored and disoriented youth to findsome other means of entertainment in their downtime — youth thatotherwise may have had a clear-set path and future in skateboarding.These people could have been contributing members of the local and

BY JOSH JOHNSON

YOU GOTTA FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT ...

TO SKATE!

Thin City team manager Cory Kemp

Josh Johnson, proud owner of Thin City skate shop.


possibly even global scene. The number of lost and stunted streetslayers in places like this is uncountable; where there could be autopian home for skaters, there are instead skater wastelands. Sure,there is always a skater presence, but establishing a group of hardcorelocal skaters becomes far more frustrating and difficult. Over the yearsthe local skate elders slowly begin to die off, and there are few newyoung guns to replenish the ranks.

Longboarding took some years to fully reach my hometown of Peter-borough, Ontario. Peterborough is on the smaller side of a “metropolis”and has a fairly large retirement population, so it typically takes onnewer trends and lifestyles slower and more conservatively than larger,more diverse nearby urban activity hubs such as Toronto. Skate-boarding had taken its time establishing itself throughout the ’80s butsuffered a considerable drop in public interest as it progressed towardthe ’90s. With the rapid growth in the skateboarding populace in its firstintroduction to Peterborough, the city began to fear the worst, and in1991 the city council enacted a “bylaw” effectively banning skate-boarding from its streets. This left the devoted local skaters with noplace to roam.

But in 2000, the local skate shop and skateboard distributor went togreat lengths to have the Bonnerworth Skate Park built just outside ofthe downtown area, establishing a haven for all skateboarders aroundthe community and for visitors rolling through — a safe place free fromthe “fuzz.” The park could not have been better received, and it was thetalk of the town in communities throughout the Kawarthas.

Not long after, the park’s popularity earned it a “phase two” exten-sion, and the city’s skate population developed a certain ease with thebylaw because of the skatepark offering. It remained as a small Band-Aid on the relationship between skaters and citizens for some time. Asskating’s popularity began to descend from its high point, the tensionsstarted to be forgotten as the skateboarding “problem” seemed to havesolved itself for the city.

The one thing the city’s bylaw was not able to predict was that long-boarding, skateboarding’s younger brother, was growing stronger yearby year in the shadows. There were traces of the presence of the sportor leisure activity of longboarding in Peterborough, though not enoughyet to have any truly established longboard locals. When longboardsreally began grow, the conflict between longboarders and the ban onskateboarding flared up again like wildfire.

D uring my childhood, before my first push on a skateboard, I canfondly remember encountering groups of local skaters — mostof the time flying past me on the sidewalk, but occasionally ses-

sioning a stair set or curb. Once I finally jumped onto my firstskateboard, I took a few years rocking it as quick transportation toschool, which was downhill from home. I also thrashed it driveway-styleuntil I had the confidence to attempt the skatepark. My career of parkskating was very short at best, as I was not as coordinated as I’d hoped.But this didn’t stop me from showing up at the park every second Iwasn’t in school for the next several years. After going through thehazing of being the “new guy,” I found my place in the park family.Finally I was accepted by the established local skaters, finding my nicheat the edges of the park. I could be spotted hustling custom gripgraphics with a binder full of homemade stencils and a backpack of

spray-paint cans. Every character at the park had its place in the per-sonality/style collage that made park life, in our minds, the only lifeworth living.

As the years passed, however, the motley crew of misfits began todeteriorate. Some skaters entered the work force; others started fam-ilies. At the skatepark, the feeling of being a family had passed. Andeventually even our local skate shop closed. The park became a ghosttown, and the flame of passion for board culture had been dampened.

Breaking the (current) law in Peterborough. Pressure from a coalition of localskaters has prompted the city to review its anti-skateboarding bylaw.


Because of my typical location at the skatepark at the side stairs, Idecided there might be a better style of board to fit my personal needs.I wanted a ride that was better for bombing hills and shooting acrosstown with ease. Sometime before the local shop closed, I asked if theywould order me a longboard; because I was very specific about thesetup I wanted, the shop owner made sure I got hooked up properly.But it was an unusual order for the shop, and when I asked if therewere many other longboarders in town to cruise with, there was no realanswer, as I had been one of the first ever to ask for one.

For a while, the sight of the lone longboarder was a rarity at best. Asthe years progressed, the skateboarding scene remained at an unfor-tunate plateau. The beloved local skate shop eventually closed, in thewake of a large skate boutique-style mall chain, and there was nodriving force to push up the stoke in skaters. Most quit skateboardingaltogether or made the choice to search for their gear online or in otherneighboring cities’ shops.

This led some to their first introductions to another category ofskateboarding with a range of different styles. Longboarding offeredsome things not as focused on in the conventional skate world, such asthe utility and sheer comfort of travel using a larger deck and wheels.Because of the hit-or-miss quality of the city’s streets, longboardingbecame an attractive option for urban travel. Longboarding has enoughsimplicity and uses to quickly attract some groups, typically outside of

conventional skateboarding’s range. Once longboards hit the streets,their popularity caught on like wildfire. All this amounted to the for-mation of different types of longboarding groups in Peterborough, thehumble beginnings of a true local board culture to be proud of.

As the sight of longboards on the streets of the city became morefrequent, the number of riders in the skatepark began to creep slowlyupwards again. Some of the boarders hosted small annual eventsaround the city, and skaters hoped for the occasional competitionhosted by the retailers carrying skateboard goods.

But skating anywhere outside the park was still illegal. Never beforehad the plea been so great for a better skate and board-culture hub, aplace that would exist to provide the community with an outlet devotedto the love of skateboarding; a place with experienced staff; a placethat would host various events throughout the skateable season — anda place that would also stand as a collective voice for the board-culturecommunity, particularly when dealing with issues of keeping up theinterests of our boarders and skaters alike. Whenever a group ofskaters is motivated or threatened within the city for any reason, therewould be no question of where to head for help. With the spirit of ourfallen elders at heart, I opened Thin City Longboard skate shop.Located in the heart of the city’s downtown, Thin City stands for thesole purpose of spreading the pure enjoyment of skateboarding andlongboarding and is the epicenter of local stoke.

As longboards came into the community at an increasing rate ofspeed, sharing streets with longboarders was becoming a daily occur-rence for motorists. Thus the new populace of boarders soon also raninto fines for using the streets. Some longboarders jumped into action,sending letters to the city council to voice their concerns and opinions.Others, like me, thought it best to gain media attention, which we didwith a series of articles on the subject of the city’s stance on thegrowing sport and hobby of longboarding. Together we brought theissue before the eyes of the entire community.

After a considerable amount of publicity, and pressure from the dif-ferent boarding groups of Peterborough, the city announced our firstbreakthrough; the city council agreed to review the 1991 anti-skate-boarding laws to determine whether they had become outdated andcould use amendments. This subject has become a recurring one withthe local papers and news station. Reporters have interviewedboarders from around the city for their opinions; several times I havebeen lucky enough to be one of those boarders. The winds of changecould soon be shifting in our favor.

The longboarding movement has helped the skateboarding scenetake several obvious breaths of revival. Thin City has planned and hostedsome annual events, with help from some other allied businesses andfrom companies both inside and outside the skate world. We are steadilyrolling toward a bright future of realizing the full potential of a sustain-able and physical activity that at its essence is a simply a fun way toenjoy our paved homes. Someday the skateboard family will be rebuilt,and the dawning longboarding community will push in its elders’ thanelines. As we rebuild we can still cruise, knowing that the love has neverdied; it is growing, and the world has noticed. CW

Josh Johnson is the owner of Thin City Longboard skate shop in Peterborough, Ontario.

The Peterborough skate scene is strong andthe local park is a favorite place to hang out.

Sure, they can try to ban skateboarding, butthey'll never ban T-shirt giveaways!


I n 1974 I lived in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Mybrother Rick was 10 years older than me and hadskated in the ’60s. He set me up with my first board.

At that time you could not buy a complete skate-board where I lived; this was about a year after the firsturethane wheels came out. We went to a toy shop in themall called Toys and Wheels. They had a plastic trayunder the counter with little compartments; each onehad a different skate component, like baseplates, cush-ions, hangers, cone nuts, loose bearings – and, ofcourse, early clear/amber urethane wheels. The deckwas cut out all fast and excited and definitely had acrooked nose shape. When we got to attaching thetrucks and wheels onto the board with wood screws mybrother said, “I’m not exactly sure which way the trucksgo on; it’s been a while.” So we took our best guess andwent to the large, smoothly inclined parking lot behinda dentist’s office downtown.

You never forget that first cherry-popping ride, andin my case it was particularly memorable. I pushed off,got some momentum, leaned to the right, and theboard veered to the left and bucked me into my firstimpact shoulder roll. Sketched and bummed, I lookedback up the incline to see my brother rolling on theground with laughter. “I guess the trucks don’t go onthat way!” he said. Nothing like eating s--t and gettinglaughed at your first time out!

My brother was selling those ’70s iron-on T-shirts atthe time – you know, Charlie’s Angles and Disco Chic,stuff like that. The more I got into skateboarding, themore I realized that the equipment was limitingprogress. Just as today, skate equipment was alwaysbeing improved and developing. My brother wasmaking a couple of trips a year to California to pick upthe latest T-shirt stuff, and it wasn’t long before he wasreturning with precision-bearing wheels and moreadvanced decks and trucks, keeping my quiver up todate. By 1976 I was getting to know other skaters in mytown. They caught wind of the California connection,and soon I was getting lists of stuff people wantedpicked up for them. The light bulb went on pretty quickwhen we found out there were people in Canada thatwanted good skate equipment but there was nowhereto get it, and that’s how PD’s Hot Shop got started. Atfirst we were selling to local kids and then began tooffer mail-order service across Canada.

We sold strictly California-based brands like G&S,Logan Earth Ski, Sims, Haut and Alva for the first coupleof years. It wasn’t until 1978 that I had the flash that Icould design boards that would be more functional and

I DOWHAT I DO

It was PD and the Skull Skates community graveyardrace that changed my life [and] that helped change theworld of downhill after that! A longboarding cruise to agraveyard, then a race! Seeing my first ever communityof riders. It was the Skull Skates community that gottogether that day that f—-in’ really fired me up. PD andSkull Skates had a huge part in Coast Longboarding. PDbeing like my mentor, whether he knew that or not. I wasyoung AND inspired. The ultimate honor I ever experiencedin my life was to be offered my own board. — Bricin “Striker” Lyons

“

PD: "The actual act of riding a skateboard remains as greatas it's ever been, regardless of the corporate interference."

Photo: Joel Fraser

BY PETE “PD” DUCOMMUN


suited to my own preference. Originally the motivationwas not to make money but to have the opportunity toskate my own designs. Also there was a connection inCanada to Wee Willi Winkels, who is credited with man-ufacturing the first laminated maple skate decks, andhe was already producing for Sims and other USA-based companies. We approached Willi and had him dosome small runs of the first G.N.C. (Great NorthCountry) Skateboards. That’s what our brand wascalled at first, and the early products had what’s nowknown as the Skull Skates logo with a tiny “GNC” onthe left side of the logo before the word “Skates.”

Eventually we opened our first retail shop in an old,red brick building somewhere in the dusty back streets ofRegina where the rent was cheap. The mail order wasreally starting to pick up by then, as skaters across thecountry were discovering we stocked a lot of killer skatestuff that you just couldn’t get anywhere else. This wasbefore the Internet, when the only way to promote was toadvertise in SkateBoarder magazine or the local news-paper or by putting on events like demos. Communicationwas done through the telephone and snail mail.

That’s when an interesting thing happened. Westarted getting letters from people addressed to “SkullSkates” and not GNC. We realized then that our com-pany was in fact called Skull Skates and not GNC Skates.Goodbye, Great North Country – hello, Hollywood.

Well, gradually my brother began moving away fromthe T-shirt and skateboard businesses and towardstand-up comedy, which eventually led him to becomea writer and actor. Somewhere around 1983 or 1984,Rick moved to Los Angeles to immerse himself intoshow business. Shortly after we agreed that L.A. wasnot only the center of the entertainment industry butalso ground zero for the skateboard industry. It wasn’tlong before I also moved to California and we estab-lished a Skull Skates warehouse in Van Nuys in the SanBernardino Valley, not far from where we were living inthe Hollywood Hills. That’s when Skull moved out of ourstrictly Canadian identity and started to become morerecognized on a worldwide scale.

From my point of view on the inside, Skull extends farbeyond the ’80s; otherwise there is no way we could havesurvived this long in what can be a very cutthroat and com-petitive industry that is constantly changing. I think that’sa really big part of what keeps it interesting for all of us,though – not knowing where skateboarding will go next.

Somewhere around 1989 or 90, the shakedown wason for sure, and I returned to Vancouver to pick up run-ning our shop there, which had stayed open during the

entire time I was based in L.A. My partner Feedusstayed in California and continued to produce boardsand other products, but things were not the same;orders got smaller, and Skull Skates scaled back itsoperations considerably. Eventually I relocated PD’s HotShop to downtown Vancouver.

Even though I did not personally participate in the tech-nical street revolution, I always had respect and admirationfor those kids. As a result I became pretty tight with thethen newly formed Red Dragons skate crew, who took partin spearheading the street movement. What really savedus in the ’90s was snowboarding. I had snowboarded sincethe early ’80s, and Vancouver’s proximity to local moun-tains made it a natural thing to do. We designed, producedand released several snowboards onto the marketbetween 1983 and 1998, many of them being very innova-tive in design, construction and graphic application.

I feel longboards have always been an importantpart of the mix in skateboarding going way back. Asspecialized styles have continued to progress in variousdirections, longboarding has kept the very basic andraw essence of skateboarding intact, whether it becruising, carving, commuting or bombing hills. It hasalso been great to see styles develop more recently inlongboarding specifically, such as racing techniquesand downhill sliding advances. The equipment hasdeveloped as well, although in some ways it seemssomewhat counterproductive, especially when peoplerelease nonfunctional designs onto the market. I amand always have been down for progress, but only if it’sfunctional. Some of the longboard designers are eitherunaware of designs already tried and proven to be poorin previous decades or are just creating basically wackequipment with bugged-out things.

Prior to the new millennium, there had been, gen-erally speaking, a single style of skating that dominatedeach decade. In the last 10-15 years or so, there reallyhas been a movement toward many different styles anddirections happening at the same time – which I think isgreat. We have people of all ages coming through theshop that have their standard street or transition setupand also have a board for cruising, commuting orbombing hills. Some people, especially younger skaters,have several boards and are pursuing many styles; it’sbeen the return of the quiver in skating. I think many ofus have realized that the broader our horizons inskating, the more opportunity we have to experience thechallenge and feel the stoke of mastering new skills.

The crappy thing, though, has been all the mediahype and general acceptance of skateboarding, which

has attracted thebig, greedy shoe com-panies, poisonous energydrinks and other corporateinterests swooping down on skating likea vulture to a corpse. I guess in my heartI wish we cared enough to know the difference betweensomething that is sincere and something that is justhyped-up junk; but maybe the marketing machine isjust too strong to resist. I feel it is somewhat of ashame, though, because it only serves to dilute the cul-ture while reducing skateboarding to just another wayto make a quick buck. At the end of the day, a greedykook is still a greedy kook by any other name. Thank-fully, though, the actual act of riding a skateboardremains as great as it’s ever been, regardless of thecorporate interference.

I really have no idea; we have never had a businessplan, and I feel that’s what has helped us to last this long.Skateboarding is very unpredictable, and so can businessbe. We have always run things in a very hand-to-mouthstyle, which lets us stay flexible. Skateboarding is full ofall these great life lessons like when you fall down, getback up, and if you want the satisfaction of achievementyou have to be willing to put in concentrated effort anddedication. The short cuts are few, and that’s kind of howlife is, so that’s the course we are following.

In skateboarding we mentor our groms and learnfrom the legends who drafted the blueprints before us.We are at a point now where we are more than fivedecades deep with skateboarding culture, so there ismuch to draw from and build upon. Kids are alwaysready to step up and take it to their own new level. I thinkpeople outside of skating will never fully understand thedrive that pushes skaters to do what we do – “Why wouldyou want to fall down and hurt yourself all the time?” It’sthe stoke, the sense of accomplishment and masteryarrived at on our own terms, that is incomparable andkeeps us coming back for more. CW

Skull Skates – skateboarding’s great defender of the North.Tried, true and there since the beginning, the Skull Skatesmachine has held it down for skateboarding since the late’70s. What is great about the Skull is it’s one of the fewbrands that covers all areas of skateboarding and has doneso since the beginning. — Andrew Mercado, Gullwing Team Manager

“


“THIS WAS A UNIQUE

PEACE-BUILDING INITIATIVE

THAT WAS PRESENTED TO

US, AND IT TIED IN

PERFECTLY WITH THE KINDS

OF THINGS WE WANTED TO

PARTICIPATE IN.”

Matt Olsen guides a freshly minted skater in East Jerusalem. Photo: Alice Martins

he roots of how Longboarding for Peacecame about start with a not-for-profitskateboard organization called Skateistan.Inspired by the fantastic work that OliverPercovich is doing in Afghanistan, I thought,“Well, I could do something like that ... but

rather than build a park, I’ll bring the longboards to thekids and see what happens.” I just didn’t know exactlywhat kids and where exactly I would do it.

One day in the winter of 2012, an idea just sprang outof my mind: Longboarding for Peace. I decided I wantedto bring longboarding to one of the world’s most con-flicted areas: Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

I contacted my friend Abraham Paskowitz, salesmanager at Carver Skateboards, for some advice. ThePaskowitz family are surfing royalty and have deep rootsin Israel; I figured that Abraham must have some con-tacts there.

My hunch and Abraham’s help led me to ArthurRashkovan, who is one of Israel’s top surfers and one ofthe co-founders of a program called Surfing 4 Peace(along with Abraham’s brother David, their father, Dorian

“Doc” Paskowitz, and surfing mega-star Kelly Slater).As I suspected, the idea made total sense to Arthur.

“We have made great gains in building ties betweensurfers across political and cultural borders in the pastfew years,” he told me. “Expanding our programmingto include longboarding was a natural progression. Wecan include more people, and longboard when there areno waves.”

I decided to call the tour “Search/Spark/Stoke” andsoon found myself teamed up with Matt Olsen, thedirector of Explore Corps, a not-for-profit organizationdevoted to youth-focused projects in outdoor education,recreation and the arts. “This was a unique peace-building initiative that was presented to us, and it tiedin perfectly with the kinds of things we wanted to par-ticipate in,” Matt said.

Of course you can’t just show up in a place with somelongboards and hope that things will work out. You alsoneed solid contacts and careful planning. Thankfully,Surfing 4 Peace works with the Peres Center for Peace,a not-for profit organization based in Jaffa that pro-motes peace-building between Israel and its Arab


LONGBOARDINGFOR PEACEMiddle east

in the

BY MICHAEL BROOKE

T

neighbors. Tami Hay-Sagiv, director of the PeresCenter Sport Department, and project manager SivanHendel worked hard to ensure the demos all cametogether. I am very grateful for their hard work.

Putting together this tour required a fair amount ofcross-continental logistics. Concrete Wave is based inToronto and Explore Corps is in Baltimore, Maryland.With Arthur and the Peres Center seven hours ahead,it took some time to coordinate things. The moststressful piece of the initiative was ensuring the timelydelivery of the longboards and helmets. Nine boxeswere carefully packed by Buddy Carr at his Oceanside,California, warehouse. We had huge support from Map-cargo International, who helped subsidize theshipment. But once it got to Israel ... well, let’s just saywe got tangled in red tape on a number of occasions.Fortunately, Arthur has experience with getting surf-boards into Israel, and the gear landed just a few daysbefore our first demo in Jaffa.

More than a dozen skateboard companies graciouslyprovided product. Concrete Wave has some trulyamazing advertisers who understood the impact thatthe Search/Spark/Stoke Tour could have. I am so verygrateful for their support. All 30 longboards and 30 hel-mets will be left with the Peres Center for future events.

Documenting the proceedings were two photogra-phers and one videographer. Yair Hasidof regularlyshoots skateboarding and is based in Tel Aviv. AliceMartins is a Brazilian who works with Surfing 4 Peaceand has photographed extensively in Gaza. Uri Richteris an American-born Israeli who is creating a shortdocumentary of the tour. All three captured someincredible moments. Within hours of Yair’s and Alice’simages being posted on Facebook, tens of thousandsof people had seen them and numerous people had leftmany positive comments.

The first demo was held at the Peres Center inJaffa and took place on July 5. Jaffa is a mixed town,i.e. it has both Jews and Arabs living together. Theteam assembled an hour before the demo to unloadthe car and coordinate things. The demo featured alocal martial arts club performing first. The kids satpatiently watching the kung fu moves but were prettyexcited to get on the boards. Joining the club wereabout 15 Jaffa locals. It was extraordinary to see thechildren interact with their Tel Aviv neighbors. Nor-mally, these kids would not run into each other, andyet here they were having a great time rolling around


One small push for peace in Jericho.Photo: Alice Martins


Israel is small but packs in a huge amount of diverse ter-rain and tourist attractions. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv arejust bustling with all kinds of activities. Jerusalem isdeeply religious and spiritual; Tel Aviv is pure adrena-line, and you can get up to all kinds of shenanigans.Up north are incredible waterfalls and hikes. Thebeaches of Israel are simply beautiful. Whilethe waves may not be on a par with Hunt-ington or Hawaii, surfers are just aspassionate. If you need to take a break fromskating or surfing, there are literally dozensof museums dotted everywhere. Be sure tofloat in the Dead Sea.

THE SIGHTS

Instructions on what to do next provided by Yoni Ettinger, Mickey Kook and Arthur Rashkovan at the Jaffa demo. Photo: Yair Hasidof

The stunningly beautiful Peres Center for Peacelocated in Jaffa. Photo: Alice Martins

Mickey instructs a Jaffa local. Photo: Yair Hasidof


Yoni kickflips on a Sderot bomb shelter. Photo: Yair Hasidof

joyfully on longboards. Yoni Ettinger, a pro long-boarder for Earthwing Skateboards, explained thebasics of skateboarding, and the kids followed hisdirection – most of the time! Once they felt somewhatbalanced, they immediately started rolling faster. “Ihave been teaching skateboarding for many years, butmost times, I have taught people who have at leastsome experience,” Yoni said. “Watching these purebeginners learn quickly was wonderful. Seeing themso stoked was like a gift for me.”

As each minute passed, the kids grew more andmore passionate about riding. Mickey Kook of Surfing4 Peace found the experience truly transformative. “Itis so easy to get caught up in what the media choose toshow us, [but] reality always has a way of surprising us,[to] change and open our minds,” he said. “I can defi-nitely tell you that many minds were opened.”

I knew after the Jaffa demo that we had achievedsomething magical. The kids there skated for morethan two hours and were hounding the Peres staffabout when the next session would be. The questionwas, what would things be like in an environment like

East Jerusalem and the Palestinian city of Jericho?With our first session under our belts, we felt ener-

gized but cautious, as our next event was to be held inthe town of Sderot, which is located one kilometer fromthe Gaza Strip and had been bombed just a week beforethe team arrived. Before the demo got underway, carewas taken to locate the closest bomb shelter.

Sderot is the kind of place that you only hear aboutin the news but rarely visit. Yet with more than 40 chil-dren and their parents enjoying the pure energy oflongboarding, there is no doubt that the tour broughtsome much-needed smiles.

“Sderot was an absolutely incredible experience andtruly emotional for everyone,” saidTami Hay-Sagiv. As the demofinished up, one young childfrom a fairly impoverishedfamily would not let go of theboard that Tami was holding.“I will never forget the look inhis eyes,” she said.

Gas costs about $7.00 per gallon in Israel. Cars that would sellfor about $15,000 in North America (like a Toyota Yaris) cancost almost double. For these reasons alone, we feel that long-boarding as a way to commute will catch on in Israel.However, a word of warning: People drive like maniacs inIsrael. Signaling to change lanes seems to be a rarity; gettingcut off is par for the course. Highways are good, but the trafficjams during rush hour rival those in Southern California;traffic can just crawl.

THE DRIVING

Taking a break in Sderot. Photo: Alice Martins Arthur is not only a great surfer, he rips on a skateboard too! Sderot skatepark.Photo: Alice Martins

Having a ball in Sderot. Photo: Michael Brooke


The following day, Thursday, July 12, began early. We assembled at 8 a.m., andthanks to the generosity of the Peres Center, we had a chartered tour bus for our day’stravels. With all permits and paperwork being handled by the Peres Center, the grouptook to contemplating the opportunity that lay before them. As most readers areaware, the political situation is very complex in the Middle East. Geography plays ahuge rule in where people feel safe to go. Most Israelis don’t visit East Jerusalem,and getting into Jericho requires special permits. The tour picked up our local guideat the East Jerusalem border crossing, and as the bus plunged into what was for manyuncharted waters, we all just went with the flow.

“I was nervous about going to Palestinian territories,” Yoni said. “I figured I wasgoing to look like an alien to these people. But what I quickly discovered was that wehad a bond, and that bond was longboarding.”

Upon entrance to the school, located in the Shuafat Refugee Camp of EastJerusalem, we were greeted by the sights and sounds of a puppet show. About 45 min-utes later, the skate session was under way. While the boys took to the longboards asone would expect, it was truly exceptional to watch young Palestinian girls and womenhop onto the longboards too. I kept marveling at how surreal the whole thing was. I wassmiling as I realized we were creating something you probably don’t see every day. Butchanging perceptions can only come when people are given opportunities to experiencesomething different. I am quite sure these women never expected to be riding skate-boards that morning, but I also think they probably were not expecting to meet up withIsraelis and interact so closely with them. It was a mixture of surrealism and pure stoke.

Yoni says the East Jerusalem demo was the highlight of the trip. “I held the handsof a middle-aged Palestinian women who needed me for balance,” he said. “I couldfeel how happy she was, and that, in turn, made me very happy.”This was her first time on a longboard, but that didn’t stop her one bit! Photo: Michael Brooke

Yoni lends a hand to a young Palestinian at the Shuafat refugee camp. Photo: Yair Hasidof

Matt Olsen of Explore Corps (left) and Arthur Rashkovan of Surfing 4 Peace load up the van for our journey to East Jerusalem and Jericho.Photo: Michael Brooke


THE FOOD & DRINKIsrael seems to have mastered the art of fast food to go. Pita with falafel balls andveggies can be picked up for about $5; if you want shawarma, prepare to pay atleast $9. Humus winds up on pretty much everything here. If you crave freshfruit and veggies, Israel is a delight. As meat is expen-sive, folks eat a lot of cheese. Eating in restaurants canget expensive. Beer is relatively cheap but other formsof alcohol are pricey. Yoni Ettinger introduced me to aknock-off of Jägermeister that wasn’t too bad.

than 10,000 years. We were waved through without any hassle. As the bus enteredthe city, the group got a clear view of the Oasis Casino. The casino used to be a pop-ular tourist attraction but now lies dormant and desolate. It is next to a five-starhotel, giving the visitor a rather odd juxtaposition. Before the demo, we took a tripon the gondola that takes you to the top of Jericho. The view is spectacular, butthere were few tourists that day.

As the heat of Jericho is pretty intense (it regularly hits over 100° F), the demotook place in the early evening. The boards and helmets were unloaded and a simul-taneous translation began. The 25 kids took to longboarding quickly. They werefresh off a soccer practice, and some removed their soccer cleats to get a betterfooting on the board. Over the course of an hour, a bond developed between Arabs,Israelis and those from North America. Even the Ma’ariv folks could be seen rollingaround on a board.

“This truly was an amazing experience,” said Mickey Kook. “The energy the crewhad was unreal. It was filled with unforgettable moments that will last a lifetime.”

Sivan Hendel also echoed those feelings. “This tour came together as a strongand empowering experience for the children,” she said. “I know they felt the impactof everyone on the team.”

Photographer Yair Hasidof said he was very glad he got to participate. “No matterwhich child I photographed, all children had the same facial expression of pure hap-piness,” he said. “I felt for that moment the conflict was laid aside and everyonecould enjoy longboarding. It was a rare and very special moment.”

As the demo wrapped up, we prepared for a tour of Jerusalem via the ArabQuarter. Anwar, the local contact for the Peres Center, and our translator, took usto one of the best shawarma places in all of Israel. The group bonded over deliciousfood and took in the beauty of Jerusalem. Yoni was unable to get his longboardthrough the security at the Wailing Wall, but quickly skated and met up with thegroup for their journey to Jericho.

Before entering Jericho, the bus picked up a journalist and photographer fromthe Ma’ariv newspaper. Jericho was recently handed back to the PalestinianAuthority. The city sits at an extremely low point and has been inhabited for more

Thanks to the generosity of S-One and Triple 8, all the kids had helmets. Fortunately, they could accommodate all sizes! East Jerusalem demo. Photo: Yair Hasidof

L to R: Sivan Hendel (Peres Center), Anwar Zeidan (our guide) and Miriam Jacobs (Peres Center) at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo: Yair Hasidof

For Arthur Rashkovan, the various eventsproduced many incredible memories. “Iremember the kid in Jaffa who just didn’twant to leave,” he said. “I remember inSderot the very proud girl who kept shoutingat her mom to watch her skate for the firsttime. I’ll never forget the image of the onekid in Shuafat who ate a pita and skated atthe same time. But most of all, it is thememory of one skater in Jericho whowouldn’t let me go – he kept calling me andshouting ‘More! More!’”

After the success of our four demos, I waseager to do more. I received an email from alongboarder in Haifa named Elan whowanted to put together a demo, and we wereable to do one there. Elan’s house waslocated right by the sea, and soon the localsgathered for both a skate session and drumcircle. It was a truly wonderful night.

Everyone involved with the Longboardingfor Peace experience understood the mes-sage of “Search/Spark/Stoke” and decided toact accordingly. When I first told people inCanada that I was planning to go to the Pales-

tinian Territories, they honestly thought I wasinsane. There was serious concern for mywell-being. But I can assure everyone thatwith the help of Surfing 4 Peace/ExploreCorps and the support of the Peres Center forPeace, our trip was safe and accomplishedsomething truly significant. We got people tothink differently about themselves and theworld around them. I see this as an importantfirst step in opening minds and creating a cli-mate for change and eventually peace.

Tami Hay-Sagiv of the Peres Center saysit was amazing to see kids from the most shyto the most confident all rushing to theskateboards, keen to start exploring andtrying out different moves. “Everyone feltincluded,” she said, “both boys and girls, oldand young, Hebrew speakers and Arabicspeakers.” She said Longboarding for Peacemade everyone feel young, rejuvenated andfree from the heavy conflict that surroundspeople there. “This was an inspiring experi-ence for all of us! It made us all realize againhow powerful sport is, especially when youutilize it in the service of peace.” CW


THE SKATE SCENE

Since Israel is located in a very sunny climate, it’s prettymuch year-round skating. Sure, it can rain like crazy in thewinter months, but most of the time it’s warm, and it has sev-eral very good skateparks that appeal to both street andtransition skaters. We were very impressed with the Herzliyaand Kfar Saba parks. The downtown Tel Aviv park is big andhas a constant stream of traffic. Although we did spot two orthree poor parks, the new skatepark in Modi’in (just 45 min-utes from Tel Aviv) will more than make up for them.

The longboard scene is growing like crazy in Israel. BenKaufman and Alon Meiri head up DaSilva Boards. We met upwith them in their Tel Aviv manufacturing plant. They areseeing an increased demand for their decks and are startingto export in larger quantities with each passing month.

Ben and Alon introduced me to Shlomi Eini of the GalimSurf School at Dolphinarium Beach in Tel Aviv. We had threesurf/skate sessions at Galim and they were packed with kids.Shlomi is an incredibly generous guy, and I highly recommendyou search out the school if you find yourself in Tel Aviv.

We also met up with Tomer Ifrach, owner of SlikSurf/Skate in Herzliya. Slik is known as the longboard shopfor Israel and the locals are very proud of the scene theyare creating.

Pure stoke in East Jerusalem. Photo: Yair Hasidof

Sivan makes sure riders' helmets fit snugly.Photo: Yair Hasidof

The magnificently laid out skatepark at Kfar Saba. This park was a highlight of the trip and featured some incredible lines. We went back three times! Photo: Michael Brooke

The almost-ready skatepark at Modi’in.When this baby is completed, people will

travel from all over Israel to skate it.Photo: Michael Brooke

Slik Skate SIfrach (R) st


OUR SPONSORS

We gratefully acknowledge the sup-port from the following companies:• Abec 11• Bear Trucks• Carver Skateboards• Earthwing Skateboards• Go Skateboarding.ca• Hawgs Wheels• Honey Skateboards• Landyachtz Skateboards• Loaded Longboards• Mapcargo International Ltd.• Never Summer• Orangatang Wheels• S-One Helmets• RPG Trucks• Tech Deck• Triple 8 Helmets

Happy camper in Jericho. Photo: Yair Hasidof

Group shot at Galim Surf School. We had a great time with the staff and kids.Photo: Michael Brooke

Alon and Ben of DaSilva Boards present a boy named Erez with hisfirst longboard. To say he was stoked beyond belief is an understate-ment. His sister was very jealous indeed. Photo: Michael Brooke

Shlomi Eini of Galim Surf School displays his water-gun technique.Photo: Michael Brooke

Gili Levi, the proud owner of Israel’s longest-running skate shop. Photo: Michael Brooke

Shop specializes in longboards. Owner Tomer

tands with his brother Omer . Photo: Michael Brooke

Ben Kaufman (L) and Alon Meiri of DaSilva Boards.Photo: Michael Brooke

Wonderful waves of cement at the Herzliya skatepark, about 10 minutes from Tel Aviv. Photo: Michael Brooke

Tal Saporta, a top femaleIsraeli surfer.Photo: Yair Hasidof


Ever wonder why some of your friends can’tget into longboarding? Or any thrill seekingat all? There must be something that sets

us apart from one another to define how we react tomore-risky situations. Whether it’s bombing a hill onyour longboard or taking a dicey gamble in Vegas, youmay rise to the challenge while some of your friendsback down from the uncertainty. Well, now you can tellthem to blame their parents. Recent research links thepersonality trait for “thrill seeking,” also known assensation seeking, to your genetics.

Cynthia Thomson, a Ph.D. student at the Universityof British Columbia, is at the helm of this research. Inone study, she compared people’s genetics with theirscores on a series of personality tests related to thrillseeking and found a significant association between aparticular gene and thrill-seeking behavior.

Thomson’s study focused on skiers and snow-boarders, but it may relate to other forms of risk takingas well, and thus may also help others; the samegenetic link that applies to thrill seeking also has arelationship with drug usage. While some people takeup longboarding and other sports to satisfy their sen-sation-seeking cravings, others may turn to drugs toattain the same gratification. Knowing this connectioncan help us better understand how to treat addictions.In some cases addicts continue to relapse, but the typeof treatment used may not be effective due to theirneed to sensation-seek. Placing addicts in rehabilita-tion programs that incorporate thrill-seeking sportcould decrease their likelihood of relapsing in the

HOW YOUR GENES AFFECT YOUR SKATE DECISIONS

BY EMILY KANE

THETHRILL GENE


Guto Lamera. Photo: Dan Bourqui


future. This can also benefit at-risk populations, soexposing youth to extreme sport may prevent themfrom using drugs as an outlet in the first place.

So how does genetics influence us to thrill-seek?Not exactly an easy answer, but the main culprit is aneurotransmitter called dopamine. A neurotransmitteris a substance meant to target a specific cell operatingas a messenger to turn it “on” or “off,” and dopamine isthe precursor of adrenaline. It is essential for normalfunctioning of the central nervous system and isresponsible for many brain activities such as movementand emotions. One of its more important roles in thebrain is in motivation and reward, by activating pleasurecenters in the brain that make us want to do things. Thistrait is part of our basic instinct, dating back to a timewhen it was necessary for our survival to hunt andgather. Thrill seeking in the past made it possible forearly man to hunt big game and achieve big rewards.

Today we live in a relatively “safe” world, yet we stillseek that evolutionary need that longboarding cansatiate. How dopamine specifically affects this behavior

lies in what’s known as a gene variant, the specificform of a gene that can determine anything from eyecolor to blood type. The variant to thrill-seek is prob-ably more common than you think; about 40% of thepopulation have that change in their dopaminereceptor. This change in the receptor may causedopamine to act differently. The variant affects aprocess known as DNA transcription; these regulatorymechanisms determine which genes are turned “on”or “off.” In other words, they control gene expression,which can result in an increase or decrease insomeone’s need to seek thrills. In this case, there aremore dopamine receptors being made due to theimpact of the gene variant on transcription.

We now know the science behind it, but how does itreally affect longboarding or thrill seeking in general?People longboard for many different reasons, but itseems like almost everyone has a preference with theirindividual style. Overall this preference separates long-boarders into two categories: downhill and carving.

Two theories attempt to explain how people react to

more thrilling activities: “set point” theory and“arousal” theory.

The set point theory believes that everyone has anoptimum level of arousal when it comes to getting thatrush from thrill seeking. If the rush of dopamine is toomuch for the person, it can push them beyond theirlimits, which causes them to recoil; the person with-draws due to the sick-like feeling that the rush ofdopamine can provoke. This theory says that the samesick-like feeling that causes one person to recoil mayleave a thrill seeker wanting more. It’s speculated thatthrill seekers like that feeling, reinforcing them to do itagain or upping the ante to get that next big thrill. Forlongboarding, this may mean that if you and a friend arebombing the same hill, afterwards your buddy mayreact with “F—- that, I’m never doing that again,” whileyou’re already walking back up for another go.

The second theory suggests that thrill seekers are ina constant state of underarousal, so they are constantlycraving that rush. This could explain why when we’re atwork, school or anywhere, we find ourselves thinking

Julio Cesar Rates. Photo: Eduardo Massaiuqui Kanashiro


about longboarding. Some people get that rush fromdoing less-intense activities, such as watching an actionmovie, but those who are underaroused need moresensation to feel the same way. Looking back on whenyou first started longboarding, you probably thoughtthat first hill you bombed was pretty gnar, but if youwent back to that same hill now, it probably wouldn’tgive you that same thrill anymore. That satisfaction indoing something less intense is the same idea forsomeone who doesn’t have a constant state of under-arousal. Being in this state of underarousal could alsoaccount for why thrill seekers are always looking to stepup their game.

One key point for both theories is that risk is rela-tive, meaning that the thrill you’re getting is based onyour own perception, not the perception of an outsideobserver.

There’s a stronger link to one gender in theresearch, but it may not be the one you’re thinking of.One study found that females actually have a strongerrelationship with the gene variant involved in thrill

seeking than males do. This leads us to wonder whymore girls don’t dominate in the world of extremesports. A girl who has the gene variant may be morelikely to thrill-seek, but society and our environmentalso play a role in whether she’ll participate or not. Guysin our society are pushed toward thrill-seeking sportswhile girls are generally edged into more “safe” formsof activity. Lacking friends who do the same sport canalso impact whether a girl will participate; since not asmany girls are being pushed to thrill-seek, there is lessof a chance of getting friends involved as well. Let’s faceit; longboarding is more fun when you’ve got yourfriends around to cruise with you. On the flip side, guyswho don’t have the genetic predisposition may be pres-sured by society to “man up” and seek thrills even whenthey feel overwhelmed by the rush.

The role of life experiences vs. genetics is always abig debate, so let’s clear up any doubt. Although envi-ronment does play an important role in thrill seekingand other personality traits, the ability to sensation-seekhas been noted as early as 6 years old. In that research,

children possessing the gene variant for thrill seekingwere more willing to walk on higher balance beams,leading us to believe it’s an inherent trait regardless ofexperience. Kids at that age haven’t had much of anenvironmental influence, therefore genetics must beacting as the major contributor to thrill seeking.

If you’re wondering where the research hasadvanced to today, Thomson’s Ph.D. has taken her toChamonix, France. She’s currently comparing reallyhigh-risk athletes involved in BASE jumping to partici-pants in lower-risk individual sports like running andswimming. She hopes to find a stronger relationshipbetween the gene variant for the higher-risk sports tofurther support her research.

Now you know that your quest for seeking outthrills may not just be a personality quirk after all;genetics helped shaped your love for longboarding, andprobably for some of your other hobbies too. So thenext time your mom lectures you about bombing hillson your board, you’ll be sure to thank her for the genesto do it. CW

Dopamine receptors be damned! Photo: Ryan Ganley

Nicholas Portugal is only 3 years old and is already a pro at assessing risk vs. reward. Photo: Carola Dottori


ARTIST PROFILE >>

Most kids grow up playing sports, skate-boarding and getting into trouble. Forsome reason I’ve read many artistbios that start this way and end with,“Then there was me – I spent my timedrawing, painting and creating.” I guess in retrospect that probably makesfor a lot of amazing artists, and saves huge on hospital bills and first-aid kits. I was never that typeof artist, nor did I stay away from any chance to get outside and partake in every sport and activityknown to man. Whatever I was into is what fueled my drive to create and draw on all the rainy daysand far past my bedtime. Sport culture is absolutely packed with art. Growing up skateboardingprobably had the biggest influence on my goals in illustration as I always struggled to thrash mynew decks, clinging to that graphic as long as I could. I am so happy to now have a part in creatingthose graphics and am so grateful for such an awesome job. CW

Devin Stacey


AND

THE LONGBOARDERBY KEITH GILLOGLY

The road runs past a gas station, stretches underneath atraffic light and curves gently along its tree-lined back-drop. It is a mundane, winding road, connecting side

streets and pockets of houses in a quiet, suburban corner of Buf-falo, N.Y. But on a clear day, a portion of the road glistens in thesun-filled morning. Stuffed teddy bears, colorful ladybugs, across and flowers of all types line the sidewalk. The adjacentguardrail lies wrapped in pink ribbon and handwritten messagesof love and remembrance. This is the site where 18-year-oldlongboarder Alexandria “Alix” Rice was struck and killed by adrunk driver while longboarding home from work the night ofJuly 8, 2011. It is a meeting ground for those who’ve come tomourn and to recollect. It is a place to leave tokens of remem-brance for the girl who was family, a friend or just someone whomade them smile.

Photo: Keith Gillogly


Alix’s death was mourned by her community and bylongboarders across the country. Yet the circumstancesof her death also sparked anger: The driver who hit her,James Corasanti, was a prominent area doctor; theaccident was a hit-and-run. After a lengthy criminaltrial – the outcome of which created more controversyand resentment – more details of that night emerged,but Alix’s memory persisted. Her loved ones, her com-munity and longboarders from all around grieved forher. She was the girl whose smile could turn around abad day, whose personality flourished, who carried herlongboard everywhere like a child toting her favoriteteddy bear. Longboarding was her passion – in thosefinal minutes, it was the last thing she did on earth. Alixwas also a longboarder in the purest sense: She rodeher board to get around and to simply have fun, and inthis regard, her life was relatable to all longboarders.While her death came too soon, her life, and the wayshe lived it, was an inspiration.

When Alix saw people riding skateboards or long-boards, she had a tendency to stop – to stop and watch.It didn’t matter who they were; if they rode by, she’d ask,hey, can I ride? That’s how Alix first met her friend DezLittle. Dez was skating a gap across from Alix’s highschool, a spot where getting kicked out was common,but that day he was undisturbed. Soon, the familiarrhythms of skateboarding set in: trying a trick, falling,getting back up and trying again. Frustration crept injust as a longboarder, Alix, came passing by. As was herinstinct around skateboarding, she stopped to watch.Dez kept trying his trick, and Alix began cheering himon. “She was like, ‘Snap out of it. You’re going to get it,’”Dez recalls.

Their chance meeting led them to become friends,as both ended up working at the same local pizza shop,Bocce Club Pizza. Looking back on that day andremembering Alix’s constant optimism, her always-positive attitude became a trait that Dez admired. It’s

something he remembers even when skating, or justplain life, gets tough. When he’s skating now, he canstill picture Alix there cheering him on. All he has to dois glance down at the colorful bracelet bearing Alix’sname that he wears in her memory. “If I’m stressed out– it could be from skateboarding or during life – I justlook at this bracelet and think, what would Alix do?” hesays. “What would she like me to do? … She made merealize things aren’t as tough as you make them seem.”

Of all the destinations Alix’s longboard took her to,the Bocce pizzeria was a frequent stop, even before shestarted working there. She’d stop in for a bite, and soonthe girl with the wide smile, pretty eyes and big mop ofdark hair caught the attention of one of the pizzeria’sworkers, Dan Loomis. When Dan describes Alix, thefirst thing he mentions is that smile. On a warm night inMay, he’s finishing up his shift as the pizzeria’s ovensemit a steady curtain of hot air. His dark hair hidesbeads of sweat along his forehead, and his work clothescarry the day’s flour and pizza sauce stains. From thecounter he’s now standing behind, he had often seenAlix come into the pizza shop, until one day he figuredit was time to go ahead and ask her out on a date. As itturns out, that was the same day she’d asked for a jobapplication there.

One of the first times Dan and Alix hung out together,Dan, who is also an artist, painted a portrait of her. Alixwas always making little sketches of people or fashiondesigns or whatever came to her mind, and Dan andAlix’s mutual interest in art proved a real way to connect.

Alix’s first job at the pizzeria involved the backbone ofall restaurant work: washing dishes. She didn’t performthis task with drudgery, however. Instead, she sangabout it. There she was, the new girl on the job, beltingaway with full volume and gusto and little care as to theopinion of her co-workers – her singing just made themlaugh, anyway. A radio played in the background, but Alixsang right over it; singing was actually another of Alix’s

talents and hobbies. Quirky songs about cleaning thecheese machine or whatever her current task involvedbecame the new workday soundtrack.

On Friday nights, Alix focused more on dancing thansinging. The crew would turn up the radio and blastcheesy pop music while everyone, especially Alix,danced. She’d spin around and shake to the beat in herbright, tie-dyed shirts, mismatched socks and ever-popular checkered Vans slip-ons or Conversesneakers. The goofy girl who rode regular-foot quicklybecame a friend and bundle of admired energy. Her tri-angle-shaped pizzas and other funny antics made herco-workers laugh, but they respected her for more thanher vigor. “She was the kind of person who didn’t carewhat you think,” Dez says. If something was getting himdown, Alix put her day on hold to listen. Be it a bad dayor relationship troubles, she was the first one to tell himthat hey, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. In Dan’s eyes,Alix possessed an enviable sense of adventure and evenbravery; she’d speed around everywhere on her long-board and take buses alone throughout the city. “Shewas tougher than me,” he recalls.

The only thing that seemed to make her upset, Danremembers, was when others referred to her chosenactivity as skateboarding. Alix was a longboarder, andthat’s what she wanted to be called. Dan says, “Shewould get mad at the kids who would make fun of herbecause she rode a longboard and not a skateboard, andthen months later she would see them on a longboard.”

Break time at work meant time for an extra long-boarding session for Alix. She and Dez would cruisearound the pizza place’s back parking lot. Often they’dswitch off boards; she’d ride his short board, and he’dride her longboard. Sure, Alix loved her longboard – aworn-looking Sector 9 she named Rupert – but all typesof boards drew her curiosity. And when there was time,she’d ride over to a nearby store to pick up and bringback candy to share with everyone else.

Dr. James Corasanti – Illustration by Talli Peled The car that hit and killed Alix Rice. Photo: Mark Mulville


Alix and Dan normally worked the Friday nightclosing shift together, and Dan often gave Alix a ridehome afterward. On the night of July 8, though, Dan wasout of town, selling some of his paintings at an art fes-tival in Rochester, N.Y. Alix stayed late at the pizzeria tohelp clean up, because that’s just the kind of person shewas, Dan says.

Sometimes Alix would longboard to a bus stop nearbyto catch a ride home, but not that night. “I work everyFriday, and that was the one Friday I wasn’t here. I was outof town,” Dan recalls. Alix finally finished up and steppedonto her longboard. She had wished Dan luck before heleft for the art show. It was the last time they’d speak.

It’s early evening when Dr. James Corasanti arrives atthe Transit Valley Country Club in East Amherst, N.Y.He’s come right from the Buffalo hospital where he

works, after a long day spent seeing 18 patients,according to The Buffalo News. Tonight is couples’ golfnight at the country club. Corasanti, his wife and someother couples prepare for a friendly competition. Beforeheading to the course, Corasanti orders his first drink: arum and diet cola. He golfs well tonight, making parmultiple times, and has a second rum and cola mid-game. Afterward, Corasanti and the other couples graba table. He orders a $100 bottle of wine and some cham-pagne for the table and a couple more drinks for himself.It’s a relaxing night after the lengthy day, and at 11:12p.m., Corasanti finally heads home. The incident, theawful tragedy, is still 10 minutes and four miles away.

Alix Rice has traveled only around a mile on herlongboard on her way home from work. The blue BMWcuts through the dark night. Then, the collision, thedamning split second, the 4,800 pounds of car againsther 5-foot 5-inch frame. It hurls her body into the airbefore skidding her across the pavement. She diesinstantly, her neck severely broken. The crash knocksher out of her shoes.

But the BMW does not stop, does not turn around,does not slow down. Corasanti later says he felt his carrun over something, but that he didn’t hear, see or feelanything enough to prompt him to stop or pull over.

When a passing motorist hears the horrendoussound of the impact, he stops to call 911 and beginssearching for Alix; her broken longboard and shoes liein a roadside heap. When her body is found, she has nopulse. Even if Corasanti had stopped to help her, therewould have been nothing he could have done.

Corasanti’s cellphone records also show that he wassending and receiving text messages while driving thatnight. At the trial, the prosecution said Corasanti was tex-ting right up until the minutes before the accidentoccurred. He later deleted some of these text messages,resulting in a charge of tampering with evidence.

Corasanti’s car motors on, a large gash in its rightfront side. Less than a mile away, he gets home andpulls the car into the garage. He examines the car’sfront and is taken aback by the extent of the damage.He notices red spots that look like blood, along with asmall piece of tissue. He wipes away the piece of tissue,an action that would later prompt another charge oftampering with evidence. Here, he says, he begins toworry about what he struck; full comprehension, thedawning of what just happened, has not yet sunk in. Hiswife examines the car as well, and now she drives herautomobile back to the scene to try to figure out whathappened. When she arrives, she discovers that policehave blocked off the road – and sees, up ahead, the tell-tale flashing of ambulance lights: Now it’s clear that aperson was struck – that it was Alix.

Corasanti’s wife returns home, frantic. She tellsCorasanti what she saw. In a panic, he dashes from hishouse, running at first and then slowing to a dazed walk.Some of his neighbors catch up to him; one would latertestify that the doctor seemed frantic and spoke in a quickramble, and when he became apprised of the situation,

he urged Corasanti, “You have to do the right thing.” One of the biggest questions Corasanti later faced

was a simple one: Why didn’t he call 911? To this, hesays he just panicked and didn’t know what to do.

As Corasanti continues his walk around the neigh-borhood, another neighbor phones a police officer andputs Corasanti on the line. The officer tells the doctor togo to a nearby gas station. When Corasanti arrivesthere, he’s taken into police custody, 91 minutes afterthe crash. From the back of a police car, he asks aboutAlix’s condition and is told she’s dead.

Had Alix been a jogger or bicyclist, her death wouldhave been no less tragic. But she was a long-boarder, and longboarding is still growing, still

evolving, especially in the mainstream’s eye. Skate-boarding and longboarding are still often viewed asdangerous or reckless activities, and the accidentheightened this perception. When the news of whathappened the night of July 8 spread, all were struck bythe tragedy; some, however, were quick to speculateblame – not all of it on Corasanti. Before all the detailsof that horrible night surfaced, they questioned the roleAlix’s mode of transportation might have played.

Bob Knab, owner of the local skateboard and long-board shop, Phatman Boardshop, who lives only a fewstreets from where the tragedy occurred, says he remem-bers the initial public perception. It could have been thegirl’s fault, Knab says he recalls hearing; she was prob-ably zigzagging in the street, others said. “People paintedthat picture the first day that that happened,” he says. “Iwas getting all kinds of comments made to me [like] ‘Oh,you see that skateboarding’s not really too safe.’”

Still others suggested that Knab and the local long-boarding community do something in remembrance ofAlix, and he agreed. The general community had beenhit hard by Alix’s passing, but for the skate and long-boarding community, they had lost one of their own. Like

Photo courtesy of Tammy Schueler Photo: Keith Gillogly Photo: Keith Gillogly


Alix, Knab was also a longboarder; when he was ateenager, long before Alix had even been born, he’d builthis own longboards out of slalom water skis and RoadRider wheels. His sons and his wife are all board-sportenthusiasts. And as the owner of a shop whose cus-tomers included safety-concerned parents, he didn’twant the danger mentality of longboarding to win over.

Knab’s connection to Alix ran even deeper. His ownson would ride his longboard to Bocce’s to pick up pizza,and Alix had been in Knab's skate shop only severaldays before she passed. After Alix died, Bob wanted toorganize a longboarding-focused event in her memory.“I had thought about doing some kind of event but didn’treally know how to go about it,” he says.

The answer came when he was contacted by a localcommunity- and youth-centered organization, theAmherst Youth Foundation. The result was an event inmemory of Alix that raffled off longboards and raisedmoney for the Donate Life Foundation, which raisesawareness about organ donation. Alix was an organdonor who strongly supported this cause. For the localkids in attendance, they had a chance to ride longboardsand receive lessons, too, because, after all, long-boarding was what Alix loved.

On the sidewalk at Alix’s memorial, chalk-writtenmessages remind all who pass by how much Alix is stillmissed. In blue chalk, “I still think about you every day.”In pink chalk, “Look in on your mom. She needs you.”And so many of the marker-written messages dottingthe guardrail describe missing that bright smile.

When the trial of James Corasanti ended, however,new messages soon appeared. As much as the siteserved to preserve happy memories, it now reflectedsearing anger: “This is an injustice!” “Burn in hell,Corasanti!” and other such vitriol now marked thememorial. Alix was gone, and those mourning receivednot closure but a reemergence of pain. The trial had con-cluded and the verdict had been delivered:Second-degree manslaughter: not guilty. Second-degree

vehicular manslaughter: not guilty. Leaving the scene ofthe incident: not guilty. Two counts of tampering withphysical evidence: not guilty. All felony charges wereacquitted; jurors found Corasanti guilty only of drivingwhile intoxicated, a less severe misdemeanor offense thatcarries up to a year in prison. Corasanti could have facedmore than 20 years in prison if convicted of the felonycharges. To reach the outcome that seemed incompre-hensible to most, what exactly happened on the night ofJuly 8 came under intense observation and scrutiny.

On a hot day in June, Alix’s mother, Tammy Schueler,sits thumbing through some old photos of Alix. Tammy’sdark, shoulder-length hair rests against her white shirt,and next to her lies a small stack of napkins to wipeaway the tears that she knows will soon well up. Shepauses at a photo of little Alix at a museum. A stuffed,life-size bear peers out from a display case as a panic-stricken Alix pretends to run away. Tammy chuckles atthe photo, at her daughter’s goofy antics that werealways part of her personality. She is still able to lookback and smile, even laugh, but the pain, the hardship,persists. When you’ve lost your daughter, your onlychild, there’s little alternative: You must be strong. Alixand Tammy were very close. When Alix first startedlongboarding around three years before she was killed,she’d ride around a local park as Tammy bicycled along-side her. Alix hardly had to work through a learningcurve when she started longboarding. “She’s a natural,”Tammy recalls. “She just picked up to it like a duck towater.” The pair traveled extensively together too. It wasduring a trip to California, to the skate haven of VeniceBeach, that Alix purchased her cherished longboard.Tammy says it’s the traveling they did together thatfueled Alix’s sense of adventure.

As fun as longboarding was to Alix, it was also quite lit-erally a vehicle for exploration. If Alix could have had herway, she probably would have spent her days living theWest Coast longboarding life. “She was the happiest whenshe was out boarding in California,” Alix’s cousin Corrina

Price says. “She was in her element.” Yet as long as there’ssmooth ground to ride, no matter which coast, there’slongboarding to be had. Most days Alix rode her longboardto class, wedging it (or him, rather, as she always referredto her longboard as “he,” not “it”) in her locker until theday’s end and it was time to longboard home.

Longboarding is not always fun – falling, suc-cumbing to speed wobbles, or just taking a turn too fasthave results opposite of fun. Any seasoned longboarderhas taken enough falls to appreciate that speed,freedom and fun sometimes come at a price. One nightwhen Tammy was working, she received a call. Alix hadcome upon a patch of gravel while longboarding; a mancalled to tell Tammy that he’d found her collapsed out-side of his house. Alix was taken by ambulance to theemergency room, and when Tammy met her there,paramedics said they thought Alix might’ve broken ahip. Luckily, it turned out she was only badly bruised.

Riding the same road where a hard bail or wipeoutoccurred takes resilience. For some, a trip to the hos-pital is reason enough to retire the longboard to a dustygarage corner. As soon as Alix was back in shape,though, she was back on her longboard. The hospitalexperience was but a minor hitch, more of an incon-venience than a scare.

When Alix wasn’t longboarding with friends and justriding around, she’d longboard alone, going wherever it wasshe needed to go. Longboarding as a means of transporta-tion brings independence: from cars, from traffic, fromconformity. As a female longboarder in an activity that’s –steadily less – predominantly male, longboarding fostered adifferent type of independence. Shortly before Alix waskilled, she had her name, “Alexandria Mae,” tattooed acrossher side. While she always called herself “Alix,” markingher full name was a way of saying “This is me, and this isalways who I’m going to be,” her cousin Corrina says. Beingindependent and being unique – if not downright eccentricat times – was who Alix was. After she finished high school,Alix had begun taking fashion design classes. Along with

Rockin' For Rice. Photo: Bob Knab Photo courtesy of Tammy Schueler


her sketches of clothing, her fashion carried its own creativeflair. She’d don a dress with a long leopard jacket and high-top Converse sneakers. “And she pulled it off,” Corrina says.“I think she wanted to show people that you don’t have to dowhat everybody else is doing to look good.”

Not following everyone else made longboarding per-fect for Alix. Longboarding and skateboarding willalways focus on independence – no coaches and, best ofall, no rules. Yet for Alix, being so willing to be her ownperson came at a cost, her mother says. Alix tended notto care what others thought of her quirkiness, but shealso faced some taunting from peers while growing up.Still, Alix always expressed an awareness and concernfor others. When she was eight years old, Corrina, asthe older cousin, used to babysit Alix. One of Corrina’sfriends had recently passed away, and little Alix was lefttrying to cheer Corrina up and offered Corrina one ofher own teddy bears. Corrina told Alix it was hers andthat she should keep it. Later, when Corrina got home,she found the bear stuffed in her bag. She still has ittoday, as a reminder and reflection of the type of personAlix was, even from a young age.

“Alix would give you anything if she thought youneeded it,” Tammy says. “She would do anything to makeyou smile.” She takes a sip of her coffee. Her speakingslows. The tears well up. “I’m a better person becauseevery day I feel I owe it to Alix to make her proud of me,”she continues. “And I have to be a better person in orderto do that. I find myself being more Alix-like, being kinderto people; that’s what I strive for – to be more like her.”

On a gray morning in May, James Corasanti entersthe courthouse in downtown Buffalo. He walksslowly past a couple of TV news cameras and the

throng of observers who’ve come to watch his trial. Withone of his defense lawyers at his side, Corasanti pro-ceeds down a short hallway. His gaze shifts neither leftnor right. His suit is gray. His hair is gray. The creaseson his expressionless face run deep. In the courtroom

are 12 people – seven men and five women – who makeup the jury, the ones who will decide his fate. They werethe ones who heard from dozens of witnesses, the audi-ence to an onslaught of legal rhetoric hoping to push orpull them toward one of two conclusions: what hap-pened that night was criminal, or what happened thatnight was an accident. The jury attempted to filter outemotion and just look at the facts. But regardless of thefacts, the ruling left a bitter taste amid Alix’s stunnedcommunity. Corasanti was a wealthy doctor, a gas-troenterologist to be exact. Alix was a teenagelongboarder. Their opposite roles shaped immenselythe perception of the trial. Corasanti could afford a top-notch legal defense team, and the results paid off.

The jury members came to their conclusion based ona simple yet particular aspect of law: reasonable doubt.James Corasanti was drinking that night. Legally, or oth-erwise, he should not have been driving. The juryrecognized that, but they found doubt in believing that itwas his drinking that directly caused the collision. Thedefense repeatedly noted that Alix was likely croucheddown on her longboard at the time of impact, and, withthe exception of her lime-green shirt, was wearingdarker clothing. Alix was not swerving in the street orlongboarding recklessly when the worst came upon her;both the prosecution and defense had witnesses attemptto explain Alix’s exact placement on the road, and the jurybelieved she might have been near where the shouldermeets the road, as one witness testified. In the court-room, the crumpled hood and front fender of Corasanti’scar sat displayed before the jury. The deep gashes andbent metal provoked a simple question: How could suchdamage not prompt the driver to get out and check?Here, the defense used the car’s mechanics to explain.As a top-of-the-line vehicle, the aluminum frameabsorbs impact, minimizing what the driver feels. The caralso has a soundproofed interior, the defense said. Pros-ecutors said Corasanti was speeding that night. Thespeed limit where the collision occurred on Heim Road is

35 miles per hour. Police estimated the BMW’s speed at46 to 52 miles per hour that night. However, an accident-reconstruction expert later testified that the car’s speedwas only about 40 miles per hour – a calculation the jurybelieved to be correct. As for Corasanti’s drunkenness,he refused to submit to an alcohol breath test after beingtaken into police custody – an action that jurors can inferas an attempt to hide guilt. Later, Corasanti’s blood wasdrawn on a judge’s order. The blood-alcohol readingmeasured .10 percent – .02 over the legal driving limit –several hours after the accident.

The public outcry over the ruling has caused ques-tioning – doubt, really – of the justice system. The legalcommunity, of course, also followed the court case. ToBuffalo-area criminal defense attorney Barry Covert, thecase made an impression, but how it might impact futurecases remains to be seen. “I think that these cases areall case-by-case analysis by the jury,” he says, “and Idon’t think that a jury is necessarily in the future going tolook back at this case and say, ‘Well, because they heldhim not guilty in that case, we have to find this currentdefendant not guilty.’ It’s going to be a situation whereevery set of facts is going to be reviewed independently.”

Whether or not the trial establishes a precedent, Alixleaves a legacy of her own. Hours were spent in the court-room trying to piece together what happened that brokennight, yet the minds of Alix’s loved ones drift back farther;they remember the happy, humorous times. These are adifferent set of facts, ones that require no courtroom, noruling. They say: We lost a beautiful person, a longboarder,someone who inspired others in life, and now, in death.“She was beautiful,” Alix’s mother says. “To take that per-sonality with the looks and talent that she had, it’s like theworld got robbed. It really did.” CW

This year's Broadway Bomb race in New York City will be held in

memory of Alix. Bob Knab and others in Alix’s community hope to

have a concrete skatepark built in her memory. To raise money for

the park, donations can be made at alixrice.com

Alix's cousin Corrina Price (second from right) and others lend a hand at the Rockin' for Rice event in Amherst, N.Y. Photo: Bob Knab The roadside memorial to Alix. Photo: Joseph Garas

THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION

A SON LONGBOARDS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR HIS FATHER’S HEADSTONE

BY

BEN

SCH

OFI

ELD

| PH

OTO

S:ST

EVE

TREW

HEL

LA


Part One:The Rise and FallFor the first 10 years of my life, my dad, Alan Schofield,was my idol. He was the man who gave his familyeverything to make sure we were happy: holidays, nicecars, boats and an amazing family home. It was truly afantastic upbringing. I remember going along with himto his helicopter shows as his mascot, a 5-year-oldwannabe of my father with the same leather pilotjacket on.

What I’m going to write now is going make my dadsound like a bit of an arse, to be honest, but he was stillmy dad, and deep down I loved him no matter what. Iwatched my dad change throughout my life, but notbeing able to help him.

Being the youngest of four boys, I was perfect forpracticing wrestling moves on and sent by my parents tospy on my brothers when they would have girlfriendsover; now my brothers are the ones spying on me whenI have a female over.

I watched my parents build up a very successful printbusiness. I literally grew up within the industry, sitting inthe office watching everything going on. I can remembermy dad buying me my first skateboard. I brought it homeand I couldn’t leave it alone. Then, once I found out whatgirls were, and homework, exams, etc., the skateboardslowly got put to the back of the cupboard.

I can always remember my dad being the guy whoworked his arse off to make sure us kids had everythingwe wanted; we always said he was stingy with his cash,even though he made a fair bit. But we never wentwithout anything. My twin brothers got their mopeds,and my eldest brother got his first car and universityfees paid for. We had a boat, holidays and nice cars.

The print industry was gradually changed. Printingbusinesses all around the country were shutting downdue to customers and clients being able to print theirown stuff digitally and cost-effectively without the needfor large printing machines. My dad was forced to closehis business. With this we lost a lot as a family: ourfamily home, friends, and most of all our alpha male ofthe house – the workhorse he was, our dad.

My dad had choices, and unlike most people, hechose to turn to alcohol. He would consume maybe 1-2liters of whiskey a day. And we grew apart. Fights wouldbreak out between him and the twins because they wereso alike. Eventually the house would end up beingtrashed, and the police called for someone to be takenaway and kept in a cell overnight to calm down; the nextday, when dad had sobered up, he would think every-thing was normal and not remember the night before.Then he’d start to drink again. My mum was the rock inour home at this time. She was out working a new job,trying to keep a roof over our heads while my dad drankhis life away. To begin with it was crocodile tears, and

we could all see what he was going through and wewould be there to care for him. But the drinking gotincreasingly worse and there was nothing we could do.

My brothers had all moved out and it was just myselfand mum at home with Dad, and there would be occa-sions where I would come home from school and not beable to get into the house because he would be passedout on the sofa, wasted. So I’d have to wait around out-side till Mum got home. Luckily I had my skateboard andwould then spend hours a day out skating. If it weren’tfor my skateboard, I’d have had no escape.

My dad became more and more violent. One nightsticks in my mind more than anything else. I was 14 atthe time. My parents had been arguing, and I could startto see what my dad had turned into. By then I’d beguntrying to defend my mum. I can remember wrestling mydad to the floor to try to calm him down and he ended upsitting on me, pinning me to the floor with his handtightly around my throat. Inside I knew this wasn’t mydad – just some drunk guy.

While lying on the floor pinned down, I rememberturning my head to the right and seeing my eldestbrother Steve walk through the door. Steve was the uni-versity graduate in business studies and sports studies,but he also competed nationally in karate. Steve wasliving about 10 minutes away, and he would always bethe person to call if dad was going off on one if he wasdrunk. I thought, “My hero has heard me calling,” and hecame in to lift my dad off me and restrain him. Steve’snext few words were “NO, Cassie, that’s not construc-tive,” as he also had to stop my sister-in-law Cassiefrom having a go at my dad as she tried to protect us.

These sorts of events continued for a couple of years,until Mum and Dad separated. Mum and I moved intorented accommodation, and Dad went into rehab. Hecame out of rehab and I remember him being clean fora couple of weeks, until we started to find empty bottlesof whiskey around the house. Again, he had chosen thebottle over us.

Fast-forward a few years, and it’s 2005. After hissecond time in rehab, Dad came out clean, got himselfa new job and started to work as a driving instructor. Wecould see a real change in him, and it looked for thegood. Mum and Dad started to meet again, and he even-tually came home. It was so good to have him back. Westarted to go on holidays again and do things as a family.

Mum and Dad moved back in together and bought anew house at the end of 2006. By now Dad was workingas carrier person driving trucks. Then one day he saidhe had hurt his back. With this he couldn’t work again,and after a while he started to lose a lot of weight. Wesent him to the doctor. Straight away the doc said,“We’re sending you to hospital!”

In 2007 I was getting ready to take my GCSEs atschool. I was 16 and remember getting a text from mymum to say she was coming to pick me up from schoolwith my brother Marc, which I thought was weird, as Iusually walked or got the bus. As I got in the car I could

see the faces on my mum and Marc (one of the twins)weren’t too positive.

My dad, a recovered alcoholic of about eight years,whom I had just gotten back, had now been diagnosedwith terminal cancer. I had no idea what it could reallydo. His doctors said he had weeks rather than monthsto live, unless he decided to have chemotherapy; itmight give him six months.

He decided to take the chemo so he could see thesummer in. During that time I was trying to get readyfor my exams. The school helped me a lot through theordeal, allowing me to leave lessons to go see the schoolcare person. I didn’t want to have this as an excuse, andthe school said they’d have a word with the exam boardto tell them to give me some leeway. I said no, I don’twant this to affect anything; I’m going to get on with it.

Throughout the last 12 years or so, I never showedemotions. I never cried. My mum was worried abouthow I would cope with all that I had endured in a shortspace of time and being so young. But I was fine. I hadmy longboard. I’d just go out and skate and get the freshair. It allowed me to escape.

While my dad wasgoing through hischemo, he was living athome and would havenurses turning up con-stantly. Mum and I alsobecame his caregivers.Eventually he wasunable to walk and hegot a mobility scooter,which rocked – 15 mphof pure tire-screechingexcitement. I remember driving it and taking it around acorner and rolling it on top of me. I was then banned fromdriving it.

It’s August 2007. I’ve finished my exams and amwaiting patiently for my results. Dad’s getting increas-ingly worse now as his chemo has finished. He’s got nohair and is now bed-bound. The next few days are cru-cial. And we’re told it’s not long till he leaves us. I canremember days where I would just sit beside him holdinghis hand, talking to him, trying to keep him awake.

It’s now August 24 – “D-Day.” Today my dad was reallybad. And everyone was over at our house. I had been upto school to get my results. I came home to tell him andall I can remember him mumbling to me, “At least youdid better than Steve.” It made me smile but wasn’tentirely true as Steve had received all A’s and B’s, I think– something geeky. With that, Steve and I went down tothe seafront where we lived to get lunch – omelet it was– when we got the call we’d been waiting for. It had hap-pened. My dad had taken his last breath. My mum hadbeen sitting at his bedside when it happened.

My dad once said that when he died, he would betaken by train to somewhere new. However, my mumsaid that at 1:20 p.m., as my dad turned to look at her for

Phot

o cou

rtesy

Ben

Sch

ofiel

dPh

oto c

ourte

sy B

en S

chof

ield

the last time and then up to the ceiling, the ferry that goesto France sounded its horn to say it was leaving the port.So it wasn’t a train in the end but the ferry to France.

“What do we do now?” I wondered. I rememberwalking into the bathroom and getting into an emptybath and breaking down. I then took my longboard andskated down to the seafront to be free and think.

A few years passed and things were extremely tight athome with money for Mum and me. She made enough tokeep the house and pay the bills, and I tried my hardest togive her money toward them. But my work was seasonal,so it was difficult at times. All I thought about since mydad’s passing was leaving the U.K. to live and create a newlife for myself in California; I’d always said I was born in thewrong country and should be a Cali boy. We had not beenable to afford to get my dad a headstone and were stillpaying the funeral costs. I’d go visit his grave and feel sickthat there wasn’t a headstone there for him, something toremember him by. It was just a bare grave with the rottingwooden cross you get given. And some bare flowers.

Part Two: The French ConnectionI realized I needed to do something. So I came up with“2 Paris with Wheels,” a fundraising event I wouldcreate to raise enough money to be able to get my dadthe headstone he deserved. I don’t remember the drunkguy; rather I remember the strong, charismatic, deter-mined, family man that was my dad.

I stayed up until early morning creating and planningthe event. I messaged friends to see who would want tojoin me. Andrew Ryan Vickers and I decided to long-board to Paris from Le Havre, a 140-mile trip throughtowns, cities and countryside, sleeping in tents, eatingbaguettes of cheese and ham and whatever else wecould buy along the way. The trip would see us long-boarding 50 miles a day for the first two days, then 28miles on the last day into Paris.

When I got the maps, I sat like a kid in my tent in theback garden, going over the route and other routes wecould take. We would be filming and documenting ourtrip from then until we reached Paris. My aim was to tryto raise around £1,200 (approximately $1,900 US) tocover the cost of the headstone.

I also wanted to raise awareness for Surfers AgainstSewage, a nonprofit organization that helps to protect ourseas, oceans, marine life, rivers and shores from rawsewage, and to help protect some of the best U.K. wave spots.

I was absolutely stoked to do this and couldn’t wait togo – freeriding our way down to Paris, where we wouldbe greeted by a party of longboarders organized byChristopher Vallender. For the skate I chose an Original

Freeride 41, Paris trucks and Orangatang In Heats – anodd choice for long distance, some would say, but I stillwanted to be able to freeride along the way. And yes, Iknew I probably would cry throughout the trip, and def-initely when I got to the end of it in Paris.

Part Three: The StartWe woke up early and full of excitement. Andy’s dadchauffeured us up to the Portsmouth ferry. It gave ustime to get ourselves in a mental state before the trip.We stepped off the ferry onto a very overcast and dampFrench port and some very wet tarmac. I wanted to getas far as we could before any more rain fell. Followingsigns out of Le Havre wasn’t quite as easy as first hoped,and we managed to get lost.

Thanks to some helpful locals, we eventually found ourway. But things got rather crazy when we wound up on amotorway. We jumped off the road and walked along theedge of the marshland; it wasn’t long till we had beenstopped and approached by some security. “What are you

doing? Where are you going?” they asked. “You notallowed on the motorway.” We told them we were going toParis. Fortunately, they replied only, “Oh, OK, good luck,”and let us go. They even provided us with more directions.

Just as things were going well, we encountered aheavy downpour. We encountered another detour andour clothes soaked right through to our boxers. Truckdrivers beeped and nodded their heads to us in respect.Car drivers would just blank us.

Eventually we arrived at an insane-looking bridgecrossing the Porte de Normandie. We crossed amidhowling winds, rain as hard as nails and trucks inchesaway from us spraying up rain water. It was by far thebest part of the first day.

Part Four:BustedWe arrived into a little town that we thought was Rouen –but it wasn’t. Out of nowhere the gendarmerie (police)pulled us over. Out stepped an old guy and two youngermen. They told us we couldn’t skate on the roads because

Ben Schofield: "I’d always said I was born in the wrong country and

should be a Cali boy."


“apparently” it’s illegal in France. We were left talking tothe two younger coppers while the older one took ourdriving licenses to the car and spoke to someone on theradio. Communication was difficult between us, so weended up talking about football and how we were skatingto Paris for charity. Then they seemed to relent and evenwished us good luck, saying, “Stay off the motorways, and[we’ll pretend] we have not seen you.” What good guysthey were. So we waited until they had driven out of sightbefore we started skating again.

We rode a long, smooth, windy road, passing throughseveral little towns, until we figured Rouen was onlyabout five minutes away. However, after a good exam-ining of the maps, we realized we still had a good coupleof hours’ worth of skating ahead of us before we hit ourfirst night’s stopover. By this point it was about 5 p.m.and school traffic had started, increasing the number ofcars and buses on the road. We came across a littlehotel on the outskirts of Rouen and booked a room forthe night. We were drenched and exhausted.

Part Five: Rouen to VernonWaking up early, we quickly got our gear together,packed and out of the hotel room. We followed the mainroad out of the city. This time we did find the side roadthat we needed to take, and from the start it was anincredibly steep incline to the top. But we dragged our-selves up it because we knew at some point it had tocome back down. We came across some incredibleviews over the city and far beyond. As the road started tolevel out we started rolling a bit easier. We weresweating already within the first half hour; it was goingto get hot today. We hoped for some downhill, but all weencountered were long flat, gradual declines.

As we were following signs to Les Andelys, a smallriverside village, we turned left and stumbled across abrand new, pitch-black long straight. We picked up thespeed and started carving, cross-stepping and check-sliding our way down this long gradual piece of heaven.The hill kept on going down, and at the end was themost beautiful left-hand hairpin. The view of the valley,Les Andelys and the river was spectacular.

By now we were in a part of France where locals don’tsee many tourists. We had to keep pushing on, though,because time was ticking, and we needed to get to Vernonbefore dark. We were just heading into a place called Gaillon,only to find the traffic had built up next behind us. Normallycars would just pull out, signal and overtake us, but one carwouldn’t go past, so we stopped to allow it to go by.

Out of nowhere some moron in a silver Audi cut me offand tried to drive into me on purpose. He turned his wheeltoward me and stopped suddenly; I smacked the back ofhis car with my fist and shouted at him. He had children inthe car, which made the whole situation worse.

Part Six: Vernon to ParisAgain we were up at the crack of dawn, showered andpacked. Time to get on the road for hopefully the finaltime, an 80-km trip into Paris. Our first stop of the daywould be Mantes-la-Jolie. The section of the route wasone long road all the way to Mantes. As we were fol-lowing the river, it meant we had to climb numerousvalleys, a long way to the top. We came across a long,mellow right-hander that trucks were screamingaround, slamming on their brakes to make sure theydidn’t go off the end. Next to it was a huge poppy field.The sun was out and it looked great. Once we reachedthe top of this hill, it was a long, flat ride to the tinyhamlet of La Roche-Guyon. The locals there definitelyhadn’t seen longboards before. The weather was lovely,sunny, with a little breeze – perfect! We consumed litersof peach ice tea and felt good.

At about midday, Paris was still about 40 to 50 kmaway. We rode on, though we realized we wouldn’t arriveuntil late at night. However, eventually the policestopped us again and said that we couldn’t carry on anyfurther. If we did, the route we’d planned would havetaken us through some of the harshest, most dangerousestates in Europe. They advised us to go back to Mantesand jump on the train into Paris.

As much as we were committed to longboard toParis, I also didn’t want to go home in pieces or in a bag.So we headed to the train station and bought a singleticket to Paris, a two-hour journey into the city center.From there we would still have to find our way to theEiffel Tower.

Two hours later we arrived at the Porte de Cham-perret – the end-of-the-line stop. We got off and foundour way out into the streets. We just picked a road andjumped straight onto our boards, skating down the cityroads and cycle lanes, carving our way through Paris.

Then POW! The Champs-Élysées by mistake! Weended up on the busiest and most well-known street inEurope. At the top of the road stood the Arc de Tri-omphe, one of the most iconic landmarks in the world.Our mission: To skate across the roundabout withoutbeing run down.

We skated across the road to the middle. I felt invin-cible. So for the final piece of the official skate, we madeour way down to the Eiffel Tower. With Andy’s knowledgeof Paris, we skated down the sidewalk of the Champs-Élysées. We were weaving and missing people’s toes bymillimeters, but I didn’t care what people thought. I wasthere to reach my goal: to reach the tower and to cele-brate my dad’s life.

We stood at the top of the Palais de Chaillot with theEiffel Tower in front of us. It was amazing. We skatedright down to the iconic tower, skating right underneathit, through the crowds of people. We had done it.

Once there, I lay on the ground and gazed straightup, looking at the tower. The tears came streaming outof my eyes. Although my legs and feet hurt, I was in fullglory of what I had just achieved. I turned to Andy andasked, “What now?”

We headed toward the public greenspace of theChamp de Mars, where we came across a family fromNorth England, so went and chatted to them. After weleft them, we headed onto the grass and collapsed withexhaustion. We looked at one another and patted eachother on the back, giving each other congratulations.

We ended up going back to the Champs-Élysées andfinding a Starbucks. We connected with our families tolet them know we had arrived and tried to find a hostelfor the next couple of nights.

Over the next day or two we had in Paris, we slept inand skated. On the Champs-Élysées we spotted twolittle kids on a Tan Tien and a Dervish. They saw us tooand turned around and chased after us. We stopped tochat and discovered that one of them was originallyfrom Canterbury but his parents had moved to Paris.The kids guided us around Paris to some sick littlespots, including some incredible banks.

As we got in the plane to return home, I had a goodwindow seat in front of the engine so I could watch theprops spinning. As we got airborne, I looked up into thesky and began thinking about the whole trip. It started tobring tears to my eyes, knowing I was the closest I hadbeen to my dad in five years. I stuck the headphones inand shut my eyes with a massive smile on my face. Ifinally felt like I had done my dad proud and he hadnothing to moan at me for.

A big thanks to my mum, my brothers and all myfriends who have supported me over the last five or soyears with everything that I’ve been through with Dad. Amassive thank you to Josh at 19ninetyone Design,Surfers Against Sewage and Paddy at Vortex. Andy,thank you for joining me on this trip. CW

Editor’s note: Ben was able to raise enough money to buyhis father’s headstone. Delivery is expected in October.

On the road and breaking free.


SEISMIC U.S. OPENBy RICHY and

MARIA CARRASCO

The Seismic U.S. Open at Oceanside went off July14-15 with racers killing the venue at LorettaStreet! Some big names raced and the start list

featured four of last season’s world champions. Beingin the skate mecca of Southern California, many leg-ends were on hand to witness the racing like the LoganBros, John Hughes, Chuy Madrigal, Larry Balma,Lance Smith and others.

Loretta has a reputation for being big and steep witha lot of old, inconsistent road surface, the kind of stuffyou wouldn’t want to crash on. Henry Hester tested hisskatecar on this very hill back in the ’70s, probably onthe same asphalt. This year’s race had a high rankingfor season points, and thus more importance to theracers. That had the skaters going all out on every run.

The first event was a fast and flowing dual hybridthat had many finish line charges! Joe McLaren cameout on top, John Ravitch won the Masters division andLynn Kramer won the Women’s division after battlingformer world champions Judi Oyama and Keli Benko.After a quick break the racers regrouped and the tightslalom event was on. The TS was run with each racertaking two runs, single-lane style with the A and Bcourses set up next to each other. The highlight of theday was seeing David Hackett be the first rider to runthe nearly impossible A course without hitting a coneand grabbing $100 cash! Joe McLaren won the A groupafter winning the hybrid earlier in the day, setting him-self up for yet another trifecta. It was awesome to hear“Bad H” Henry Hester behind the mic and watchinghim have a blast out there with all the racers.

The second day featured the giant slalom and laterthe skatercross. Richy Carrasco surprised everyone bywinning the GS event and capturing the trophy. Theskatercross was won by Quebec’s Louis Ricard, whohad to overtake David Hackett at the finish of the finalrun. Overall for the weekend was last year’s champ JoeMcLaren, Richy Carrasco in second and Louis Ricardin third. Hackett won the Masters overall and Kramerthe Women’s overall.

Special thanks to Lynn Kramer, who worked tire-lessly to make sure the timing, sound system andgeneral race organization were working great, and ontop of all that won the overall Women’s division! Therewas even a big screen showing the results for the racers.Pat and Arlene Brickner from the Grind Skate Shop,

Maria Carrasco from Sk8Kings and Chris Yandall allworked hard to get this event together. Brock Dennis ranthe timer, working with Bad H behind the mic. Prizemoney and swag were donated by many sponsors:Seismic Skate, Sk8Kings, BLR, Khiro Skateboard Prod-

ucts, Gravity/Randal, Tracker Trucks, Oust Bearings,RipTide, Bennett, Vitaminwater (who provided beveragesall weekend), Powell, Abec 11 and BambooSK8. Volun-teers came from the San Diego Ski Club and the GrindSkate Shop. Thanks, and see you next year! CW

MCLAREN WINS 3 EVENTS ON HISTORIC HILL

R E P O R T

Masters hybrid slalom winner JohnRavitch. Photo: Lance Smith

Lynn Kramer, overall women'schamp. Photo: Lance Smith

Joe McLaren, men's overall winner.Photo: Lance Smith

Richy Carrasco powered his wayto a GS win. Photo: Lance Smith

EUROPEANCHAMPIONSHIPSThe fastest slalom riders from all over Europe

came to Latvia July 14-15 for the EuropeanChampionships. Fifteen of the world’s top 20

ranked riders live in Europe, and most of themattended, so the results would serve as a good meas-uring stick for the upcoming world championships inStuttgart, Germany.

The first day’s racing was held 100 km from capitalcity of Riga at the Priekuli biathlon center, a beautifullocation in the middle of the forest with really nice andfast hills. Unfortunately, the potential of the fast,twisting course was spoiled by rain. The race wasdelayed many times and riders had to wait while thecourse dried up. In the end it was decided to race ashorter course, so at least there would be some results.

In a mixture between GS and hybrid slalom,Dominik Kowalski was unstoppable and won – what anexcellent comeback for the 2010 World and 2011 Euro-pean champion! Kowalski’s dominance left the fastestLatvians just behind: Janis Kuzmins was second andGustavs Gailitis third. Sadly, the No. 1 rider for 2012,Viking Hadestrand, was unable to compete; he spent

the weekend in a hospital in Riga because of stomachproblems that flared up just before the race.

In the women’s division, Latvia’s Lienite Skaraineand Germany’s Kathrin Sehl, the two ladies with themost titles in Europe, fought it out. Skaraine ended upfaster by .06 seconds to take the win. In third was theemerging star from Russia, Olesya Naumchik.

The junior group was a battle between the bestyoung Czech and Latvian slalomers. This time 2010junior world champion Edijs Jermacenko won by 0.02seconds, leaving the fastest Czech junior, Petr Matous,in second and another Latvian, Toms Dreiblats, in third.

The second day was also held indoors because it wasraining again. Neither the organizers nor the racers werehappy at all, but they decided it was better to raceindoors, even on a drastically shorter course, than cancelthe race. So the racing was moved to Monster Skateparkin Riga. An S-shaped 19-cone course was set for hybridslalom and a straight 18-cone course for tight. Timeswere in the 5- to 6-second range. Turn and burn, baby!

In the men’s hybrid, Kuzmins finished just 0.01 sec-onds ahead of Mikael Hadestrand to take the win.

Kowalski was third, .07 seconds behind Kuzmins. In thewomen’s group, Naumchik was the winner and left therest of the podium to the much more experienced Sehland Skaraine. In the Juniors, Czechs had their full revengeby taking both top spots – Matous took first and VojtaValena second. Dreiblats again grabbed the third spot.

In the straight slalom, Kowalski got another well-deserved win and took the overall honors, becomingthe European overall champion for the fifth (!!!) time ina row. Mikael Hadestrand again finished second andKuzmins was third. For ladies, Sehl won, leavingsecond for Naumchik and third for blonde Finnishslalomer Hanna Jaakola. The Junior title again went toPolicka city to the fastest European junior – Matous!Dreiblats got second and Valena third.

This was third time in the history of slalom skate-boarding that the European championships have beenheld in Latvia (previous in 1995 and 2006). The organizerswould like to thank everyone who participated and hopethat this year’s awful weather won’t frighten internationalriders to come again next year for some awesome racingwith the fastest guys in the world! CW


KOWALSKI AND SEHL TAKE OVERALL TITLES

By GUSTAVS GAILITIS

Dominik Kowalski on his way to winning the giantslalom and his fifth consecutive overall European

Championship. Photo: Monique SoderhallHybrid slalom champ Janis

Kuzmins. Photo: Jani Soderhall

Kathrin Sehl's three podium finishes earnedher the women's overall championship.

Photo: Monique Soderhall.


IGSA REPORT >>By MARCUS RIETEMA

MARYHILL FESTIVAL OF SPEED

After the two opening Australian rounds of the 2012season, the IGSA World Cup Series moved to theUnited States for the Maryhill Festival of Speed

June 27-July 1. Maryhill has firmly established itself asthe premier downhill race in America, and although therace course is not the most demanding or technical,riders’ skills are pushed to the limits in a high-speedgame of cat and mouse.

The first qualifying run was held on Friday. DouglasSilva had the fastest qualifying time with a 3:05.662,breaking the existing track record of 3:06.424 set byKevin Reimer in 2010. Silva had started the season offstrong with third- and second-place finishes at Mt.Keira and Newton’sNation, respectively. Mt.Keira winner Alex Tonguewas second, whilereigning World CupSeries champion PatrickSwitzer was third.

Saturday’s final quali-fying session saw ZakMaytum take the No. 1qualifying position awayfrom Silva and set a newtrack record in theprocess. The 2010 Mary-

hill champion from Boulder, Colorado, used a slalomboard to slice his way down the 2.2-mile (3.5-km) courseand post a time of 3:05.523. His effort enabled him tojump up nine grid positions while every other skater inthe top six was unable to improve on his Friday time. Theremainder of the top five was Silva in second, Tonguethird, Switzer fourth and Newton’s Nation winner MischoErban in fifth.

The weather conditions were perfect for Sunday’sbig race. A 96-rider bracket with heats of six was usedfor the main event. After a hard day of racing, the finallined up with top four qualifiers Maytum, Silva, Switzerand Tongue joined by two-time world champion Reimerand last year’s third-place finisher, Billy Meiners. Allsix riders were eager to get a good start in what theyknew would be a tactical battle to the finish. Off thestart Meiners veered into Reimer while they were stillpushing, causing both riders to go down. Silva used hislegendary push to jump out into the lead, followed bySwitzer, Maytum and Tongue. Reimer dusted himselfoff and went in hot pursuit of the leaders. As theyworked their way down the top third of the course, Silvaretained a narrow lead, with Tongue and Maytummoving up and dropping Switzer to fourth.

A long straightaway at approximately the halfwaypoint leads into the tight Edge Boardshop Corner. Silvastill maintained the narrowest of leads on the straightwhile Maytum and Tongue were close in a double draftwith Switzer lurking just behind. Tongue used the draftto perfection and was able to pass Silva for the lead onthe inside of Edge Corner. Silva attempted to movequickly into Tongue’s wake but misjudged the timing of

his maneuver and ran into the back of Alex’s board.Silva crashed hard and Tongue was lucky not to betaken out as well by the errant move.

Tongue, Maytum and Switzer were now runningnose to tail as they raced toward the infamous SeismicCowzer Corner. At this point, Switzer (also on a slalomdeck) played his hand to perfection, getting a run onMaytum and passing him on the outside! Then Tonguemade a mistake that can only be attributed to inexpe-rience. He drifted wide on the exit of Cowzer’s, openingup the inside (and quicker) line down the last longstraightaway. Switzer dove to the inside and hismomentum shot him into the lead. Maytum followedsuit, dropping Tongue to third. At the line, the finishorder was Switzer, Maytum and Tongue. Reimer bat-tled back from his disastrous start to finish fourth, Silvawas fifth and Meiners sixth.

MARYHILL FESTIVAL OF SPEEDTOP 10 FINAL RESULTS1. Patrick Switzer, Canada2. Zak Maytum, United States3. Alex Tongue, United States4. Kevin Reimer, Canada5. Douglas Silva, Brazil6. Billy Meiners, United States7. Felipe Malaga, Peru8. Niko Desmarais, Canada9. Dillon Stephens, Canada10. Max Wippermann, United States

Patrick Switzer rode a perfect race en route to victory.Photo: Jon Huey

Switzer leads Zak Maytum and Alex Tongue in the final.Photo: Jon Huey

Switzer celebrates his second Maryhill victory.Photo: Jon Huey


After dominating the 2011 Kozakov Challenge andearning his first World Cup victory of the 2012season at Maryhill, Patrick Switzer came into

Kozakov as the favorite. Switzer set the fastest time onthe first day of qualifying on a track that still had a fewwet patches from an overnight rainstorm.

The following day, conditions were perfect for thesecond qualifying run, and on average the times werethree seconds faster. 2010 Kozakov winner ChristophBatt posted a time of 2:24.914 that sent him to the topof the timesheets. Switzer crashed out on his secondqualifying attempt and dropped all the way down to19th. Douglas Silva showed the consistency he’s dis-played all year to qualify second. Nicolas Robert wasthird, James Kelly fourth and Kevin Bouaich was fifth,making it three Swiss skaters in the top five.

Rain was the big story on race day. Prior to thesemifinals, a torrential downpour soaked the track. Theextremely high speeds of the top and bottom sectionsof Kozakov make it too dangerous to run in the rain. Adecision was made to shorten the course by moving thestart lower and the finish higher. When the riders werecalled to the line for the semifinals, Switzer could notbe found, so the semi’s were run without him. Heturned up a few minutes later and explained that he

was switching back to dry wheels. Switzer came backfor the Consolation Final where he won and was cred-ited with fifth place.

Kevin Bouaich from Switzerland scored a surprisingvictory in the final. Zen Shikaze from Canada finishedsecond and was elated to earn a podium finish on hisfirst European tour. Sebastian Hertler from Germanyscored his first World Cup podium by finishing third.Canadian Dillon Stephens was fourth. The victory wasthe first for Bouaich at the World Cup level. He hasshown great speed in the past but has never been ableto convert that speed into a victory.

Bouaich is now the fourth different winner in the

four World Cups contestedso far this year. With theenormous rise in talentthroughout the downhillskateboarding world, a greatdeal of parity has alsoevolved in 2012. DouglasSilva has been the most con-sistent so far, but he’s stillfailed to earn a victory thisyear. It doesn’t look like any-body can put together afour-race win streak likeSwitzer did in 2011. Who willwin the World Cup SeriesChampionship in 2012? It’sanybody’s guess.

KOZAKOV CHALLENGETOP 10 FINAL RESULTS1. Kevin Bouaich, Switzerland2. Zen Shikaze, Canada3. Sebastian Hertler, Germany4. Dillon Stephens, Canada5. Patrick Switzer, Canada6. Zak Maytum, United States7. Chip Wood, United States8. Adam Persson, Sweden9. Thiago Gomes Lessa, Brazil10. Calvin Staub, United States

KOZAKOV CHALLENGE

Sebastian Hertler earned his first World Cup podiumfinish. Photo: Dave Kessler

Zen Shikaze was stoked to finish second in his Europeandebut. Photo: Dave Kessler

Kevin Bouaich surprised many with his Kozakov win.Photo: Jeri Becka


IGSA REPORT >>By MARCUS RIETEMA

PADOVA GRAND PRIXI

t seems inconceivable that JamesKelly was winless in IGSA World Cupraces going into the Padova Grand

Prix. James is known as one of the bestall-around longboarders on the face ofthe earth. He makes it to the finals on aregular basis and has numerouspodium finishes, but somehow the topstep of the podium has eluded him.James told me at the beginning of theseason that he was focusing on racingthis year and to expect better results.But after starting the season off strongwith fourth-and fifth-place finishes in

Australia, his results at Maryhill andKozakov had been dismal.

Going into the race he felt confidentthat a good result could come in Italy.During Friday’s first qualifying run, Kellyset a new track record of 1:57.857 thateclipsed the two-year-old course recordof 1:57.888 established by RamónKönigshausen. Saturday’s second qual-ifying run saw Königshausen take theNo. 1 qualifying position with anamazing 1:57.146 that broke Kelly’s day-old track record. Both Kelly and PatrickSwitzer were unable to improve on theirFriday efforts but were able to hang onto second and third, respectively. MischoErban would start fourth and DouglasSilva fifth.

After working through a 64-riderbracket with heats of four, the final linedup on the start. It featured Königshausen,

Kelly, Silva and a surprising Luke Melo,who had made his way into the finaldespite starting from the 15th position. Offthe line and down the high-speed topstraightaway, Silva took the lead followedby Kelly, Königshausen and Melo. Goinginto the first hard left, both Silva and Kellywere carrying too much speed. Silvacrashed hard into the bales and bouncedback onto the course where he collidedwith Königshausen, causing him tocrash. Kelly slid wide, losing most of hisspeed but remaining upright. Thisenabled Melo, the only rider to make it

through the turn cleanly, to pass Kellyand move into the lead. He held the leadfor five more hairpins with Kellybreathing down his neck.

The pressure must have become toomuch for Melo, because he slid out andnearly came to a complete stop. Kellyrolled on by and went unchallenged allthe way to the finish to score his maidenWorld Cup victory. Melo recovered to

finish second and earn his first WorldCup podium. Silva and Königshausenboth got up after their crashes and bat-tled all the way to the finish. In the endSilva narrowly beat Königshausen to theline for the final podium position.

James Kelly thus became the fifthdifferent winner of the five World Cupraces held so far in 2012. The level ofcompetition is greater than ever, and westill haven’t seen perennial contenderslike Silva and Kevin Reimer reach thetop step of the podium. We have nearlyreached the halfway point in the seasonand the title is still up for grabs. Switzer

and Silva are leading in the points, butKelly, Alex Tongue and Dillon Stephensaren’t far behind. It will be interesting tosee how Peyragudes and Calgary shakeup the points..

PADOVA GRAND PRIXTOP 10 FINAL RESULTS1. James Kelly, United States2. Luke Melo, Canada3. Douglas Silva, Brazil4. Ramón Königshausen, Switzerland5. Patrick Switzer, Canada6. Adam Persson, Sweden7. Dillon Stephens, Canada8. Erik Lundberg, Sweden9. Nicolas Robert, Switzerland10. Zen Shikaze, Canada

James Kelly (second from right) threads the needle in Teolo.Photo: Liz Kinnish

Douglas Silva was using the “Swiss Brake” tech-nique in Italy. Photo: Dave Kessler

Luke Melo was stoked to finish second.Photo: Dave Kessler

vol 11 no 2

Documents

jani soderhall

monique soderhall

lance smith

jon huey

dan bourqui

jonathan strauss

dan schwartz

drew burke