vol 11 no 3

Vol.11 No.3 HOLIDAYS 2012

$4.95Worldwide Agreement Number1.61803399

LONGBOARD REPORTS FROM

AUSTRALIAAND CHINA

THE RIGHT TO SHRED

PHOTOISSUE

16 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2012

CONTENTS >>

30 EDITORIAL38 LETTERS42 NOTEWORTHY54 COMPANY PROFILE: WEFUNK56 A MOMENT IN TIME58 TRAVELS WITH THE HUMBLE HIPPIE60 A HOPKIN WAY OF LIFE – THE OZ REPORT64 NEW YORK CITY MEMORIES66 LONGBOARDING IN CHINA68 BUFFALO BILL DOWNHILL 70 FRENCH FRIES, TRAPPIST BEER AND LONGBOARDS74 THE RIGHT TO SHRED THE GNAR78 PHOTO SECTION96 RIDER PROFILE: VICTOR EARHART 98 GIRLS OVER WHEELS MINI TRIP104 ARTIST PROFILES:

NATHAN BISHOP & MICHELLE SANCHEZ107 WHY I DO WHAT I DO – MICHAEL BREAM108 I RIDE I RECYCLE MOVEMENT

HOLIDAYS 2012

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Vol. 11 No. 3 HOLIDAYS 2012

PUBLISHER/EDITOR Michael Brooke | [email protected]

ART DIRECTOR Mark Tzerelshtein | MarkintoshDesign.com

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): Max Dubler, Dragos Zamfirescu, Jesus A.Fernandez, Carola Dottori, Bosco McAuley, Colleen Cleveland, Brent Veverka, Jeff Vyain,Acid Fernandez, Cindy Whitehead, Dusty Ray, Adam Yates, Nigel Dawes, Travis Horsfall,James Hopkin, Rob McWhinnie, Luca Coleman, Roman Baska, Francesca Terzi, GiulioFagiolini, Julien Moreau, Cameron Bowser, Jilli Bethany, Mathieu Bonte, Xavier Ethuin,Nick Klein, R. Buliung, Gordon Timpen, Nick Stevens, Ray Rae Goldman, Ben Young,Yahav Trudler, Barbara Britvin, Jonathan Nuss, Stan Evans, Marc Robitaille, LanceDalgart, Jeff Budro, Vicky Volpini, Nathan Bishop, Keir Vichert, Michelle Sanchez,Michael Bream, Renee Rosensteel, Tara Wujcik and Brian Babish.

concretewavemagazine.com Concrete Wave is published by North of La Jolla Inc.

Subscriptions (5 issues) are US$26 FIRST CLASS or CAN$26. Address change? Magnot arriving? Email us... don’t go postal. We can sort it out. [email protected] will notify you when your subscription expires. Publisher’s permission isrequired before reproducing any part of this magazine. The views and opinionsexpressed in Concrete Wave are not necessarily those of the publisher. We hap-pily accept articles and photos. Please contact the publisher directly [email protected] before you submit anything. We are looking for a varietyof stories and images as long as they are skate-related.

COVER: Calvin Staub. Photo: Max Dubler

OPENING SPREAD: Maitane Rascon of Spain's Buddywood Longboards cuts back. Photo: Jesus A. Fernandez

TM

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

SEARCH/SPARK/STOKE

SEARCH/SPARK/STOKE


EDITORIAL >>

This past summer, the Los Angeles city councilvoted to ban skaters who ride faster than 10miles per hour. Also in California, city officials,

longboarders and concerned citizens in the town ofLaguna Beach have been trying to work out a compro-mise as streets get banned. Meanwhile, in North andWest Vancouver, British Columbia city officials haveenacted bans on skating on certain streets. And inMoncton, New Brunswick, longboarders are now facingfines of up to $125 for riding on the street or sidewalk.

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

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

boarder. We have those who are brand new to long-boarding who charge onto hills they have no businessbeing on. There are freeriders and downhillers withcomplete mastery of their equipment and who knowwhat they are doing and use sound judgment. Thereare longboard commuters who just want to ride totheir destination without using fossil fuels. And wecan’t forget the huge number of riders at colleges whoalso use longboards for transportation.

For many cities, road bans are a way of placatingirate and freaked-out drivers. Quite often, whenreports of a ban crop up, there will be a number ofpeople in the comments section of a website who justbash longboarding. Some are trolls, but for the mostpart they rant and generally dismiss the idea of long-boards as one enormous pain in the butt. Thankfully,

there are a number of longboarders who carefullydetail the realities of what’s going on and rationallyexplain things.

Are some longboarders reckless? The truth is that,yes, we do have some folks out there doing some seri-ously questionable things. But we also have atremendous number of reckless drivers and bicyclists.The problem for longboarding is that things get blownout of proportion. According to the National SafetyCouncil (www.nsc.org), an estimated 5,000 children inthe USA aged 14 and under are hospitalized due tounintentional drowning-related incidents each year. Onaverage, two children PER DAY die in those incidents,and more than 1,000 suffer a severe, permanent neu-rological disability. Despite these incidents, no one iscalling for the abolition of swimming pools or banningpeople from swimming in rivers.

The other thing I often wonder about is where exactlydo we want law enforcement to spend their time? I canthink of a number of significant issues that the policeshould focus their efforts on rather than skateboarding.This includes domestic violence, rape and gang activity.From what I have seen in my 37 years on a board, skate-boarding leads people to a healthier life.

There is still a great deal of misunderstanding fromthe general public about what longboarding is allabout. For example, RCMP Sgt. Pierre Parenteau wasquoted in the CBC article on the Moncton ban as sayingthat “longboards belong in skate parks. The problemis that longboard skateboards don’t really fit on thestreets and sidewalks.” I strongly disagree with thisidea, and I am pretty sure you do as well. If you wantlongboarding to progress, then you’re going to have tostep off your board every now and then and step up.Step up and tell the powers that be why you do whatyou do, and advocate for what you want as a long-boarder. Otherwise, you’ll find that your freedom to ridewill slowly but surely be diminished. Step up now or youmight be stepping off permanently later.

Enjoy the issue!Michael Brooke,

Publisher

STEPPING ON,OFF OR UP?

Andres PriviteraPhoto:Carola Dottori


LETTERS >>

PADRE E FIGLIOJI’ve just read your “groms and geezers” edito-rial in CW Spring 2012 (and the related piece byHeidi Lemmon and the article “Attack of theMicro-Groms”). Thrilling. They perfectly reflectthe search/spark/stoke that my 7-year-old kidand I experience sk8ing together (and with ourcrew!). Leo and I sk8 together almost everyday, from commuting to school to parks andhills. Here’s a vid we shot with my phone inBoston (yes, in Boston – I’m a professor ofchemistry at Brescia University and I spent thissummer at MIT as a visiting professor):http://vimeo.com/49022861

It is fantastic to know there are peoplesharing and promoting as we do thesk8boarding essence, far beyond rules, disci-plines, competition, fashion and business.

Also, I’m happy that the Italian scene, whichafter a decade black period is now deflagratingin a great variety of directions, is finding someplace in CW. Thanks.

Sk8 everything!Paolo Bergese

Università di Brescia, ITALY

ROLLING (AND READING) FOR LIFEAs a 40+ fella (one who has been told he is tooold to ride a board with wheels on it) who hassubscribed to tons of magazines in my years,CW is by far superior. In fact, I have let most ofthem expire, but I will subscribe to CW for life.CW has a wide variety of stories, crisp picturesand interesting new stuff about rolling, which isas near to my heart as snowboarding and myfamily. Longboarding is always on my mind,and I find time to ride almost every day whenthere is not snow here in Wyoming. SometimesI catch myself after a long, tiring day of worklooking at the mag, and it motivates me to grabmy board and get out there for one more run.Keep it up. No doubt CW keeps me Searching,Sparked and Stoked! as I look forward to manymore pushes down the road.

Jeff D.Pinedale, WY

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

Regards,Steve Mark

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

Thanks,Brenda C.

Cleveland, Ohio

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

Best wishes,Michael

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

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

TUNNELShaped in 1982, whenskating moved away fromparks and onto the streets,the Tunnel Street Rocker is a9” x 30” 7-ply deck with asingle kick and mild concave.Pressed in California andwith die-cut grip, the StreetRocker features retro-stylegraphics and wheel wells allthe way around. This deck is the perfectsize for a cruiser — equally at homebombing a hill or ollieing over a trash can,’80s style. tunnelskateboards.com

NELSON

The Stingray brings the locked-in feelingof dropped boards into the world of top-mounts. The dramatic wheel flares infront, tight “cereal bowl” transition inback, 5/8” Nelson Concave and mild W inthe back create the ideal platform fordownhill and freeride. The KT versioncomes with a full kicktail, making for avery versatile board – great for poppingan ollie or mixing more technical tricksinto your riding. nelsonlongboards.com

TROJANTrojan Glovesbrings you rub-berized fingertipprinting to makesure you don’tlose grip on yourboard. Equippedwith Venom high-p e r f o r m a n c eslide pucks, thesehand-weapons boast perforated leatherbacking, reinforced wear points, double-stitched seams and style worthy of theThriller. madridskateboards.com

GANGSTER GRIP

Venom Racing USA is proud to announceGangster Grip, the most thugnificent griptape on the market. You get three 10.5” x12” pieces of rough-ass grip tape and agangster s—t sticker sheet. Regrip all your boards so we get hood rich. fullcircledistribution.com

VENOM

When he’s out bombing hills, VenomRacing USA team rider and head scientistZak Maytum grabs rail and puts his handdown like it’s his job; so we decided tomake some slide pucks. They’re everythingyou need: round, beveled, red, and trickedout with a sweet-ass snake graphic. Getsome at fullcircledistribution.com.

HONEYThe crew atHoney Skate-boards has beenbusy putting several prototypes through thepaces to dial in two new downhill boardsand a freeride board. Race tested at Mary-hill and Buffalo Bill, the new DFR and theAttack have a deep yet comfortable concavethat inspires confidence at speed. Boththese boards deserve a place in your quiver.The freeride Honey Badger has two per-fectly sized and angled kicks that make apop-up spring right into your hand. Thisfreeride board is a must-ride if not a must-have. All three possess the unmatchedquality that Honey has become known for.honeyskateboards.com

KLEVER

Klever’s new line for holiday 2012 fea-tures all new designs. The Kwiki modelhas been fattened up to a 9-ply with newgraphics and wheel-well notches. TheVortex concave has been mellowed andfeatures a limited-edition graphic designby local musician Tyson Marshall. TheDrift has been described as our “standymachine” — heelside or toeside, thissymmetrical beast has more aggressiveW concave than the Vortex and has newwheel-well cutouts for more clearanceover our previous model. The SmartBomb 37” is our most popular raceboard, feeding our sponsored riders’need for a performance topmount.kleverskateboards.com

BUDDYWOOD

Based in Spain, Buddywood Longboardshave a wide range of unique decks. Theirlatest is the Tuvalu. The combination ofsandwiched laminated bamboo at its corein addition to several layers of epoxy lam-inate and Canadian maple veneersmakes this 33.3” longboard extremelystrong. Its small size makes it nimble andmaneuverable, and it glides with incred-ible ease. Shove-it tricks and slides areeffortless. The camber gives it a soft flexand the drop-through construction

enhances stability, making this compactlongboard the perfect ally for practicingboth giant slalom as well as quick-turnslopes. buddywoodcustommade.com

VOLANTEThe VolanteSerrata fea-tures a53mm con-tact patchand 72mm diameter. It is a technicaldownhill wheel perfected. Add the samewhite “Checker” thane that has thefamed buttery-smooth slide and consis-tent grip and you have the recipe for theSerrata. Tested by Liam Morgan and EricJensen, we’re excited to have a wheelthat performs under every condition.volantewheels.com

CALIFORNIA BONZINGCalifornia Bonzing Skate-boards has shaped up a newboard for their quiver: theUrban Shred Sled. It fea-tures a 5/8” drop and comesas a topmount and drop-through. Johnny “Guitar”Watson was a great musi-cian and helped inspire theUrban Shred Sled graphic.Johnny said, “Funk isfunny. Funk is looking atthe world and saying, ‘Itain’t what it seems. It ain’t what it shouldbe. It ain’t what I expected. It’s funky.’Chad Lybrand was inspired by Johnny’smusic and drew the graphic for the UrbanShred Sled. californiabonzing.com

RESTLESSRestless Longboards is proudto present two promising newadditions to its lineup, theFishbowl and the Concorde.The Fishbowl is an evolu-tionary mix of our BigBoy andSplinter. It will be rocking 8plies of maple, a bowl con-cave, twin-tip kicktails, wheelwells and gas pedals. With its41” length, 10” width and

HOLIDAYS 2012 CONCRETE WAVE 43

29.5” wheelbase, it’s theperfect freeride machine.As for the Concorde, it’s afreeride-inspired downhilltopmount. With its 8 plies ofmaple, W concave, wheelwells and gas pedals, 36”length, 10.25” width and a26”-28.5” wheelbase, thisnew beast is designed forspeed and agility. restlesslongboards.com

LOADEDBorrowed fromdormant spaceshuttle fuse-lages, our newmounting hard-ware is here and ready to hold it down.Made from extremely strong steel (signifi-cantly stronger than Grade 8), theseflange-head bolts integrate the washer intothe bolt itself to reduce the height of thebearings while still distributing load pres-sure. The hex socket is slightly recessedbeneath the surface of the bolt for extradurability, while a non-threaded portion ofthe bolt increases strength and creates asmoother interface with the mountingholes of the deck. loadedboards.com

BLOOD ORANGE

Blood Orange has been hard at work tosee if they could outdo their previous for-mula. They’ve developed a superiorbushing poured from the highest-quality,American-made urethane available. TheUltra-High Rebound urethane formulacreates a bushing that doesn’t lose itsuniform leaning properties, which isessential for downhill stability whileholding turns at high speeds. Coming in arange of durometers from 80A to 92A,they’re sure you can find a combinationthat works for you. Ultra-High Rebound89A Blood Orange bushings can alreadybe found stocked in all Caliber Trucks.skatebloodorange.com

ROAROCKIT HITS DOWN UNDER

With skateboarding in Australia morepopular than ever, Australian schoolsand individual board builders havereally embraced Roarockit materialsand technology. Many schools nowinclude skateboard building in theircurriculum, covering a range of sub-jects, including art & design, scienceand not to forget, woodwork. Justin andBelinda offer a range of Roarockit prod-ucts. australianskateboardkits.com

FOOARAGE SKATEBOARD COMPANYFooARage discovered Roarockit whilelooking for a supplier of Canadian maplewood veneers in the U.K. to start theirproject, teaching local youths how to build askateboard! The partnership has grownand they are now officially a U.K./EU sup-plier of Roarockit technology and materials!

In February 2012, Nicola and BrentLewis also founded FooARage, the U.K.’sfirst professional school for skateboardand longboard deck building. They havesince started many outreach programswith youth groups throughout Kent. Nicolaand Brent recognize how great it is to bringthis to the U.K. and to give youth theopportunity to do something to benefit theskateboarding culture and create sustain-able projects. facebook.com/FooARage

ARBORArbor is proud to intro-duce their BambooSeries skateboardsincluding the Timeless,Fish and Axis, featuringthe “organic” artworkof Nanami Cowdroy.Bamboo is incrediblystrong, yet flexible andeasy to shape. Byadding bamboo as a deck-side power ply,they create a hybrid maple construction

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

The Timeless Bamboo pintail offers asmooth, open-stance ride, a wide concaveplatform and a longwheelbase for incred-ible stability, making itideal for carving theslopes with maximumstyle. The Fish Bamboocompact pin featuresan extended wheelbaseand a time-honoredteardrop shape. Itsmedium flex allows it to excel as both acruiser and urban carver. The AxisBamboo is an all-wood drop-throughcruiser. A symmetrical, snowboard-inspired waist and camber give you snappyrail-to-rail performance, and the drop-through truck mounting gets you lower tothe ground to power through turns andslides. arborcollective.com

LOADEDLoaded’s AdvancedFreeride Gloves fulfillthe needs of theexperienced downhills k a t e b o a r d e rseeking an optimalbalance of protection,dexterity and comfort. Dual-layer leatherreinforcement provides abrasion resist-ance in high contact areas. Streamlinedleather and foam knuckle protectioncushions against impact and uses a seg-mented design for enhanced dexterity.Moisture-wicking COOLMAX mesh keepshands cool and comfortable, while a ven-tilation window increases airflow withoutsacrificing protection in high-risk contactpoints. A long wrist strap fits over the cuffof a jacket or leathers, and durablereflective edging keeps you visible andsafe so you can keep throwing it sidewaysfor years to come. loadedboards.com

NAVIGATORJoining the likes of our freeriders, down-hill speedboarders and pool/park riders,“Vegas” is now a part of Navigator’s con-stantly expanding longboard team force.Vegas is equipped and ready to take

on the downhill scene at top speeds. navigatortrucks.com

OUST

OUST UBER bushings are manufacturedusing a blended pre-polymer urethane.This means they are ridiculouslyresilient! When we compressed themwith 40,000 pounds of pressure for threeminutes they returned to their originalshape in 27 seconds. Try and do that withyour bushings! Call 310-212-3000 oremail [email protected].

DISSENTDissent longboards aresome of the world’s mostexpensive decks. Why isthis? They’re manufac-tured by OUSTComposites, starting witha blend of USA-made high-performance aerospacecarbon fiber, high tensilestrength epoxy resins anda high-strength, super-flexible inner core. Theouter skins are Tonkinbamboo and an array ofother exotic African,Brazilian and USA-grown woods. Theinner core can be adjusted in thickness toaccommodate different weight skaters.The high-performance layup of carbonfiber can be changed for different flexesand recovery time or pop. The high-strength epoxy is used to ensure properadhesion and eliminate failure. Call 310-212-3000 or email [email protected].



will offer different full-color graphics onRaKs. RaKs are CNC slotted to hold fourcompletes or decks and are made in theUSA. kleverskateboards.com

GROW ANTHOLOGY

Each Grow Anthology longboard is 75-100sheets of paper, which gives them incred-ible strength and flex. The paper is FSCcertified by the Rainforest Alliance, meaningit comes from sustainably managed forestsor recycling facilities. All production is in theU.S., and a tree is planted for every boardsold. growanthology.com

TRIPLE EIGHTTriple Eight isstoked toannounce theupcoming 2013release of thePatrick Switzer ProModel helmet. This helmet will bringeverything you already know and loveabout our Dual Certified Brainsaverw/EPS liner but spec’d out just toPatrick’s likings, including some originalartwork designed by Tamara Prader. Thehelmet is great for freeriding, sliding orjust pushing around town. Also, keep aneye out in 2013 for some fresh newtweaks they’re making to the Triple 8 DHRacer helmet, which will bring this full-face to a whole new level. triple8.com

LOADED (RE)LOCATIONLoaded finallybusted at theseams! They’vemoved. All mail inquiries and deliveriesshould be sent to their new address:10575 Virginia Avenue, Culver City, CA 90230

FIREBALLThe Scorch is theworld’s firstf l a w l e s s l ysymmetricalf r e e r i d ewheel. Thereis absolutely nodifference between the front and backof the wheel. This gives the rider betterwear through the use of a perfect wheelrotation. fireballwheels.com

MILK

The pro model for Nick “Milk” Sutarz is a33” topmount that combines the best of anumber of brands. It comes gripped withVicious Grip tape. For wholesale orderscontact [email protected].

LIGHT BOHRD

Light Bohrd’s new Urban Commuterdeck keeps you safe on your midnightmissions with built-in illumination. Thisdeck features fully integrated, recharge-able, motion-activated lights in the noseand tail; white in the front lets driversknow you’re heading toward them, andred in the back says you’re moving away.Best of all, a charge gives you eight hoursof illumination, so you’re in good handsany time of the night. lightbohrd.com

THE RaKKlever were sick and tired ofsmudges on the walls fromwheels, boards randomlylying around and their worksof art having no home orplace of their own. Availablethis holiday season, Klever

SK8KINGSSk8Kings intro-duces twoadditions to itsAxe Woodydeck series.Previously onlyavailable in theUltimate Seriescarbon fibercomposite con-struction, theWoody Series Joe McLaren Axe 2.5 andthe Axe III are pressed from the sameproven Sk8Kings Axe molds in 7-plymicro-core maple and in matchingdimensions of the higher-end versions.New Woody Series decks offer an ultra-affordable option to fit any budget.sk8kings.com

EARTHWINGEarthwing has justmade the hardestskateboard wheelever. This dual-duro tech-slidewheel has amazingsliding power. The 86B outer hardnessmeans they wear less and slide morewithout sacrificing the control that Earth-wing slide wheels are known for due tothe higher-quality urethane. Flatspottingis possible, but has not been seen at allyet. earthwingskates.com

CORRECTIONSGravity unfortunately left off the name oftheir photographer in their last ad.Michael Scholl, you are not forgotten now!

CRUISIN’ FOR A CAUSE

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

other types of downhill events. The seriesalso introduced area skaters to the worldof downhill.

Finally, after a season full of events, itwas time to introduce the local downhillcommunity to some of the top racers inthe world. Hundreds of hours of planningand meetings went into creating a two-day IGSA NorAm race with the goal ofgetting in as many runs as possible!

Despite precarious weather the nightbefore the event that was described bysome as “monsoon like,” by daybreak theclouds broke and the race was on! Theevent started on time thanks to hugesupport from the City of Akron, whichsponsored the event by providing police,road closures, rider transport and anewly paved race road thanks in part toShelly and Sands who donated their timeand effort towards completely repavingmost of the race course.

Qualifying went seamlessly and evenended early, allowing race officials toreopen the hill for more practice. KyleWester from Boulder, Colorado, domi-nated qualifying in the Open DownhillSkateboarding division. Wester posted atime of 52.810 to lead the first round andthen lowered his time even further to a51:431 in the second round. His time wasmore than a full second faster thanMatthew English, who qualified secondwith a time of 52.462. Mike Jakubiec wasthird with a time of 53.114. Luke Melo wasfourth with a time of 53.178. Quin Finoc-chio rounded out the top five and also ledthe Jr. II division with a time of 54.122.

Saturday night saw a repeat of Friday’smonsoon conditions, but once again comerace day it was all blue skies and dry’phalt. Despite the name “Rubber City,”from Akron having been the home of sev-eral major tire manufacturers, there wasonly urethane left on the new pavementas racers battled it out all day long.

Matt English won a hotly contested

RUBBER CITY GRAVITY GAMESThe first annual Rubber City Gravity Gamescan be summarized in a few short phrases:40+ practice runs, live-streaming webcast,fortunate weather and one of the best racevibes of any event.

Home to the inaugural Rubber CityGravity Games, Akron, Ohio, is nostranger to world-class gravity racing. For75 years, Derby Downs in Akron hasplayed host to the All American Soap BoxDerby World Championships. Recognizingthe possibility to host other gravity-basedsports, the AASBD decided to kick it up anotch in 2011 by starting a relationshipwith the downhill community. AASBDboard member Bob Cohen led the chargeby reaching out to industry notables suchas Marcus Rietema and Michael Brooke.Shortly after, organizers, racers and cityofficials were all on board working towardthe goal of growing downhill racing andparticipation through safety, educationand a dedicated place to ride.

In 2012, a not-for-profit corporationwas formed to govern the Ohio GravitySeries, a series of downhill events held atDerby Downs thanks to the AASBD pro-viding the use of their facilities. Eventsincluded “Start to Skate/Learn to LugeDays,” Open Hill Days, demo events and,finally, the 2012 Rubber City GravityGames! The program successfully cross-promoted gravity racing with the Derby byexposing these two groups of racers to

Open Downhill Skateboarding division bybeating out top qualifier Kyle Wester, withLuke Melo taking third and William Roycerounding out the final. Due to the smoothoperation of the race, the event officialswere able to run off all of the positions inheat races from the quarterfinalsonward. Winning the Consolation Finalfor positions 5-8 was Mike Jakubiec, withQuin Finocchio sixth, Max Vickers in sev-enth and Cam Brickenden in eighth. GregPaproski won the Junior I class, Junior 2class honors went to Quin Finocchio, andRachel Rayne took the Women’s class,with notable local rider Jenn DeMarcotaking third, and Street Luge going to topqualifier Justin Crenshaw.

Talks are already under way for a 2013season of events including the secondinstallment of the Rubber City GravityGames. For more information and com-plete results, visit OhioGravitySeries.com.

BROOKLYN WORKSHOP DESIGNSWORLD’S FIRST SKATE SHOE FORLONGBOARDINGAn interview with founder Alon Karpman

How did these shoes come about?Alon Karpman: We have been working ona longboard design for the past few yearsas our next product. But because we areworking with new and difficult materials,and a production process that doesn’texist, it’s taking longer than we hoped. Icommute to work on my longboard and,like most people who ride, was wearingthrough my sneakers pretty rapidly. Thisgot me thinking about what it would taketo make a shoe geared toward long-boarding. I decided to send an email toMichael DiTullo. He’s a designer thatstarted out at Nike and Jordan, and then,when Nike bought Converse, was pro-moted to design director of Converse. Hewas there for about eight years. The goalwas to get some advice on the idea of a

longboard shoe. Michael was also a con-tributing editor for core77.com, adesign-centric blog. He often gave advicein his posts about shoe design and designphilosophies. I really enjoyed his posts.Also didn’t hurt that he was at Converseduring the time I was really into all thehigh-end Converse lines they were put-ting out. I thought at the very least hewould give me some insight as to whatwas going on in the industry in terms ofproduction and the skate market. Sur-prised the s--t out of me when he wroteback an hour later. His reply was that hewas familiar with Brooklyn Workshop andthe Skatecycle, and congratulated me onthe design award I received for that. Atthe end of the email he wrote, “Let’smake a shoe.” I was only thinking to seedthe idea and hopefully make these in afew years, after introducing our board.But you don’t say no to an opportunity towork with a guy like this. And so here weare with the Elby.

What are some of the key features thatyou’ve put into the design that makesthem attractive to long boarders?We are currently running a contestwhere people send pictures of theirbusted shoes. Over and over again yousee holes in the same spots on theuppers. I think most people who wear outtheir shoes quickly will recognize therubber overlays on the usual areas thatare prone to wear out. But everyoneneeds to keep in mind that this is our firstoffering and is meant to be a generalfreeriding shoe. It’s not specific fordownhill or super long-distance pushing.It is an extremely comfortable shoe withcoverage on the problem areas and anabrasion-resistant sole.

What has been the initial feedbackfrom skaters?Overall it’s been amazing. I’m surprisedby how many have been waiting for this. Ithink the biggest thing about this is that



Junior II class podium. Photo: Brent Veverka

Women’s champ Rachel Rayne. Photo: Colleen Cleveland

Photo: Colleen Cleveland


the future is that I am highly obsessiveand can’t stop myself from putting in aproblematic amount of time into theseshoes. One thing I hope every longboardercan be happy about is that they will notsuffer in silence anymore! For info and topurchase, visit brooklynworkshop.com.

KISSING HANDS AND SHAKING BABIES TOUR

The Switchback Longboards KHSBT(Kissing Hands and Shaking Babies Tour)was a trip from coast to coast with theintention of meeting as many customersas possible. As an online shop, we usu-ally only get to skate with the closest offriends and always seem to miss out onskating with our extended family.

In three weeks we visited 18 differentcities for events, leaving time for one dayof surfing in Lawrencetown, courtesy ofHappy Dudes Surf Emporium, and oneday of skating some of the best runs inCanada over on the east coast. Duringour journey we skated everything fromflat streets to mountain runs and quite afew dirt paths.

We traveled in our favorite yellowschool bus, pulling a cargo trailer out-fitted with a bunk bed setup, courtesy ofDouglas Metal Works. With all our gearand all the giveaway product packed intothe trailer and bus, there was still roomfor 11 people — barely. The trailer wasalso outfitted with solar panels to keepour computers and cameras chargedwhile editing 20 or so videos — one ofeach city, two weekly videos, two racevideos and a few more yet to come.

The full-time bus crew consisted ofNick Jean, Kelsey Crozier, Riley BrownTown, Dominique Vukorep, Andrew Drake-ford, Jeremy Banting, Braden Tibbles,Justin Readings and Scott Nuttall, and wepicked up a few stragglers along the way,including Rylan “Raggie” English, CamBrick, Beau Ho and Adam Winston.

we invested a substantial amount ofmoney and resources to finally have themarket catered to. I hope everyoneunderstands that this is the first shoe, notthe last. And all feedback (good/bad) iswelcome so we can continue to evolveand make it better. It’s nice to see howpeople connect with the shoe and howthey appreciate the commitment we havemade into the sport.

Longboarders love to footbrake likecrazy. How will your shoes help lessenthe wear on the sole?A lot of people enjoy vulcanized shoesbecause they have thin soles and a greatamount of grip. But the downside is thatthin and grippy soles are made fromsofter rubbers that wear our really fast.Our focus was to get a compound thatcould retain all the grip and board feel butnot wear out so easily. No sole is inde-structible, but at least we can get it to lastlonger than what’s available on themarket right now. The chemistry isn’teasy, but we got it. A typical Vans vulcan-ized shoe is at about a .02 in the lab wetested. Ours is a .11. That’s 10 times moreabrasion-resistant, while still being justas grippy — not an easy thing to achieve.That doesn’t mean it will last 10 timeslonger; it just means that it will lastlonger. The next step we are working on isto get even more vibration dampening onthe sole, and especially the heel, withoutlosing any board feel.

Should skaters expect high-tops? Whatabout other future features?Michael is working on padded mid-topsas we speak. And all I can tell you about

Every day we had a long drive, thelongest of which was 11 hours overnightleaving from one event and arriving at thenext. In true Switchback fashion we wereon time at almost every event; the firstone we were late for was Montreal, andthat wasn’t even our fault, really.

Overall the KHSBT was a huge suc-cess for us. Along the way we saweverything imaginable, including thenorthern lights, the largest goose, thebiggest nickel/teepee/blueberry, Jasperthe bear and every province’s sign, and wehad a hell of a time skating with everyonewe met on the tour. We can only hope thateveryone else enjoyed it just as much.

Now all that’s left is to thank oursponsors for making the whole thing pos-sible! Rayne Longboards, Hawgs Wheels,Predator Helmets, Bear Trucks, ViciousGrip and Hollow Point Bearings broughtus from Vancouver to the east coast andback in one piece. Without them wewouldn’t have made it on the first ferry ...which we missed anyway.

Visit switchbacklongboards.com/tourto check out videos from every city, to seewho supported us, where we went andthe trouble we got into along the way.

LONGBOARDING FOR PEACE UPDATEWe are now working with a number ofcompanies to spread the stoke on Long-boarding for Peace. Landyachtz, Honey,Sector 9 and Triple 8 graciously donatedproduct for our initiative with Grant Shilling

in Comox Valley, British Columbia. You’lllearn more about this in our next issue. Aspecial thank you to Metro Wheels, ReyTrucks, American Stoke.com, TungstenBearings, Light Bohrd and Road Shark,who have all teamed up with Longboardingfor Peace to help spread the word.


Photo: Jeff Vyain


33-year-old Siti Rosita, a.k.a. BeautyAnn DeBeast (Mom)44-year-old Zainudin, a.k.a. Dynno DeBeast ( Dad)

Who was the first member of the familyto take an interest in longboarding?My eldest, Danny DeBeast, requested mypermission to buy a second-hand long-board, a Globe pintail with [Original] S10trucks and Zombie Hawgs wheels. DinieDeBeast, who was already into skate-boarding, joined the sport after trying hisbrother’s deck, and the rest soon followed(including mom and dad). We now eachhave our own longboard and spares too.

THE FIRST FAMILY OF SINGAPORELONGBOARDINGBy Acid FernandezAs a foreigner and a longboarder in Sin-gapore, I find myself hanging out at theusual skate spots and bumming aroundat local longboard shops. I get to see allsorts of people taking up longboarding.Often you will see dads or moms, or both,buying their sons or daughters their firstlongboard or upgrading to new gear. Wefind ourselves joking to the kids, tellingthem how lucky they are and asking iftheir mom or dad could adopt us.

I thought that the DeBeast family wasjust like the usual group that would comearound the shop and buy their kids alongboard, but I soon realized that everymember of the family actually has theirown gear.

This made me curious about how theybecame a family of longboarders, so I satdown with the family patriarch, DynnoDeBeast.

Who are the members of the DeBeast Family?16-year-old Muhammad Shakeel, a.k.a. Danny DeBeast13-year-old Dinie Azraff, a.k.a. Dinie DeBeast11-year-old Muhammad Danish, a.k.a. Danish2big DeBeast9-year-old Danish Azraff, a.k.a. Danish DeBeast

SECTOR 9

The Field Bag is a unique way to carryyour longboard and equipment. It con-verts from travel bag to backpack andvice versa. It has numerous pockets,along with a pouch for your helmet. Thebag folds out to 52” x 11.25” x 9”. Theouter board straps make for easy trans-portation, and everything is secured byinner board straps. sector9.com

RAYNEThe Rayne Avenger is aclassic shape and hasbeen updated with anew core and aphresh new graphic.It features pressed-in 3D wheel wellsfrom the Vandal,adding room forlarge wheels andcreating betterlocks for yourfeet. Rayne’s newcore, Fat Bottom,is thick in themiddle, thin atthe edge ands a n d w i c h e d

between two layers of triaxial glass. Also,after two careful, quiet years of testingand tweaking, Rayne has launched itsfirst run of wheels, “Sinful Pleasures.”The “Greed” lineup includes a series ofsquare-lip, DH-oriented wheels in66mm, 70mm and 75mm diameter, all in80A durometer, and a round-lip, freeride-oriented wheel in 70mm diameter and80A durometer. rayne.com

ZUMA

Zuma Wheels has introduced a series of76mm wheels ranging from 80A to 86Adurometer. The "Signature Series"wheels are rider-tested and 100% Amer-ican made. zumawheels.com

As parents, what can you say when yourchildren decided get into the sport? Howdid the whole family get involved?As parents, we want the boys to haveactivity/sports that they like, and wesupport them when they took up long-boarding. Though there is risk with allsports, the risk was even more withlongboarding. Thus, we never give it asecond thought when it comes tosafety; we invested and bought themsafety gear and advised them on safety.Longboarding is a fun-filled familyactivity and sport. [My wife and I] finallytook up longboarding ourselves. Wehave a great bonding time having sesh

together, and definitely a greatworkout for those extra calories.

How often does the family skate?We skate as a family about once or twicea month with other longboarders but docome down to our favorite park at Bishan(Singapore has small parks situated inevery state) to meet up with the other galsand guys from the longboarding commu-nity even when not skating, sometimesinviting them to our homes to talk aboutwhat’s latest in the longboarding scene,both local and abroad.

Does the family learn tricks together?Yes, we learn the sport and trickstogether; our mentors are our kids.

Will the DeBeast family be staying ontheir boards for a long time?We can see that longboarding will staywith the family. My wife and I are planningto get a rack just like the one in LBL (Long-board Love) skate shop for the more than12 boards that we have presently.

Any advice to other parents about takingup longboarding as a family sport?For those parents with kids that are into long-boarding, try it out, mingle with their friends,get to know the longboarding community.Parents, if you think that longboarding is onlyfor kids, you don’t know what you aremissing!! Have fun and skate safe.



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


COMPANY PROFILE >>

WEFUNKSTEALTH DIVISION

BY MICHAEL BROOKE

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

Plans are under way to make the Gnarvigator available separately as auniversal attachment for all types of longboard decks, allowing you to retrofitanything in your quiver into the ultimate full-telemetry “smartboard.” Theproduct will consist of two parts: the onboard Gnarvigator module and awatch interface that reads, interprets and displays the data in a meaningfulfashion. The target price for the system is $399, which would also include afree year of system access. System access for subsequent years is targetedat $80 per year.

Luxat believes this technology would be invaluable to product designers,top racers or anyone just looking to maximize their downhill experience.“With this technology you can verify and quantify exactly what is happeningwith the board,” he says. “It gives you the total picture.”

The GNARVIGATOR

Wefunk was one of the first to use very high-endcomposites to create downhill masterpieces.Founded almost a decade ago by Alex Luxat, the

brand enjoyed a cultlike status. A few years ago, Luxat’s back-ground in design and engineering moved him to the world ofFormula 1 racing. “I wound up getting a job at Toyota in their F1Division,” Luxat says. “Toyota came close to winning the cov-eted first-place title and I wound up learning a tremendousamount.” After this foray into car racing, Luxat decided to getback into longboarding. Unfortunately, things didn’t work outwith his partner and Luxat faced an uncertain future. Butdesigning and building longboards is where his heart is, eventhough it might be hard. “It’s the one thing where I can put themost energy,” he says.

In what appears to an alignment of the stars, Luxat woundup meeting Leslie Huszti, who had a background in high techand had fallen in love with longboarding. Huszti and his wife,Lisa, were involved in a horrific car accident in 2010, whichsidelined both of them for several months. “The accident leftme directionless and my health became an issue,” Husztisays. “I knew that I had to do morecardio, but wasn’t sure what todo.” In July 2011, he got a

Wefunk's new headquarters in Toronto.


THE MACH 1 CARBON COMPOSITE from Stealth Division

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

The deck itself weighs only 1.3 kilos.That’s about 2.86 lbs.It takes a full weekto complete one deck. This doesn’tinclude drying times – this is just time spentworking on the deck. “Certain things have totake place at specific times,” says Luxat. “IfI have to get up at 3a.m. to work on the deck,that’s what I do. It’s handmade, and youcan’t rush it.”

“It’s really a provocation,” he continues.“But the thing is, we brought the shape andtechnology down to a $229 price for ourregular production model.”

It’s constructed of seven layers of F1grade pre-preg carbon fiber over a coremade of ash veneers and Airex polymerfoam. The core features a center channelwith a carbon fiber inlay for unmatched tor-sional rigidity and reduced drag. The noseand tail sections are reinforced withMakrolon polycarbonate for high-velocityimpact resistance. The top of the deck fea-tures two separate grades of grip engineeredfor maximum control. The front grip is lesscoarse and permits shifting of the front foot,while the rear grip is made from Corundum,a synthetic sapphire crystal second only todiamond in hardness. The Corundum providesan extremely grippy surface and is resists thedeterioration from hot shoe soles thatcan accompany aggressive footbrakingat high speeds.

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

phone call from a friend telling him to try longboarding. Once he did, everythingchanged, and Huszti began searching for a way to blend his background in GPS tech-nology with longboarding.

Huszti began sifting through the tremendous amount of longboard info on the Web.It was difficult going, but he kept at it. After a rather frustrating experience trying towork with a local manufacturer, Huszti again went online late one night. “I couldn’tsleep ... [I] kept searching and saying to myself, ‘There’s gotta be someone who coulddo this stuff,’” he says. At around 3:30 a.m., he found what he’d been looking for. “I ranacross a blog that mentioned Alex and his F1 background and made the connectionwith Wefunk. It was then when I emailed him and explained my background.” Withinan hour, Luxat called, and both men concluded that they had to work together. “Wehave to do this! I’ll build the deck, you build the technology,” Luxat boldly told Huszti.

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

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

The truth is that no matter what type of longboard you’re riding, it’s all about theuser experience. Wefunk and Stealth Division are pushing things forward on their ownterms. “Everything takes time to get right, and we’d rather take our time,” says Huszti.There is no question that the vision shared between the two gentlemen creates aunique chemistry. I was struck not only by their passion but their commitment to reallychallenging the status quo. “To have the kind of magic that we have together, youcannot put a price tag on it,” says Huszti. The combination of these two brilliant mindsseems to show that Wefunk has got its groove back. CW


I decided I wanted to start shooting everything that

interested me with only my iPhone and Instagram

— including action shots. I figured what better way

to show old school and new school merging than

to shoot skateboarding with the iPhone. My home-

town of Hermosa Beach provided the initial

inspiration, with some local kids taking it back to

the alleys and streets. Doing a shoot with my old-

school skater friends Laura Thornhill and Tony

Jetton against the modern backdrop of downtown

Los Angeles brought it all full circle.

— Cindy Whitehead,

OG skater and avid iPhone shooter

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: LAURA THORNHILL AND TONY JETTON, “ONE MORE BEAUTIFUL GIRL”; OLD-SCHOOL SKATING IN HERMOSA BEACH; SUPER MARIO – HERMOSA BEACH;

LAURA, DOWNTOWN L.A. – “TUNNEL VISION”; LAURA THORNHILL SPINNING AT PERSHING SQUARE; LAURA DOES A LITTLE SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP;

LAURA CARVING SOME CLEAN LINES AT DISNEY HALL; CHLOE GETTING HIGH ON A FRIDAY NIGHT.

A M O M E N T I N T I M E


TRAVELS with the

So I just drove 1,600 miles from Missouri to SanDiego in a tiny car with two daughters, a stinkylittle dog, my smoking hot wife, four longboards

and a cooler full of energy drinks. I had been back inMissouri for a few months staying with family. While Iwas there, I was unemployed, with not much money.But you don’t need money to skate, so my wife and Iskated every day. We hit trails and back streets, rollingthrough the parks under giant trees, cruising pastbikers, baby strollers and holly rollers.

It took me by surprise the first few times that astranger came up to me at the park to ask me about mylongboard. Sometimes it was ladies who were jogging,or a jock still in college; all kinds of people were inter-ested in what I was riding. I picked up skating just abouta year ago while I was living in San Diego. I thought I wasway behind on this lifestyle; turns out I am way ahead. Inever even did this when I was a kid; now here I am in mylate 30s, with salt-and-pepper hair and children of myown, rolling all over my old stomping ground.

After 180 days in my hometown I was ready for aroad trip. My family and I packed up our Kia and headedto Colorado. I was excited to skate in Colorado. I hadlearned to snowboard while living there, and now I wasgoing to take my new skills of longboarding back to themountains.

Skating in Colorado is amazing. I love the weather;there is no humidity. It’s a little rocky here and there, butstill one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.We dropped in on some old friends and places to show offour newfound love. We skated all over Manitou Springs– lots of paved trails to explore all over this state. Plentyof shade to be found, cool breezes and cool people. Whenin Colorado, make sure you take a roll through theGarden of the Gods. It’s these kinds of places that makeme appreciate longboarding even more.

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

BY DUSTY RAY first in a series


board helps break down so many walls; people feel likethey can come up and start a conversation with me a loteasier about my longboard than anything else I haveever done. While in New Mexico I talked to a dozen dif-ferent folks while I was skating in rest areas and truckstops. I have seen firsthand how skateboarding can anddoes help create a little more love on this planet.

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

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

Pulling into Arizona felt like a big achievement to allof us. We knew we were just one more state line awayfrom California. Arizona is full of outdoor adventure. Aswe rolled into Flagstaff, I saw at least five or six long-boarders right away; this is definitely a hip town. Thesnowboarders here keep their skills sharp in the offseason by longboarding around town; the town is old,but the vibe is young and full of life. Here we checked

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

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

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

is.” “Scoot it over here,” he says. “Let me take it for a spin.”He hops on the board, cruises down a hill, pops it up on thesidewalk, carves it up and jumps off. He tells me that heand his son ride every night and he’s been thinking aboutbuying a deck like mine, and thanks for the test ride. LikeI said, you cannot judge a book by its cover.

Back in California, what a long, strange trip it hasbeen, from the Midwest to the West Coast. I was happyto be back. We made it into San Diego at sunset andheaded straight for the beach to skate along the Pacific.It is a great feeling to be rolling along the ocean with thesun slowly disappearing behind the water.

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

I went from Missouri to California traveling andskating all along the way, and I never had a bad experi-ence. It does not matter if you live in the middle of thedesert or next to the beach; there is always some coolplace to skate, and there is always someone waiting toask you about longboarding. I try to skate a little everyday. Sometimes it’s just to my mailbox and back, some-times it’s across town, sometimes it’s from town totown, or even from state to state, or country to country,or worldwide. The more you skate, the more others willskate. I am happy to say this trip was just like everyother – full of great people, beautiful places, awesomememories and humbling experiences. Until next time, Iam the Humble Hippie. Keep it real. CW

Way of Life

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

Kritical Mass Sydney Crew


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Dreaming by Nigel Dawes


NEW YORKCITY MEMORIES

THE DRAMA UNFOLDED A FEWDAYS BEFORE THE OFFICIALRUNNING OF THE BROADWAYBOMB, BUT THAT DIDN’T STOPANYONE FROM HAVING ABLAST IN THE BIG APPLE.HERE’S JUST A TASTE OFWHAT WENT DOWN. >>

WORDS & PHOTOS:MICHAEL BROOKE

High jump comp orchestrated by King Solomon.The media were out in full force on Saturday morning.

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

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

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

Matt Burke of Blue Sky Longboards.


Brian Petrie of Earthwing proudly displays his product.

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

The biggest longboard we could find!

Paul Kuyt of Rey Trucks with team rider Janelle Stout.

The party at Uncle Funkys was pretty intense!The Earthwing Slide Jam raised over $1800 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Photo: Brian Babish

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

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

Jimmy Soladay kept things rolling.Ryan Daughtridge of Bustin, Joey Pulsifer of Paris, Marcus Bandy of Wheelbasemag and Solomon Antonell of Resource Distribution at the Longboard Loft.

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


IT IS WELL KNOWN that longboarding is practiced inAsia. For sure while browsing your favorite websites ormagazine you have found reviews about Malaysia, thePhilippines and Japan.

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

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

If you have the opportunity to come to China, itdoesn’t take much time to understand that in China theskateboard market is very profit-oriented. If Chinanowadays counts probably more than 4,000 skate-boarders, it is mostly due to the attention that bigbrands like Quiksilver, Vans and Nike put into fosteringthe skaters’ love by organizing tournaments and eventsall over China – as it happened in other action sportssuch as inline skating, BMX and snowboarding.

This change caught the attention of a small group ofChinese youth, who started exploring alternative waysto reach the same feelings of skate or BMX and foundtheir own expression in longboarding.

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

were the architects of their own culture – a new mind-set where nobody was pushed by the dream of becomingfamous or by the spirit of competition. They created acommunity based on co-working, relaxing and enjoyingthe moment where every individual little discovery orimprovement is an enhancement for the whole Chinesecommunity, and where people experiment to ease thenewcomer’s path and to facilitate access to the discipline.

Longboarding, more than “traditional” skate-boarding, seems to cancel social classes anddifferences. It is NiuBi (cool), and, most important, itinvolves both boys and girls. While other skateboardingin China is a mostly boy-only discipline, longboardinghas more girls participating and being an active part ofthe group instead of just grouping and cheering the boysas it happens in the skateboard world.

And even if longboarding arrived in China just twoyears ago, it has already started spreading in all the bigChinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing,Xi’An, Chengdu and other southern cities such asXiamen, Shenzhen and Dali.

I would like to begin this journey into Chinese long-boarding where everything started, Beijing.

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

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

While he taught to his friends the principles of long-boarding, the group started filming their first tutorialvideos following the format of the Western ones bytrying to explain all the steps in their own way.

The city center of Beijing is flat, but to be fullyenjoyed, longboarding requires hills, or at least slopes.The best solution the group found was to ride on the fit-tings of Beijing’s highways by night. That is how Terrorof the Highways found their name.Nuts On Wheels, Shanghai.

Photo: Giulio Fagiolini

Outlaw organized by UNITED Skateshop (Philippines) and Nuts On Wheels, Shanghai. Photo: Francesca Terzi

长板在中国BY FRANCESCA TERZI


The main problem was still where to buy equipment.Luckily, China is the world’s factory, and many brands areproducing there. K found a good manufacturer andstarted producing T.O.H. boards and selling online in orderto provide his friends the necessary equipment to begin.

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

These riders organized the first Chinese longboardevent on November 26, 2011. On that day, 30 riders triedtheir best in front of the Olympic Stadium of Beijing. Ale-jandro Romo, a professional longboarder fromGuadalajara, Mexico, won most of the races. Alex isanother key connection; once he got back to Mexico, hehelped K to import Loaded and Orangatang into China.

Since last month, T.O.H. is the official channel forlongboarding in China. They opened an official websiteand are the distributor of the first two longboard brandscoming to China.

SPOTSAt the same time they were building the Olympic Parksurrounding the Olympic Stadium for Beijing 2008,urbanists offered longboarders a good solution to thehighways. If you’re going through the city, try to passby the hill in front of the Olympic torch. And if you alsoride shorter boards, just plan an entire day at thefamous Woodward.

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

If you are interested in visiting the city, there is nobetter guide than those who were born there.

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

The founder was Jake, an Australian-born Chineseboy who started skating alone in the streets of Shanghaiwhile going to work.

The group has grown, and the longboarders are verytechnical and skilled thanks to the influence of twopassers-by: Jerry He and Caloy Sambrano.

Jerry He is an American Chinese guy who went backto China for his college summer holidays, bringing hislongboard with him. Jerry was planning to skate wit hthe pandas of Chengdu, but he discovered he was notthe only longboarder in China. He participated activelyin all the activities of the group, he taught N.O.W. all thefundamental and unspoken rules of the discipline andpushed the first girls to try it. Now there are about 10girls owning a longboard in the group.

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

This was a key moment for N.O.W. Caloy taught tothe guys the importance of safety and safety gear, gavethem the right directions to improve their skills andlinked them with the Filipino longboard scene. In lessthan one year, he organized two outlaw races, askinghis sponsors, the United Skateshop (Manila) andmylifeonboard.net, to contribute with small prizes.

The N.O.W. Crew organization is very different fromT.O.H. There are no leaders, and the group is more basedon the principle of “Share the Stoke” than on popularity.Everyone participates in his own autonomous way. Thenext step for the crew will be exploring the surroundingsof Shanghai and trying the real downhill on mountains.

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

Now Atomic Krew is a wonderful mix of skilledinliners, mountain bikers, Freebord and longboardriders who bomb every kind of mountain or hill, raisingvillagers’ curiosity.

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

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

Shops and SPOTSE-Free (at the Science and Technology Museumsubway stop) is selling longboards at a variety of dif-ferent prices, from Chinese cheap boards toLandyachtz and Loaded.

Shanghai is famous for skateparks. In 2010 the gov-ernment built the biggest skatepark in the world, SMPSkatepark, at the edges of Shanghai. But the park is builtfor professional skateboarders, BMXers and inlineskaters and is not well adapted to common skate-boarders. And after just two years, SMP is failing; the parkhas never been maintained, and all the facilities are out oforder. In any case, the park does not fit longboard needs.So the highway bridge of Ianpu Park, the ramps of theScience and Technology Museum and the Expo Park arethe few alternative options – plus the mountains, whichare more than one hour away from Shanghai.

The last stop before leaving China is Xi’an, where forskaters and longboarders there is much more to dothan just visiting the Terracotta Army. Just dropping byShadow Skateshop or Viceversa bar, you will meet XiaoJian. The Xi’an local skateboard community is bigenough to organize real sponsored competitions andevents, and Xiao Jian, owner of Shadow Skateboardsand Converse sponsored skater, is preparing to openthe first indoor skatepark in town — an undergroundpark across the street from the shop’s current locationat the Beilin History Museum.

But one day, one of Xiao Jian’s friends showed him apintail longboard and how to dance it. It was 2011 andXiao Jian had just started snowboarding and surfing.Soon, with the help of his Czech flat-mates, he producedhis first series of pintail longboards, branded Bloom.

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

Shops and SPOTSAs mentioned above, the only skateboard shop in Xi’Anis Shadow. It is located in front of the only skatepark inXi’an, at the South Gate of Da Tang Fu Rong Yuan, nearthe south lake.If you want to find local skaters, just check the slopes

one hour away from downtown at the gates of the Univer-sity of Xi’An. Moreover, the old Chinese capital is known forits beautiful mountains and landscapes, and the commu-nity is training to start testing the roads.

That’s the end of the tour – unless you wish to end upin the hilly Hong Kong. In that case, the locals’ Facebookcommunity will be hailing to guide you wherever you want.再见, Zàijiàn riders! CW

longboardingchina.tumblr.com

Nuts On Wheels (Xiao Wei and Didi), Shanghai. Photo: Giulio Fagiolini

Atomic Krew, Downhill in Zhejiang. Photo: Julien Moreau


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

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


Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012, called for mostly sunnyskies with a small chance of rain — yeah,right. The fourth annual Buffalo Bill Downhill

(BBDH) wouldn’t be a true “bloodspill” without someheavy rain and another freak accident. Last year ahelicopter crashed; this year a rider hit a deer at 40mph. Welcome to BBDH 2012. The event is nothingbut sheer excitement.

This was my third time photographing the actionat BBDH, and I was super pleased to see how muchthe event has expanded since 2009. Longboardingsponsors, both large and small, and different everyyear, have contributed to the popularity and recog-nition this event has been achieving.

Even more so, I’m pumped to see the Colorado long-board community ignite over the past several years. Thisstate fully embraces longboarding as more than a boardand wheels that takes you places, but as a true com-petitive sport that tests both courage and endurance.

The day of the event, Zak Maytum (owner ofVenom, the title sponsor) dominated his heats untilthe finals, when young Northern California riderByron Essert flew past him and took first place.Oregon’s Alex Tongue, an ever-present threat, tookthird place, and Canada’s Kyle Martin took fourth.

With nonstop hairpins and surprising speeds thatcan creep up on even the best, Lookout Mountain willforever be in the heart of Colorado riders. It’s beensaid that “this hill evolves you from boy to man.”Riders traveled from as far as Canada, Washingtonand Oklahoma to experience this mountain. Thespirit of longboarding is clearly here to stay, thanksto new riders surfacing and, just as important, theones who’ve been riding for decades. CW

WORDS & PHOTOS: JILLI BETHANY

BUFFALO BILLDOWNHILL

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

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

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


FRENCH FRIES, TRAPPIST BEER

AND LONGBOARDS!BY MATHIEU BONTE

Photo: Xavier Ethuin


THE ART SIDE OF THELONGBOARD COMMUNITYThe longboard in Belgium was also reinforced thanks to many artists whoshared their passion for the ride and used it as a source of inspiration. TheA7ik art collective was formed in 2007 out of a need for an escape fromeveryday life, an escape from the “commute-work-commute-sleep” rou-tine. Since then, many artists from different backgrounds and visions havejoined the crew. Be it big or small, the influence of skateboarding is pal-pable in the work of each member.

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

Micha Margo is a fashion photographer and photo artist who fell inlove with longboarding. After following major longboard events and beinga pillar in Belgian longboard pics production, he is now focusing on fur-ther projects such as mixing fashion and longboard or designing boardswith photography techniques.

Anthony Prévost is a Madrid-based photographer who specializes in por-trait and landscape photography. Due to his interest for skateboarding in abroad meaning, he is drawn to incorporate skate elements in his shotswhenever he sees them. More than the skaters, he’s inspired by the placesthey ride, which has led him to start shooting empty skateparks in the tra-dition of landscape photography.

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

Cédric Scheers, founder of the LRBX Longboard School, says: “It’s funnyto see how longboard gets a unique flavor in Belgium. Longboarding is notjust a unique way of riding on four wheels; it’s a real way of life, whatever theseason, whatever the conditions. Wintertime? Let’s ride indoors, let’s editsome crazy videos and set up exhibitions with customized boards. It’s sum-mertime? Let’s ride all day long, attend European longboard events and shootvideos and pictures!”

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

BELGIAN LONGBOARD HISTORY2005: Longboarding became something in Belgium. The Boardhell Project was founded, with theorganized “‘Frit’ Ride Longboard Events.”

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

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

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

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

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

LINKSCUSTOMIZED BOARDSdenismeyers.commata7ik.com

LONGBOARD ASSOCIATIONS & EVENTSblutcher.comlrbx.be

LONGBOARD ART & PHOTOGRAPHYa7ik.netanthonyprevost.commichamargo.competitd.be

BELGIAN BOARD MAKERSblutcher.comfacebook.com/WoodNoteBoards


THE RIGHT

TO SHRED

THE GNAR

Rob Carter at a secret spot in San Francisco.Photo: Nick Klein


Iwas around 15 years of age the first time I gotkicked off a hill while skateboarding. It was 1985,somewhere between Fast Times at Ridgemont

High and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and I would seeFuture Primitive that year on VHS (a big fat videotape,for you kids out there). I was pushing a Lester Kasai“Clown” deck with Tracker Sixtracks and 90A Powell-Peralta Rat Bones. So yeah, I was riding this vertboard on the street. I was no Tommy G., but it allseemed to make sense to me at the time – what I wasdoing, what I was riding, why I was riding it, and whyit appealed to me to be doing something that a lot ofpeople didn’t seem to understand. Today, not muchhas changed. I skate boards of about the same size(different shape) or longer – depending on the day,location and transport needs.

My first “skateboard versus the world” experienceoccurred in Brantford, Onterrible, Canada. The hill,which was really something skaters living in places withactual mountains would consider a bump, was locatedbeside my high school. I’d developed a habit of skatingto school and then spending some quality time ridingdownhill (practicing speed checks, power slides, etc.),back up and then down again at roughly the same timeof day that the school parking lots began to choke oncars (small-town Onterrible – yes, there were pickuptrucks and Camaros by the dozen). Oddly enough, Ibasically find myself doing something similar thesedays – although now I’m a professor of Transport Geog-raphy, skating to my university campus. Notably, I’m notthe only academic shredder; others I’ve located includeformer ’90s pro Ocean Howell, and Iain Borden.

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

What was the effect of this unrestricted ban on myfavorite activity at the time? First, it reinforced my desireto skate because the “authorities” had confirmed forme that what I was doing was indeed anti-establish-ment. Second, I just took my show elsewhere.

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

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

In 1966, during one of skateboarding’s many highperiods (at some point in every decade since the 1950sthere seems to have been another wave of interest), afilmmaker named Claude Jutra captured an early illus-tration of the tension between “skating and society” onthe streets of Montreal, Canada, in his documentaryshort, The Devil’s Toy. Early in the film, Jutra’s narratorasserts that skateboarding “was like a plague thatspread from city to city … a dreaded disease whichneeded only pavement to multiply.”

Seriously?Much later, Kebbek produced a sweet series of

board graphics dedicated to some of the spots shownin Jutra’s film. (Thanks for the tip, A-rad).

Same deal in Toronto, Canada. At around the sametime, in a similarly entertaining attempt by the leastconservative media option around (Canada’s CBC) totry to come to grips with the skateboarding menace,Lloyd Robertson interviewed Gay Cochrane, thenOntario president of the National Sidewalk SurfersAssociation. The news anchor in the story’s lead-upstated that “The police are directing an organized cam-paign to stamp out these menaces, but surfers areorganized too …”

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

Well, I can assure you the police campaign failedmiserably; not only do I skate nearly every day on thestreets of Toronto, the city has an incredible skate cul-ture (all disciplines), skateparks that have played hostto legends (Lance Mountain, Eric Koston), and yeah, Imet Tony Alva in a local skate shop. And longboardingis thriving thanks to local community hubs like Long-board Living, as well as the many other skate shopsthat have expanded to include longboard inventory.

Bans don’t work. In my opinion, they workagainst their intended outcome, increasingthe resolve of skaters to continue doingwhat they do, which is a good thing.

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

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

“THE ROAD IS A PUBLIC SPACE. IT’S APRIVILEGE TO USE IT, NOT A RIGHT.”

– Les Robertson, Rayne Longboards


office buildings and buying street meat; urban parks arethere to serve the placid recreational needs (or moreacceptable forms of art and athleticism) of the workingpublic; and so on. More recent examples of the tension Iam describing can be found on YouTube using the searchtag “skater kick out.” The 2,000 or so hits produced bysuch a search primarily tell stories set in the kinds ofplaces I’ve just mentioned. The colonization and adapta-tion by skaters of the bits and pieces of cities and suburbsbuilt for other reasons is arguably viewed by some non-skating adults and unsupportive institutions as amenacing practice carried out by ungodly, otherworldlyyoung people (non-adults).

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

perhaps somewhat new with regard to location.Decades earlier, with the rise of street skating, urbandowntowns became key destinations for skaters (theystill are), some of whom actually lived within a reason-able distance of the spots, and some who would floodinto the city from surrounding suburban areas. Thestreet scene remains alive and well, with something newadded to the mix: downhill/freeride in the leafy suburbs.

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

Laguna Beach, California, is another example.

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

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

The North Van and Laguna examples suggest, if youdig deeper into who’s going there and where they live, thata kind of reverse migration is occurring – a mass move-ment of skaters doing the downhill/freeride thing fromeverywhere to suburban spots and beyond (how manyremote “mountain road meets downhill” longboardingvids can you find online?). Places, incidentally, that at noother time have experienced anything quite like this.

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

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

Photo: Gordon Timpen


new. It’s not. But the number of people doing it today –coupled with the occasional co-opting of buses andparental vehicles to shuttle skaters back up, and thecapabilities offered by modern equipment – is com-pletely different than it was 20-30 years ago. Theconventional order of things – roads are for driving,sidewalks are for walking, plazas are for shopping – isbeing turned on its head by creative, athletic long-boarders who are using the hilly streets of the leafysuburbs in new and exciting ways.

The reaction from the public and publicinstitutions has been mixed. In the case ofNorth Van, fines are being proposed, andin Laguna, bans are being enforced. Buthave these measures had any impact, orwill existing and emerging legal chal-lenges to longboarding have any impact?

If history tells us anything, it’s that legal responses thatinclude fines and bans will do little to limit ongoinginterest in skateboarding. At best, skaters might stopwhat they are doing briefly (while the authorities arehanging around), or shift their activity to a differenttime of day or place. The Devil’s Toy was shot just priorto a citywide ban in Montreal, at the time, of the “elon-gated roller skate”; the authorities didn’t even knowwhat they were dealing with. Today in Montreal, youcan skate legally on bike paths, off-road paved trailsand in skateparks. Skating on public roads is notentirely legal, and so it is true that you cannot, legally,commute by skateboard in Montreal (but that doesn’tmean it doesn’t happen). What impact have these fineshad? In a recent piece in Spacing magazine, AlanahHeffez reported that street skaters, for example, arewilling to risk heavy fines to skate in Montreal’s PeacePark. (http://spacingmontreal.ca/2010/06/27/seeing-like-a-skateboarder/).

Bans don’t work. They simply causeskaters to change how they do things,while creating at best either a pause inthe activity or a shift in where and whenit is practiced.

Another way to look at fines, in particular, is thatthey kind of represent the cost of doing business, auser fee of sorts. A skater runs the risk that he/she willreceive a fine – but the reward seems to be greaterthan the risk. While I’m thinking about the economicsof fines, it’s also important to remember that noteveryone can afford precision trucks – and so heavyfines force an unequal burden onto the skate commu-nity, with the poorest kids paying a heavier price. Thesekids might eventually be priced out of the activity alto-gether because they simply can’t afford what I see askind of a discretionary user fee, meaning that the finesare not always enforced, all the time, everywhere.

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS SAY?Kelsey Crozier (Switchback Longboards), RyanTheobald (Landyachtz) and Les Robertson (RayneLongboards), recently found some time to chat withme. Our conversations were focused on this issue ofskater conflict and the response from the public andgovernment. All three discussed the issue of riderexperience and the role of more-experienced riders insetting an example with regard to safety.

On the issue of conflict, Crozier said, “Drivers don’twant to get into a collision with a skateboarder, andskateboarders don’t want to hit a car, parked or other-wise.” While this might seem obvious, what he’s sayingis really the root of it: Skaters and drivers (note thatskaters are sometimes also drivers) don’t necessarilywant to be in conflict with one another. So how do weget to a place where that conflict doesn’t exist?

A good place to start would be to acknowledge thatsome sensitivity is needed on both sides. As Theobaldput it, “Riders are getting younger. It’s a real challengeto [have] kids on roads who don’t drive yet and aren’tfamiliar with the rules of the road. It’s hard for them tounderstand what motorists are going through whenthey see people longboarding around them.” Crozieragreed, saying, “Some of the young guns don’t have adriver’s license yet and don’t fully understand howtraffic flows.” On the other hand, I’m sure there areplenty of drivers who can’t begin to understand theattraction of skateboarding.

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

Robertson concurred, saying, “Making kids crimi-nals through bans is not the solution.”

More to the point, nobody seems to know exactly,particularly in the case of North Van, how a system offines would operate. At the moment, according toRobertson, bylaw officers would be charged with theresponsibility of sorting out what qualifies as reck-lessness and what doesn’t. There is a huge gray areahere, particularly if officers have never skated, whichwould arguably render them incapable of making aninformed judgment, beyond obvious infractions suchas blowing through stop signs.

To clear up this uncertainty, Robertson has arguedthat longboard use (a necessary distinction is madehere with skateboards) could be governed under theMotor Vehicle Act – “like a bike”. Currently the acttreats skateboards of any type as something differentfrom bicycles, and affords municipalities with thepower to develop bylaws directed at regulating andcontrolling people using “roller skates, sleighs,skates, skis or other similar means.” I suppose whatwe are talking about here falls under the “other sim-ilar means” reference.

The legal status of the skateboard is a complicatedconversation; there are so many skate disciplines toconsider. Those of us who skate see the landscape oneway, the others who don’t skate find it pretty easy tolump everyone into the same group. The reality is thatwe’re not. As Robertson put it, “The problem is not thecollege cruiser; skateparks are not in traffic; streetskaters like spots [although in my view the street is onebig spot – check out old/new footage of Ricky Oyola orBobby Puleo]; longboards are in traffic.” It is this morefrequent mixing of longboards and vehicle traffic thatlies at the heart of the current conflict.

This is not an entirely new debate. It reminds mevery much of the ongoing conversation in our majorcities about bicycles’ versus cars’ rights to the street –although according to Robertson (and based on myexperience in Toronto), the bicycle occupies a moreprivileged position in our cities than the skateboard.

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

What I can tell you is that none of the people I inter-viewed support recklessness, and they are all interestedin producing an environment that supports the long-term growth of longboarding. The issue seems to be,then, identifying precisely what qualifies as recklessriding, and who is going to be invited to what table to sortthis out. Clearly, our ideas about recklessness dependupon who is riding and who is watching! I would like toacknowledge Sector 9 for getting me back on fourwheels and a board, and Earthwing, Comet and Krookedfor keeping me rolling these days. CW

The author proudly shows off his signed Tony Alva deck.

PHOTO

SEC

TIO

N


Trevor Preston Photo: Nick Stevens


Gideon finds parking garage nirvana.Photo: Gordon Timpen

Emil finds the flow in Hamburg, Germany.Photo: Gordon Timpen


K-Rimes attacks Maryhill.Photo: Ben Young

Juergen Gritzner, boardslide at the Venice Beach skatepark. Photo: Ray Rae Goldman


What a difference a day makes. Maoz Trudler andEden Gil enjoy a quiet moment in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photos: Yahav Trudler


Argentinian photographer Barbara Britvin has been experimentingwith light and has created some fascinating pieces. Above: Manu Stabile spreads the longboard love. Right: Nico Aaon rides the light.


Above: The sprinkler was too much of a temptation for Adam Winston. Left: Michelle LeBLanc and Charly LeBlanc enjoy a quiet moment.Photo: Jonathan Nuss


Fabricio Potenzone enjoys a moment of solitudeon a dry lake bed in Argentina.Photo: Carola Dottori

Ted Major enjoys a tranquilmoment near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Photo: Stan Evans


Chris Farmer, Venice Beach skatepark. Photo: Ray Rae Goldman

Ian Comishin finding his line in Taicang, China.Photo: Marc Robitaille


Geoff Sagara hits the dirt.Photo: Lance Dalgart

Trevor Preston, followed by Max Wippermann.Photo: Nick Stevens


RIDER PROFILE >>


STILL ROLLINGAFTER ALL THESE YEARSVICTOR EARHART CELEBRATES SIX DECADES ON A SKATEBOARDI WAS BORN IN 1946, and in 1953 I rode what was called a skate-board, which at that time consisted of a 2 x 4 and a roller skate. In 1954 myparents moved to Northern California and I had to make my own boardmade out of a 2 x 4, some bent nails and old roller skates.

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

The first skateboarding scene that got me involved was a skate demo.I got a free board and I was the only one to drop in on the ramp. Thatstarted the fire.

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

I bombed my first hill at 7 years old with steel wheels. Clay wheelsmade it easier. We were also barefoot. Shoes were for pussies. From 17-26 years old we were bombing hills all around San Diego. In 1965SkateBoarder magazine’s first issue came out with an article about theConcourse [garage] in San Diego. I still skate parking garages every Fridaynight. Come join!

In the mid ’70s, skateparks started popping up all over. Some rich kidshowed up at one of my local skateparks with his bike and posse. It endedup being Bob Haro of Haro Bikes. In the ’80s I had a chance to go work at askateboard shop in Temecula. That’s where I met some pro skateboardersfor the first time – Steve Claar and Jason Jessee, to name a couple.Because of working at the shop, I began attending other demos at othershops and meeting other skaters with the same passion that I had forskateboarding. Then I found out in the late ’80s about Roger Hickey, whohad races going in San Dimas. Meanwhile I was still skating the Concourseevery Friday night. Rain or no rain, it didn’t matter. That’s where I met Denis,Steve and Dave. They were starting a longboarding company called Sector9. I also found them at a race in San Dimas and got ahold of one of theirboards, a 42” pintail, and fell in love with it. That’s when I parked my SMAand switched to a 42” pintail. I later traded my 38” SMA for a tattoo.

The rest is history. Sector 9 put me to work. I’ve been at Sector 9 since 1995.Because of Sector 9 I’ve been to a few races in Colorado, Canada and somelocal events. I am SO STOKED that the younger generation along with their 40-to 50-year-old dads are picking up on the same vibe. It is really exciting to seewhere the scene is going. And now we have these kooks like Louis Pilloni andJeff Budro who are not satisfied with going 40 miles an hour – they have to addhigh-speed stunts. I don’t why they’re doing it; I guess because they can. I’vebeen skating for 60 years now and hope to continue skateboarding for the next40. Now tell me your stories at Facebook.com/Victor.E.Sector9 andwww.youtube.com/watch?v=vkEGSC7H6N4 CW

PHOTOS BYJEFF BUDRO


GOW (Girls Over Wheels) is a team ofgirls from Barcelona who are always skating thestreets of our city. For some time, we’ve beenplanning to do a mini trip together, and when oneof us offered the home of her parents in Puigcerdá(small mountain town located in the Catalan Pyre-nees, 1 km from France), we decided it was time.

One weekend, two cars loaded with boards, andeager GOW on the road. We couldn’t stopcounting the days remaining to undertake thetrip to the mountains. Sounds like a nice plan;there was only waiting for the big weekend tocheck the result.

FRIDAYAt the expected Friday, a few of us armed the firstcar to Tetris mode, the trunk filled with boards,safety gear, helmets and food, and a littlecramped headed to Puigcerdà. Friday would be aday for site inspection. Vicky, who already knewthe area, made a path for the different spots thatwe would skate the next two days. It was time totaste the new roads and make contact with nature.

MINI-TRIP


THE RIDERS:Alba del ReyAna MarotoAndrea DuránClara ClarafoscaCristina MandarinaEider WallsEli MeleroGuio MarMarina PérezMarta GuillenVicky Volpini


Andrea Eider Walls

Marina Guio

SATURDAYSaturday came and we skated some ofthe roads we had seen the day before.We practiced new tricks, taught andlearned from each other, made somepictures and enjoyed the longboard.These moments were something mag-ical, moments that we lived together,which gave us more and more confi-dence to go down together. Finally,really tired from a long day, we decidedto combine forces to receive the otherhalf of the crew that was to come thatnight. The second car, loaded the sameway as the first and full of energy, cameto Puigcerdà just in time for dinner. Allwe brought was a little food to sharewith others, but it ended up being asource of union between us: a raclettedinner with cheese, more cheese, veg-etables and meat. It was hilarious!

Christina Mandarina

Vicky Volopini


SUNDAYFinally, on Sunday, with the complete team ready toskate, we filled our backpacks with our gear, helmets,water and food, and went to skate gnarly, incredibleroads. For some, it was the first time down such a longroad at such a high speed. But we were in severalspots, with sections for all levels, so everyone got toenjoy the great weekend of skate. We went up anddown over and over again, thinking of nothing morethan at present. At one point we all went down oneafter another, without stopping, screaming with adren-aline – one of those feelings that can only beunderstood when you experience them for yourself. Itwas among the highlights of the entireweekend. When the light started to leave, weretreated to home, took a short break and startedpacking things to return. Throughout the weekend, wefelt good vibes and breathed much positive energy,which comforted and encouraged us to do more minitrips together. Finally we again headed for Barcelona.We were all really glad of this great weekend.


GOW is an open group to anyone and any proposal related to the longboard.Although we are very different from each other, we share something very intense,something that makes us not want to stop having fun between us, something we love,something that makes us forget our differences and be like we are one … longskate.

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

Clara Fonseca


ARTIST PROFILE >>

NATHAN BISHOP began designing custom grip tape work more than 13 years ago.His first deck was the “Green Dragon,” a Santa Cruz 30th Anniversary reissue of a RobRoskopp deck that Nathan had owned as a kid. He knew that in order to gain his girl-friend’s approval to hang it in their apartment, it would have to be a striking piece ofart, and he set out to create just that. The end result impressed everyone who saw it,and before long, custom “Bishop’s Boards” were being made for all his friends. Yearslater, Nathan met Walter Froese, the owner of Zion Snowboards in Vancouver. Walterconvinced Nathan to pursue his work more seriously. This led to a collaboration withZion Snowboards and a cross-promotional campaign. The resulting Zion boards

received a lot of positive attention. This was the jump-start that was needed to takeBishop’s Boards to the next level. Since then Nathan’s prolific output has been dis-played in skate shops and art galleries around the Vancouver area. In the relativelyshort time since the launch of the “Bishop’s Board Shop” Facebook page, interest hasbegun to swell. New “Likes” and friend requests are being received daily from skatersaround the world. This worldwide attention has been both inspiring and gratifying forNathan, and he is looking forward to more exciting things to come. Nathan neverduplicates his work; each board is 100% original, so every client receives his or herown unique work of art. CW

NATHAN BISHOP

PHOT

OS: K

EIR

VICH

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ARTIST PROFILE >>

Rebel, challenging and nonconformist. I’ve always thought thatthe best way to challenge your own self and improve your ownskills in art is by doing what you want, and “running in the oppo-site direction that everyone follows.” I wanted to do whatever withmy illustrations except anything usual, anything common. I’vedecided to unify two of my passions: Skate & Art. Creating a lineof skates, surfboards, wakeboards and clothing stuff for“streetwear,” that matches perfectly with the idea of my project.I was raised up having fantasy, sci-fi and terror as my favoritegenres. They still influence me to this day. I love that my boardsshowcase many fantastic creatures; these are some kind of“doors” to the fantasy world, in which is based all my artwork. Ilove to play with light and dark and raise incredibly strong andpowerful colors — like a rush of energy that takes you immedi-ately into the image, making you be a part of it. CW

facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Sanchez/147119618665733

MichelleSanchez

I d like to say that I had a plan — that I sat andthought this through long before I started. But no,not this time. I followed the simple advice that my

dad has been giving me for years: “If you want some-thing done right, you’ll have to do it yourself,” he wouldsay, with a knowledge that has been built up overdecades. So that’s what I did in 1994 when I graduatedfrom UC San Diego.

The timing was ripe. As a fresh graduate in computerengineering, my employment prospects were great —so great, in fact, that I had the opportunity to take a littletime for making the decision about whom I would workfor. In between interviews I would surf, skate and tinkeraround the carport at my little college apartment inSolana Beach. It was at this time that I started to makemy first longboards. Our local surf shop had someboards called “Topps” that were basically just surfboardshapes in the 5-foot range. They were terribly unfunc-tional and no fun to ride, but there was a certainattraction to these longer, smoother-riding skateboards.I immediately knew that if these boards could be madeto be maneuverable, they would actually be pretty fun toride. So I made my first board, a 4-foot beast that rodelike something half its size. It had large wheel cutoutsthat allowed for hard carving, and a functional tail so Icould still throw a random boneless here and there.

Not long after that, my friends talked me intomaking a couple of boards for them. There was one“go-to” shape that they kept asking for, over and over.That original shape would later become the GravityHyper-Carve — designed more than 18 years ago, andstill a brisk seller to this day.

So why do I do what I do? A large part of it is that Ilike to solve problems. This is the cornerstone of anengineer’s education, and it sort of stuck with me. Theboards on the market at the time I started were terrible,but how is it that a college kid with a small shed full oftools and a carport could easily make a board that wasbetter than anything on the market at the time? Theanswer was simple: because I had nothing to lose. I hadnothing invested in the market. I had no company, noemployees and no responsibilities, and this allowed meto take chances that I wouldn’t otherwise take. I hadtotal freedom over design, without the concerns of atypical company to weigh me down.

History tells us that this is where we work best. Thiswas the same environment at companies like Apple,Microsoft, General Electric, HP, Facebook, AT&T, etc.All of them were started by one or two individuals whocould really innovate with hardly any restrictions. They

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

Innovation comes from individuals. Scale comesfrom corporate organization. Two guys in a garage can’tmake a million of anything. And a corporation is simplynot a place to innovate. Corporations scale the innova-tions of individuals into production in large quantities.Thus, it all starts with the individual.

So I started out with our first line of boards: the Mini-Carve and the Hyper-Carve. Nobody had seen anythinglike them, and their size was a little intimidating foranyone who saw them. I found myself almost forcingsurf shop owners to please just ride the board aroundtheir parking lot or around the block. I begged them tojust try it. And this is why I do what I do. When you seetheir expression for the first time that tells you they “getit,” you never forget that feeling — that feeling of beingresponsible for changing the way someone thinks aboutsomething for the better. Being able to change theiropinion, without speaking a single word, based all onthe hard-found innovations. All of my design thoughts,late nights in the woodshop and countless hourssanding and staining wood came down to this singlemoment of joy of seeing a surfer discover something

completely new, that was actually something quite old.So this is it. This is why I do what I do. Nowadays

there’s more competition, and our designs have beenseen and ridden worldwide, yet we still work on old-fashioned ideas that we feel shouldn’t die. We stillproduce all of our products right here in our local area,and we try to impress people with good old-fashionedquality product for an honest price. We still find peoplewho haven’t had a chance to enjoy the smooth ride of alongboard, and we still get stoked when we can see theexpression on their face of total and complete satisfac-tion, with a hint of surprise that these elements havebeen here all along.

I still do what I do, and I am still looking at ways ofimproving things that have been around us for quitesome time. I’ve been spending a little time lately devel-oping electric cars for the same reason — to see the joyof people who have been around something for years,without knowing how close they are to somethingtotally new, something incredibly capable of bringingthem a joy that they didn’t know existed.

That feeling will never grow old on me. That feelingshould never grow old on anyone. Never stop inno-vating. That’s why I do what I do. CW

I DOWHAT I DO

“A large part of it is that I like to solve problems. This is the cornerstoneof anengineer’s education, and it sort of stuck with me.” Michael Bream

takes it way back with a barefoot bert on a vintage '70s board.

BY MICHAEL BREAM



i RIDEBY MICHAEL BROOKE

I RIDE I RECYCLE (IRIR) is the first national (soon to beglobal), grass-roots skate deck recycling movement. Dedicatedto the protection of our environment by keeping broken skate-board decks and manufacturer wood waste out of landfills, IRIRaims to be the industry solution. I Ride I Recycle shifts skate-boarding from a disrespected art form to one that embracesrecycling, environmentally responsible manufacturing, reusingwood waste and broken decks, supporting charities and localskate shops, promoting skatepark builds in low-income areasand empowering youth with an eco-friendly DIY mentality.

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

“Rich and I created IRIR because we were using broken decksto create our Art of Board wall tile. So, it originated as a need formore wood material,” says cofounder Boul. “However, we real-ized that an international movement would not only keep thiswood waste out of landfills, but we could use the movement tosupport skate shops, bring skaters in the doors, create commu-nity in the local skate scenes, teach kids about sustainability andgive back to skate charities like the Tony Hawk Foundation, LifeRolls On and Grind For Life.”

A consortium of like-minded, “green” brands has cometogether under the I Ride I Recycle name to promote sustainablebusiness practices and products ranging from swimwear andlongboards to sunglasses and retail surface tile made frombroken, recycled skate decks.


“I Ride I Recycle is the action sports industry’s recycling and sus-tainability umbrella,” says Boul. “We’re really excited to evolve andinclude more companies to become part of a movement that’s not onlydoing good for the environment, but also creating community and sup-porting charities.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Boul urges skaters to see IRIR as a call to action. “If you want to seeskate shops thrive and skateboarding as a sport thrive, then join themovement,” he says. “IRIR collects wood waste and gives back. It’s a360-degree revolution that is taking the industry by storm. Shops andmanufacturers can join on our website and individual riders can alsosign their local shops up. It only takes a minute.” irideirecycle.com CW

Previous page: Art of Board founder Rich Moor-

head uses every square inch of each deck

recycled through the I Ride I Recycle movement,

creating zero waste. Photo: Renee Rosensteel

Left: I Ride I Recycle and Art of Board cofounder

Bruce Boul. Photo: Renee Rosensteel

Above: An office at Life Rolls On, a subsidiary of

the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, in

Culver City, California, decked out by Art of

Board. Photo: Tara Wujcik

Below: Close-up of wooden tiles made from dis-

carded decks, and other areas at Life Rolls On.

Photos: Tara Wujcik


Cody on February 8, 2012 wrote this review:STOKED!!!This is a really great app, 90% of it is the forum based 'Wall' that people can post questionsor reveiw gear on. This community is very close knit and knowledgeable. Lots of guys on herebuild their own boards and some of them are fantastic quality. If it weren't for these guys Iwouldn't have learned to standie. No need for fumbling around a desktop website anymore.

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