Today I Discovered . . . Downhill Longboarding

Back in the day I used to be a skateboarder. When I first got into it I loved everything about skate culture, I particularly loved watching the Bones Brigade street skating videos, but also loved watching those radical ramp skaters fly through the air.

Of course Tony Hawk and Stacey Peralta (of Powell & Peralta fame) were big heroes of mine and I wanted to be able to move just like them.

Even though I had been on a plastic 70s penny board around the age of eight, I didn't ride a modern board till I was 16. I remember enthusiastically making a pact with a fellow newbie skater that we would practice each and every day for a year just so that we could be closer to the skating gods.

Alas my size (I'm 6'4" tall) and my general aversion to the pain of the skateboard slamming into my shins every time I made a mistake, curtailed any ambition to be a professional boarder. That coupled with the fact that the guy I made the pact with (he was about 5'4"), was actually bloody brilliant after his year of dedicated skating.

So I slowly gave up riding around on a wooden board with wheels attached, however my love for the sport always remained, and I still like watching the odd video or two.

Anyway longboarding isn't new, I remember the first longboards coming out when I was a teenage skater. However I hadn't ever watched any longboard videos until recently, I've been getting into the downhill videos and my word are they thrilling!

I mean some of them are pretty crazy, and as far as I can tell they are whizzing down two way mountain roads without exercising the proper respect for blind corners.

It is incredibly relaxing to watch someone wheel surf their way down a mountain, hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Go to 1:21 to jump straight into the action!

I think this is my fave, very exciting! Go to 0:36 to get to the good stuff!

This one is definitely the gnarliest, lots of cliff edge action! Go to 0:20 to get right into it.

Fun Longboarding Facts:

• The top speed for this sport has been clocked at 86 mph!!

• The skaters wear metal pads on their hands to help them drift round corners.

• Most long boarders got into it from conventional skating.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT LONGBOARDING? AND WHAT HAVE YOU DISCOVERED RECENTLY?

Cryptogee