This October officially has three of the raddest East Coast events you can attend. Each of these events is multiple things and requires the entire weekends worth of time and shred love. This coming weekend brings you to Vermont for the High View Autumn Bomb held by our great friends up in Burlington. You’ve probably seen the previous posts about it but you got to register ASAP because spots are filling up.

The weekend after is the Broadway Bomb, Style Sessions and Earthwing Tech Slide mayhem. If you don’t know what the Broadway Bomb is then you need to do some research because this sentence is a waste of my time already let alone explaining such a massive thing to you.

The third weekend of October is Soldiers of Downhill in Ohio. The race is fast with a gnarly righty, janky pavement and one of the most fun chicanes I’ve had the pleasure of blasting through at 55mph. Not to mention the party and towns people that love us. If you haven’t registered for this get on it! It’s been a permanent fixture of the site for a long time now so just do it because you won’t regret it!

There’s been talk about an event in the Catskills on the fourth weekend of October but last I checked the original hill fell through but we’re waiting to find out what’s going on with that. Regardless I hope you got an oil change, a tune up and checked your tire inflation because you’ll want the best gas mileage possible this next month! GET SOME!

Sometimes it’s not cool or appropriate to slide. Usually those situations are frustrating because it means you don’t get to charge balls out into that corner you’re trying to hit perfectly. Those situations that you make the right decision and footbreak can mean the difference between you or your friend in the hospital. When I started skating downhill and taking mountain trips “predrifts” didn’t exist except for the skaters in the Alps, Berklee hills and some Canadians but it wasn’t an acceptable thing to do in a race. This is even after the time period of the X Games and Gravity Games downhill races. That time frame saw hostility towards sliding in races. Jason Salfi of Comet told me a funny story about someone at a racers meeting back in the early 2000s saying “…and none of that Berklee slide bullshit, this is racing!” Hell I was going 60mph before I could shutdown slide at high speeds confidently. My point is that footbreaking, while out of style, is fucking important and is something you should still take the time to learn because you never know when it will be the faster way to corner or safest way to prevent an accident.

So here’s to footbreaking!

This should get you stoked for this years Autumn Bomb which is guaranteed to big bigger and better.

“The 2011 Ham Jam, the original spot got blown up by an asshole in the neighorhood so instead of being defeated we just picked up an moved it to new spot. We also unveiled the TR Custom Longboards “Buffalo Soldier” Designed By: ME and the “Panty Dropper” Designed By: Bill Steinbacker, both built by Tom R. of TR-Medlar”

Thanks NSA for posting this video. I forgot about this event entirely for some reason but it’s definitely a big one. You should go next year.

I think I met Max at Munnsville but it could have been before then too. I remember he had the most absurd leathers and was chilling down the hill. The next time I skated with him he was shredding after riding with Pat Schep a ton. The dude is a skater all the way through and knows what’s up. If you need proof then just watch the Venom Mega Ramp spoof. This was a fun correspondence we had via email over a month or so this summer.

Anthony – Hey man, stoked to do this with you! I’ve been chilling on this article series for too long since I did the interview with Brian. Trying to do a “where are they now” sort of thing.

I guess first thing is the most recent: how was the Rado Pass trip you just took last weekend? I can’t imagine what that’s like!

Max – The pass trip was rad. I’m working on a magazine article about the Colorado scene so I can’t say too much: but those dudes definitely showed me what’s up.

Once you’ve skated their roads, you understand why Colorado dudes always rock leathers and skate with that fast racing style. The thin air and the way the roads are built, with grippy pavement and really big turns, make it fun to go really really fast.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that Colorado has better skateparks than California. They’re newer, better-built, more diverse, and more fun than most parks in California. Also, the people are laid-back but spend considerably less time on the couch than Californians. If I didn’t work in the skateboard industry, I’d probably live in Colorado or Portland.

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These kids were the grommiest of groms when I met them earlier this year and now they shred so hard I can’t believe it. Keep skating guys and keep it fun! Hope you all are enjoying your non-tropical weather weekend and escaped the flooding this past week.

So, it comes the time when leaves change color, the air cools, and the fuse is lit. That’s right, it’s time for the Autumn Bomb!

With the amount of curiosity and excitement last year’s race created, we decided to make HVAB a two-day event this year.

Day One – Race Day – Full on racing at the same hill as last year, High View: at around 35mph, it’s not the fastest course we have, but when you’re four skaters deep, all predrifting for lead spot around the first right turn hairpin, things get tricky; and to make it more challenging, we added gates to the course after the first turn. That means two crash corners, and tighter heats. There will be 64 spots available, and racing will be conducted in four man heats. Helmet and gloves are required.

VT Autumn Bomb Longboard Race from daniel sparling on Vimeo.

Day two – Freeride – Strictly for fun (with prizes and podiums) Jam style event on a curvaceous road. Tight and compact, The “Dam Good” Hill features three graceful turns, a right dropping into a sweeping left, then a creeping right with a sharp run out. All in over a 100 feet of vertical drop. Pavement is flat with large faced stones, making it slide effortlessly. You can ride this hill a million ways, and always learn something new. Again, helmet and gloves are required.

Sign-up — To sign up visit NCDSA and fill out an entry form. Entry fee TBD (around $20).

Sponsors – We are always looking for sponsors, contributors, and volunteers. If you are interested in helping out, please send 802lbc@gmail.com for more information. We would like to thank our current and past sponsors for making High View Autumn Bomb II happen.

Current Sponsors:

Surf-Rodz

Projection Films

Kebbek

Rotule

Clutch

Team Quebec