This was how we spent our thanksgiving. The road is a dream in a dream in a dream. Thanks to all the sponsors that made this trip happen.

Skatesgiving:Jungle Raw Run from Team Quebec on Vimeo.

We’ve been skating this road since at least 2009. I myself have a history of near death experiences when drifting into the other lane on those rights. Luckily no one ever got seriously hurt. Take a look back at our exploits from one of our first NC trips as a group:

My first Beauty of the Beast interview is kicking off with Casey Jackson!

She has just as much energy and stoke as I do on skateboarding and LIFE!!!! I don’t even know were to start with this lovely lady! Between her skating, roof top gardening, volunteer job as an assistant horticulturist at the Baltimore aquarium, her awesome cat, biology and chemistry tattoos on her arms, cliff diving and gluten free beer drinking habit she is an awesome friend to all! And this is all just the daily life of Casey Jackson!

I first met her briefly at Fight Club DC, she was and still rips a mini ramp harder then myself and 95% of the longboarders in the area. About a year later I met her in the elevator of a parking garage in Baltimore. That tattoo!  Its stuck in the back of my head…Since the garage session that night she has been the older sis I never had! She’ll help anybody with anything! But don’t cross her. SHE WILL DESTROY YOU. If you were at Anthony Flis’ Nova Slide Jam this past winter you may have seen the devil come out a little bit!

Chris: CASEY!!!!!    Please tell us a little bit about your self. What got you into skateboarding?

Casey: After highschool I attended college for 8 years and earned three degrees. When I graduated I realized I needed an outlet for stress, I needed a social life. So at 26 years of age, I chose skateboarding to provide me with just that: a stress outlet and a social life. Plus it seemed radder than anything else out there.

read more…

Chris: Why longboarding?

Casey: I didnt start longboarding until about this time last year. Regular skateboards were my thing since I love transition, bowls and mini ramps. I have to thank Nino Almazon and Lansdowne Skatepark for inspiring me to get a longboard. My first one was the Gravity 46″ Carve. I still ride it on the regular- I love that thang. Then my friend Skater Dave invited me out to a BGS session. It was all over from there. I became hooked on blastin in packs. (BGS- Baltimore Garage Skaters, a local skate crew that kills it in the garages!) Now I’ve got a friggin quiver~ Gravity 39″, Gravity 46″, Earthwing Corchia, Landyachts Switchblade and my Anti-hero regular board

Chris: AWESOME nerdy science tattoos on your arms. Can you tell us about that?

Casey: I have Bachelors degrees in Chemistry and Biology. I had to even out the nerd factor and get my favorites of each discipline tattooed on me Do good and evil molecules even exist? Think about that one…

Chris: Who inspires you and your skating?

Casey: My local community. Hands down. Since I started skating later in life I wasn’t in the loop with all the OG pro’s and scenes from early skateboarding til the present. My influences came from those I interacted with face to face in the DC/VA/MD scene. Then Bill Crowley (AVE owner) asked me to ride for AVE’s longboarding team so that kicked up the inspiration/motivation a good bit. I love learning about skate history and I am blown away every time I watch a skate video from a different time period. I recently had the privilege to host Sergio Yuppie, Brad Edwards, some of the Earthwing Team and a few other out-of town skaters for the B-More Slide Jam. I’ve got a shit-tonne of inspiration stemming from those guys and that weekend now.

Chris: Roof top garden!  When did you get started?

Casey: Last year. I started raised bed gardening when I lived in the county around 2008. But when I moved to the city ~2 years ago there was no yard, so I went top mount! I love my garden. Everyone should come over and have some goodies. Its good for the spirit and its fun to climb up the side of my house.

Chris: I was at your house at around 2am after our Circle P garage session about a month ago and you were sick. You said you had a photo shoot for your garden the next day, can you tell us about that adventure and how it went?

Casey: Urbanite Magazine was doing a spread about rooftops in the city. They heard about me and contacted me for an interview/photoshoot. I had to come home from work in the rain for the interview during my lunch break. Since the weather was shit for photos, they postponed the shoot. The photographer contacted me the next day to see if I would be available at 7am for photos. I was so excited that I agreed without thinking about how we all look in the morning especially when we are sick. I didn’t sleep well that night, woke up grumpy, snotty, congested and pissed at the world. When the photographer showed up I told him not to take photos of my face unless my hair was all up in it, just to take photos of the garden. I’m glad they didn’t post any close ups of me. I looked like a friggin troll that morning. But hey- we get shit done regardless, right?

Chris: Most memorable moment(s) based on or around skateboarding?

Casey: Damn dude I could go on forever with this. I have been so blessed. Here’s a list, in no particular order:

-Joshua’s neighbor’s 1-day permission pool. Gnar as fuck.

-Carroll park harassment. How did I survive?

-Mentoring inner city youth in skateboarding. Those kids taught me to never stop pushing and that we all deserve a chance.

-Navy Crew Ocean City get to know ya session, if it weren’t for those guys I wouldn’t have kept skating

-Pittsburgh trip with Stephanie from Skatepark of Baltimore when I broke my foot

-Bomb from AVE Skateshop to Fells Point garages with my AVE team in the rain

-NYE 2011 Downer session with Nino. Magical.

-Concussion at the chute in Dundalk. Joshua and Colin made sure I stopped skating for the evening after that, thanks guys.

-Girls skate workshop @ the Downer. SLAG, GRO and SOB- Huge inspirations to the girl skate community

-Bmore Slidejam fo sho- I will never be the same

-Halloween 2009 and girls skate day at FCDC (Uuuuup! Dooooooown! Uuuuuup! Dooooooown!)

-Palace to Pulaski DC bomb on Jun 21, 2009. Hundreds of skaters bombing 16th. The sound. Holy shit the sound. It was like being inside a beehive. Amazing.

-Endless BGS sessions – the reason I stuck with longboarding. I love you guys. BGS for life.

-NoVA Slide Jam- got my first slide wheels (EW superballs), a bow to the face from a crazy bitch and made so many friends!

I know Ive got more but those are some good ones that blast me~

Chris: Volunteering at the Aquarium, WHOAH!  So RAD!  You got to play with a sloth once?  Tell us all about that…please!

Casey: Yup! SO rad! I got the volunteer position this past October. I help out in the rain forest section. Basically I water and tend to the plants but from time to time I get to do something uber special. Xeno, the baby two toed sloth was due for a feeding one morning. The staff there let me feed him and pet him. OH MY GAWD if that wasn’t the most adorable thing ever. He’s pretty slow. He likes sweet potatoes. His nails are razor sharp and his teeth will f*#k you up. But damn if that lil furball dont commence a squee!

Chris: Baltimore skate scene & longboarding in general.  What do you think about it and where do you think or want it to go?

Casey: I love the Baltimore skate community in both longboarding and regular skateboarding! There are a bunch of shops and teams here and they are all rad folks. AVE, VU, 3RIDE and Charm are the local shops/teams. AVE is the only one with a longboarding team. BGS is the longboarding/garage underground community here in the city. Unfortunately the future of the BGS crew is a little rocky since cops are harassing us like crazy. Its funny, I can’t recall hearing about Baltimore city crime rates getting lower. Those cops must sure have some good ol extra time on their hands, good job Baltimore! But hey- can’t stop, won’t stop is the way of the skater so we will emerge glorious in other garages. There are plenty!

I do notice some hate towards longboarding coming from some of the shortboarders (but don’t call them that- they prefer just “skateboarders”) but I don’t give it no mind. I say skate everything. You are missing out otherwise. I don’t get any hard slack from anyone for riding a longboard and I think Billy said it right when he said “I hate riding longboards on miniramps and shortboards on steep hills”. You have to treat it like you do with kids: Set an example. Don’t encourage hate. Be what you want to see in your community.

I’d like to see more longboarders skating shortboards and different terrains- and vise versa. I’d like Baltimore to be the East Coast hub for everything skateboarding. Its so perfect- we’ve got street spots, hills, garages, surrounding parks, backyard ramps, etc. I’d like to see the Charm in Charm City stay alive and inviting. Longboarding is just as fun as shortboarding in my opinion. I could never pick just one!

Chris: When your not being awesome a zillion% of the time what do you do in your off time? The in-between the mean time, ya know?

Casey: I do not know of this off time you speak of…

Chris: Your CAT!  Any words for her?  How is she feeling?

Casey: Deeohgie (phonetic for D-O-G) sprained her paw a few weeks ago. She’s 12 and acts like a dog/kitten hybrid. She’s one of my bestest friends for sure, living in 11 different places with me, going through guy drama, breakups to makeups and everything in between. On the mend and ready to rock, she’ll never leave me alone and I don’t want her to. I think everyone who meets her agrees she is the raddest cat on the planet.

Chris: GIRLS SKATEBOARDING WORKSHOP!  What was that about & how did it go?

Casey: My friend Jenny and I teamed up with Skate Like A Girl Foundation, Girls Riders Organization and Skatepark of Baltimore to put on a free workshop at Lansdowne Skatepark to teach women of any age or skill level the basics of skateboarding. We are trying to encourage more ladies to skate and get involved in the skate community here. There are so few of us and for those of us that have been in the skate scene solo for a while, we know it can be a really uninviting terrain. We want to create an environment where girls can feel free to ask questions about skating, talk about technique, style, and community issues without being shot down. Sometimes, although not always intentional, dudes can be a bit condescending towards female skaters. Unfortunately this turns a lot of ladies away from the sport. We want to change that. We had over 30 women of all ages and skill levels attend our event. It was amazing. Two girls dropped in on the mini and it was their very first day riding a board. Talk about impressive!

Chris: Do you have an event coming up similar? Or just in general?

Casey: I think I should have been an event coordinator. I am always putting together and promoting events of the skate/entertainment nature. The Girls Skate Workshop and B-more Slide Jam definitely worked me so I’m gonna take a break and try to figure out what this free time thing is that you were talking about. Another Girls Workshop is in the works for the fall but no solid date. I’ll be cruisin across country in late August/September hittin skateparks and interviewing some farms I want to apprentice with, but I hope we can get some sort of event goin at the Downer when I get back. I’d like to see a slalom/park jam where longboarders and shortboarders can rip and party together before the winter hits.

Chris: Any jokes?

Casey: These two hydrogen atoms were hangin out and one says to the other: “Damn dude, I lost and electron!” the other says “Shit man, are you sure??!!” and the first one replies “yeah dude, I’m positive”

Chris: Words to the wise?

Casey: Give unselfish, positive feedback. Often. You’d be amazed to learn who is moved and motivated by your validation.

Bainbridge, Ohio is a town you’ll never visit ever in your life. You have absolutely zero reasons for coming here other than Soldiers of Downhill. But that is the best reason you could ever have for going to a tiny town that offers nothing to passers by. Soldiers is the fastest race course in the U.S. and one of the most technical. When you combine those two aspects it is probably the most gnar race course in the U.S. So why weren’t you there? It’s a little hard to get to but I drove 9 hours by myself through the night and then 9 hours home. Needless to say I didn’t make it to work on Monday but this event is that worth it.

Bainbridge is typical small town America and it’s an eye opening experience for people that aren’t used to it. The Virginia downhill guys spend the majority of our skate trips in places like this so we’re kind of used to it but man I love the Queebs reaction to Murrrica. The town doesn’t even really like the race particularly. Someone almost started a fight with Buono outside the bar after calling the racers “queers.” Regardless of this we hit the town hard. The skating is great but for some reason this town brings out the rowdyness in everyone. The one honky tonk bar we went to got inundated with skaters yelling and cheersing everything while old locals jumped on the table dancing or humping. Buono made out with a mom and daughter that night. Corn fields were run through, under age kids were fucked with at a house party, it’s kind of insane. Congrats to Georges for not winning the party again this year, I’m proud of you!

The course demands your respect though. I’m not sure how many people I saw go into the hay but I’d guess all of them or at least close. Niko probably didn’t crash all weekend but he’s a beast and that’s why he ended up on top of the podium. I never hit hay at all on Saturday but because of stupidity I fell trying to look good for the Team Quebec camera at the fastest part of the course coming out of the chicane where you should not fall because of how bad it could be. Sometimes you need those 55mph crashes to keep you in check and remind you of the consequences of your actions. Sometimes that shit goes worse like it did for Jraw. Hitting hay head first at 55mph is no way to go through life and it was the scariest speedboard crash I’ve seen in person. The eruption of hay was incredible and it gave Jeremy the worst concussion I’ve ever seen. Having to explain what happened to him every five seconds was so painful. Hopefully this new head trauma will get his sense of smell back though. Send your love to Jraw as he heals up, but I also heard that he skated the Harrisburg gnar on the Monday after like a fucking lunatic.

Racing happened and was fun. There’s probably awesome highlights that should be mentioned but I don’t really care about racing that much. Racing this run in general is gnar as shit no matter who you are, going into these turns in a pack is heavy. Things that you should note though are that: 1) Will Royce is from Florida and faster than you plus shreds street harder than you can skate downhill so check yourself. 2) Will Seal stepped shit up and put on his big boy leathers and got a couple rounds further than I did and I can’t wait to see that kid skating next summer and blowing minds. 3) Jraw has been killing it at races this year and needs to travel off the east coast and go show his steezy ass off else where and get some recognition. No one was sliding as stylishly as the mofo.

To see all the awesome photos and where that video came from check out www.teamquebec.org

Results:

1. Niko Desmarais
2. AJ Haiby
3. Mike Jakoop
4. Will Royce

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.

read more…

Anthony – I can’t wait to read that article! So when you moved out west was your plan to just get in the skate industry? I’ve been fighting that urge to move west and be a skate bum for a while now until I got this gig with Comet.

Max – There wasn’t really a plan. I just wanted to skate and do photography, and moving in with Brian, James, and Louis seemed like a good way to do that.

Mainly, I went to go take skate pictures. Downhill skateboarding attracts a pretty interesting group of people and it looked like things were about to take off. Aside from Jon Huey, nobody in the scene was taking photography seriously; so I figured I’d go and help shape this emerging subculture.

Getting in the industry was secondary. Brian introduced me to Zak Maytum, the owner of Venom Bushings, and he gave me a job packaging bushings so I could keep my California dream alive. Venom is pretty much run out of the Madrid factory, so that’s how I got in with them. There wasn’t really a plan, I just met cool people that hooked up.

Anthony – It’s awesome how things just kind of work out huh? You’re one of THE photographers in the downhill world now so that’s pretty sick. What did you go to school for? Was it photography? I can’t remember…where your parents pissed at your semi skate bum decision and are they stoked now that you’re super legit?

Max – I went to weird alternative college where you study whatever you want and took two years of photography. I learned a lot about how to use cameras and computers; but never brought skateboard pictures into class.

My parents have always been cool and supportive of whatever I wanted to do. They’re stoked that I’m out here traveling, skating, and making a living doing what I want to do. If anything, they’re bummed that I moved to California because I’m so far away from home. I’m currently trying to convince them to move to Colorado; so it might work out.

Anthony – Word, not everyone has parents that are down with the skate life so that’s sweet. So how’s it feel going from the East Coast where there’s not as much going on to travelling all over? You’ve gotten to skate some amazing spots and experience a lot of scenes how does it compare?

Max – I miss the East Coast. I miss trees, street life, old buildings, spring, fall, sarcastic assholes, and shitty pavement. I miss Providence and New York City. I miss the close-knit camaraderie of the skate scene and making it happen in spite of the harsh weather and rugged spots.

That said, it’s a whole lot of fun to travel around and skate rad hills with my fellow skate bums. Once you push twice and haul ass through hairpins for 10+ miles, it’s hard to go back to hiking the slide hill all day.

While most places don’t have giant mountain roads, you can have a rad scene anywhere if you’ve got motivated people making things happen. Portland isn’t particularly blessed with hills; but they’ve got a committed group of people keeping the dream alive. Colorado’s downhill scene is probably bigger than the one in LA, you just don’t hear about it because they don’t have skate-paparazzi documenting their every move. Slide jams and outlaw races are fun everywhere. You don’t need epic runs to get people together and have a good time.

Anthony – Yeah man if anything when people talk about the east coast they talk about how tight the community is. Liam Morgan is here right now and was talking about how out west there are a lot more small cliques that stay together and don’t branch out a lot since there are so many spots there’s no need to really. Who are your favorite peeps to skate with these days? And for that matter favorite skaters in general? I know you get down on skating in all forms and shred park too how has that influenced the way you skate?

A week later….

Anthony – Hey just seeing if you’re still into this. I know you’ve been on the road a lot and saw that you got to skate that one fast road. So how fast did you go? I heard Rizzo did it switch and then on a pool deck…

Max – My favorite skaters to watch are the guys who approach spots differently and look like they’re having fun. Jason Adams, Louie Barletta, Grant Taylor, Ben Schroeder, the whole bacon/lifeblood team, Rune Glifberg, Lance Mountain, and pretty much anyone who does good bonelesses. Favorite downhillers are probably James Kelly, Louie Pilloni, Tai Nakayama, Pete Eubank, Calvin Staub, anyone who looks like they’re enjoying themselves. I want to be Jeff Budro when I grow up.

I like skating with people who ride everything from flat to vertical. My favorite dudes to session with? Zak Maytum, Billy Bones, Louie Pilloni, Kody Noble, Pat Schep, Casey Morrow, Calvin Staub, etc.

Yeah, I went out there twice. There’s a beast coast sticker at the top. The fastest GPS reading I got was 75.9. GPS isn’t super accurate and there were some clouds in the sky; so I’ll say I went low 70s.

The hill is sick. I can’t really describe the feeling of skating it. The endorphin rush at the bottom is better than any drug I’ve ever tried. All you want to do when you get to the bottom is hit it again and go faster.

I was skating behind Billy when he hit a rock and wobbled out at 75, which was heavy. Fortunately, he was fine and I had plenty of room to avoid him. We’re pretty sure that was the fastest skateboard crash ever.

I heard DT skated it naked, which is somewhat mind-blowing.

Anthony – I skated with this dude Packy Fancher last weekend who was doing sick bonelesses out of the 10ft pocket at the park we were at. I respect gnarly fast plants a little more and Lance is definitely the king of those in my opinion. I would also love to be Jeff Budro when I grow up too and am so stoked to be working for a skate company. I don’t really know what the fuck else to ask you right now. Do you have anything you want to add or wisdom to impart on some east coast skate rats?  Also it’s awesome to see how you’ve gone so far in skating from when I first met you at Munnsville and you were just making it down the course in your crazy ass suit with all the zippers to now bombing one of the fastest roads in the world and on a level beyond me.

Max – Footplants are basically the shit; but you only get one plant per trick. With all respect to Adam, we can’t be having any of this Loaded-challenge tiger claw nonsense.

As for advice, the more you involve yourself in the scene, the more fun you’ll have and the more likely you are to get sponsored. Travel around, go to events, and meet as many skaters as you can. At the very least, you’ll have a good time skating sick spots with rad people.

On that note, don’t worry too much about getting sponsored. If you love skating and aren’t a total goon, it’ll happen sooner or later. Until then, enjoy riding whatever you want.

East Coast kids: skip the CNC trucks and buy a plane ticket to the big hills in Colorado, or California. Trust me, you’ll get way more shred for your dollar.

I’m planning on flying out for Broadway Bomb and the various activities and sessions around that; so hopefully I’ll see you there. Otherwise, you’re more than welcome at the skatehouse. Try to stay on the road this time, ok?

Anthony – Thanks dude, much respect and will see you soon!

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

Hard:
1. John Kreutter
2. Andriy Dash
3. Brandon Harrison

Soft:
1. Ben Vaughan
2. Dan Fontz
3. Sam Abramson

Women:
1. Jessica Corchia
2. Chelsea Egan

Best Bail: Mike Mayhugh
Longuest slide: Nick Glaudemans

After an extremely successful grassroots event in 2010, event organizer Mike Girard has created enough community enthusiasm to draw over 150 participants from all over the East Coast – all the way down to Florida – to this event. It took only a day for the Facebook event to reach 100 positive RSVPs, and the responses have continued to come in. Participants range from life-long adult skaters, to sponsored professional riders and the young up-and-coming.

The Central MA competition features three main events: a downhill race, a slide competition, and a flatland style competition. In the downhill race, 128 athletes will race in 4-man heats down a closed-road course that features two descents, both of which will propel racers to speeds approaching 50mph. The slide competition will have racers performing their best moves down a section of the race course with judges spaced along the hill to assess them. Judges will also determine the winner of the flatland competition, in which groups of participants will have a set time limit to show off. Secondary events include longest slide competitions and games of SKATE, which is played like the basketball game HORSE.

The competition boasts over 20 sponsors, including big names like Loaded Boards, Orangatang Wheels, Push Culture, Concrete Wave, Original, Surf Rodz, Eastern Boarder and more, as well as local longboarding startups like Eden Racing, Nashawtuck Longboards, and Green Street Longboards. Other sponsors include Trophy Life Tattoo, Marcus Lewis Day Camp, Collegiate Greenscaping and Creative Contact. This means participants can expect excellent podium prizes, while attendees can look forward to great raffle swag.

Registration for participants begins at 9am and preliminary heats will begin after 10am. The event is expected to run until 5pm. Any longboarders interested in competing can contact Mike Girard at emgeemann@gmail.com.

This gathering of downhill skateboarding enthusiasts received press coverage in SkateSlate, the Loaded Blog, the Harvard Press, and the Harvard Post last year. A video recap of the first event can be found here.

Thanks to Andiry from Earhtwing for the video.

The day was hot as hell but it didn’t stop the shredding. Josh Wright and Dylan Headley won it to continue their domination of slide jams.