Three Sixty Spins - June 1997

~JIA....~7&

/

T HREESIXTVS P IN S

WIN A $220 SECTOR 9 LONGBOARD

> > DETAILS INSIDE

The Need for

{or just a soul ride)

'~ Toda y' s Iongboards are t~ings of beauty.

u

I

Ill

0

.I

w

Ill

w

i

, ~-q'hese aren't just new school decks with extra length and width, they are uniquely designed boards ideal for getting that snow (and sur0 fe eling all summer long. For sure, longboards are not replace· men ts for new school skateboards, but rather an alternative. If you want to just go out and rip and get some serious speed, take your longboard. I'd never been on a longboard, before an old school skater named Michael Brooke called me up a few months back and told me that he was starting a company called

l:.oad tester. Don Peddie. tali.cs the Sector 9 1,intail i'oa• a s1,in outside oi' l:.am1,stcrdam.

S1,ccial gloves arc available i'oa• serious cle111011s to a"t·oicl stri1•1•iu~ tlac skin oil'your hands.

Art of the Carve. He'd hooked up with a manufacturer in La Jolla, California called Sector 9 and he planned to start importing these things. I must admit, I was a little skeptical at first. In fact, it wasn't until Michael organized a demo day at Rampsterdam in Toronto recently that I actually rode one for the first time.

It was awesome.

Michael had advertised the demo day

45" in length. There are pintail decks (shown , here), designed for downhill speed, and kicktail decks that are great for cruising {these are the ones that took on the ramps). Other decks flex and gyrate -- big camber -- to increase speed. The decks all have wheelwells cut into the wood to allow for the sharp turning capabilities of these machines .

Trucks are old school, with fat wheels in the

: •1

'

I and about 20 interested skaters turned out to check out the decks. Michael and four other skaters -- Don Peddie, Tom Brown, Matt Herzog and Doug Miller -became the unofficial 360 Spins road testers for the day.

After only a few minutes on the Sector 9 decks, the team was grinning. They rode them in a big empty paved area and then went inside to test them out on Rampsterdam ' s ramps. No one had a bad thing to say about them and a few sales were surely made that day.

HARDWARE Longboard s average over 360 Spins • 12

61mm to 70mm range. The trucks are raised off of the base of the board, again to allow for the steep, tight turning capabilities of these decks.

qp WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? We wanted to know why Michael Brooke decided to start pushing longboards in Canada - and, in particular, eastern Canada.

We've all seen the odd longboard in local shops, but no one has really made a concerted effort to stock and market these decks in this area .

So, Michael, why would someone want to ride a longboard?

"Longboards are unlike any skateboard you've ever ridden. Imagine riding a four foot board that responds quickly and effortlessly to your every move ... " . Sounds interesting, but why should I give up my new school deck to start longboarding? I like pulling tricks ... street and vert riding.

"You actually end up with two boards. You have a longboard to get you frorn point A to point B, without all the jaggle that reverberates through your feet and up through your legs -- espe· cially on rough asphalt. I see skaters all the time trying to speed down long strips of road on their new school

- ~BJ$»~~

·· ~~-,:;dllfllfts ll'hen: tf

Every 2 weeks starting May18 fall s~mmerJ

" •call the shop or pass by to find out what time and where It Is ,

~omp Format:

1 0

We pick an obstacle, you dQ . .a (rJ/cll, we Judge It and you m~ ht,'.w ln'"!s4»m~t! lllng ,;ii,

•l•rlzes: at each comp,.$10 .

'Kastel sa.,2 !. !! E

Trl!f;ll' , .

l'11ie~i '·

.; Bob 'Burnqu

' n Fo the

on June 15

e

1111.........,

1 ,a

k

i

e

I

U'• rlll11u, uar ...1111k1 u1treu....k11r u111u....alUe11tller...

Mf\N'

My

A

e I

Llf S

r.,reele.

RA~pJ1erclAM S'~qfepqrK

Of.th fl/er'ydo.y,

C,ve IAt

Cf (o\\

---

ge t a fe w good rides. Ever the a tt e nti o n get te r, Mi cha el co uldn' t resist hamming it up fo r the kids in th e park with his o ld sc hoo l spins, hands tand rides and headstand s. I got off a shot or two for posterity's sake and also to appease the kids in the park who kept yelling at me "Hey camera guy, get a shot of thi s 1!! Awesome!"

So, with the interest of the new schoo lers, as well as the so ul rid e rs, lo ngboarding in Canada is ripe for some serious action.

With the success of the demo day at Rampsterdam, the c r ew h as d ec id e d to hold longboard sessions at the Bay a nd We ll es ley parking lot in Toronto Uust outside the skate park) on the first Sunday of every m onth -· starting June 7.

Th e sessions will run through Se pte mb e r 6. If you snowboard, or if you're just mildly The Clo11cl 9 is 1•robably eloscst to a 11cwselmol board iu curious about these modem day Scetor 9 li11c-111• -· it 110 1,roblcms tal..i11g i1ight. longboards, you might want to give o n e a try for yourself.

Photos by M ike Be lobrad ic "You can," said Michael, Don ' t b e fooled into "But that's not ,.,,. thinkingthatany what they're F t ( \f' .,,_ new sch?ol for."

He 1 \", ' \ ! . j skate design paused, re- ·\ \ Do....._._111 gloves I stretched over fleeting for ~ ~.· -~ , J 40" is indicative a moment. \ \\ '\.

'-'.', / of a longboard.

"Longboard,''. •;. 1:· \ The y' re not.

• ' •':,s. Y;/ \ \'. ' ,I Until you ride a ing is 1I. k e snowboarding. )j:, ' m o d e r n It's the best way to longboard, like train in the off seathose we tested from Sector 9, son." you really can't be Our testers can vouch for that. When too judgemental. you get the urge to cut Take it for what it's worth. loose and feel the nee d for Th e r e seems to be a speed, the longboard is truly the groundswell starting around 'l'lu; lon~hom•d h:am. (I, lo IC) Don~ Jlill.:1•. Don best alternative to get the snowhere on a whole new way to enPc:dtlh:. rr«HII Hron'lt. ,li~l1ac:I Hrool,c:. ,1au llc:1•zo~. board feeling on concrete and joy the sport that already brings asphalt. us such a rush. Plus, longboards a rough road on a new school But what about longboards decks. They aren't pulling are a hell of a lot of fun . set up. but the question is, can on ramps? Even though they're tricks, just cruising around. This you do new school tricks on a not really meant to be ridis when you should be riding a longboard? den on ramp s, our longboard." testers proved that Michael's right. When we they could handle tested these boards, you immethese decks on diately want to look for open roads to really cut loose and let Rampsterdam's mm1-ra mp and them fly. Their length and solid construction makes them exquarter pipe (as the tremely stable. The fat, old photos will confirm). It school wheels make them ideal takes a little getting for ripping up even the roughused to -- with the est of roads. You won't find extra length and yourself with numb legs or feet all -- but they like you do when trying to skate managed to

---------------,

~J

360 Spins • 16

I

----

I

..

,..[~

•

J:'<

,

1

1.--i

,\. •Jll .f ".• -.:. . "'

' .. ,

,_.

~·

-:.,,

,

~--

:;, '

._t.41 ,.:>,...

l

-~\11

-.:...!:==::::!:!!!!:::'!!'!

.,.~ .""-..~f '

'

I

(

(l,.:rt) Hiclaa&:I Brook&: laams it 11•• 011 tlae ( '.loml !). (,\bo,·e) Tia.: ('.osmi&: Uid.:r is cmu•tos&:d ol' l'o11r layer!!i ol' ma1•k and iib1·1:~lass. tt•s con.:av.: d.:si~n l.:ts ii' r&:s.mnd to a skater•s •• .. 111••i11~ action to ~aha s••&:&:d.

HISTORY & THE

L<>ll'-IIC3

by Michael Brooke

Upon first viewing or riding a longboard, most people think "large skateboard."

But longboarders know better. For them, the road to their current state of riding euphoria is rooted in their past skateboard experiences. For some riders, it is their additional participation in snowboarding that draws them even closer to longboarding. These separate but powerful experiences fuel the desire to longboard with great conviction. (ie: mega stoked!) This article looks at the history of skateboarding and its impact on cruising and carving with longboards today.

For old school skaters, close to four decades worth of nostalgia are rolled into the current longboard rage. If you can, cast your mind back to the I950's. Surfing in California was the catalyst for what would become a new sport. It is the surfers who can lay claim to one of the best examples of reusing technology: Their recipe for dealing with poor waves was pretty ingenious: take one beat up metal roller skate (dissected), one 2x4 plank, banged together with a few nails and presto, sidewalk surfer. Carving became something you could do in and out of the water, although this was pretty difficult with metal wheels.

Slowly sidewalk surfing caught on, but not without skaters wiping out due to the primitive boards and horrendous metal wheels.

The Sector 9 Cloud 9 is a 46" masterpiece built to last from seven rock-hard plys of maple. It's kicktail and subtle concave make it ideal for aggressive skaters - a true longboard with all the

•••••~~~~=•

necessary tools for~fi:1i:gh ; t~.

---

,.,-

As with any sport. technology propelled participants to the next level of skateboarding. Getting things really rolling was Hobie Alter who rode his own custom made decks in the hills of California. When he began utilizing clay wheels from roller skates and joined up with a large manufacturer, skateboarding became a big business. It also set the seeds for downhill skating. By the mid 1960s over 50,000,000 skateboards had been sold. Skateboarders enjoyed pulling surfing tricks like "hanging ten" on their skateboards. Although the clay wheels were a little better than metal, they lasted a few short hours when cruising the downhill slopes. Despite this, skaters were drawn to the rush of surfing asphalt.

Unfortunately, skaters had a fair number of accidents since the wheels couldn't grip the road.As a result of the increasing injuries, skateboarding was banned in ~any places. Manufacturers lost their shirts. Hardcore skaters kept cruising the hills, but for the most part, skateboarding died in the late I 960s.

It wasn't until the early 1970s when a skater by the name of Frank Nasworthy realize_d that if you made skateboard wheels from urethane, you could get all the grip _y~u needed to cruise and carve. No longer did skaters slip or shde, they were riding high on his Cadillac Wheels. This led to an interest in slalom, freescyle and downhill riding. Imagine, you could cruise at fa irly high speeds and not l_ose your grip on the road. Nasworthy probably did more to push skateboarding to new heights than any other person (until Alan Gelfand invented the ollie).

By the mid 1970s skateboarding had become a huge industry again.

The technological improvements came fast and furious. Surfboard manufacturer

•

Tell us the reasons. in 50 words or less, why mu deserve to ride this $220 brand spanking new board lrom Sector 9(complete with Indy trucks and fat 61 mm Nine Balls. Add some artwork ot you on the board (or something else that will get our attention) if you want to suck up. We also have secondary prizes to give away ot bats and!•shirts.

Send your clearly legible entries. along with yournama. address and telephone number (important) to: 1.J1p•~ &inmy, r/1 3H s,i11, B11 Hl Sbtiln A. T111ata. Ollllril 115W 1&2.

Dufm1 fir 111tri11 is ll1nuy Jn1 30 Winne13 will be contacted by phone and the judges' decisions arv final.

Courtesy of:

360 SPINS MAGAZINE

•• • Gordon & Smith combined wood and fibreglass to create their Fibreflex decks. The ride was awesome - you could literally pump the deck and carve with great intensity. Road Rider introduced their #2 wheel complete with precision bearings. This meant

that wheels ran smoother and no longer did skaters have to worry about dealing with loose ball-bear-

ings. Tracker Trucks were one of the first companies to redesign trucks. Other companies like

Gullwing, Kryptonics and Sims would also create products that made skateboarding a better sport.

Downhill races were a regular occurrence at a massive hill called La Costa. A huge slalom event took place on Catalina Is-

land. Skaters like Dennis Schufeld, Tommy Ryan, Nathan Pratt, Henry Hester and John Huston were constandy trying to go faster and harder.

It is ironic however, that with all these advancements in technology, many skaters moved away from cruising and carving to vertical riding in areas like pools and halfpipes. But a lot of skaters in the '70s still had strong cruising roots and managed to blend both types of riding. An example of this were skaters like Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta. They had no problem handling any kind of terrain -- vertical, downhill even flatland freestyle. Of course, skaters back didn't use just one type of board. A skater's quiver usually included downhill, slalom, freestyle and vertical skateboards.

360 Spins • 18

As the '70s progressed, however. slalom and downhill skating took a backseat to vertical riding. By the time the skateboarding became big again in the mid '80s, street skating was all the rage. Although if you check out the first Powell/Peralta video there is a nice section on the •downhill slide: Fast forward to the present day.

Skateboarding has become a very technical sport. Today's skaters try and pull off endless ollie variations and flips.

Although there is nothing wrong with this evolution, something odd is happening. Current skaters who come into contact with longboards are amazed at the ride. Of course, at first they always seem to try and do an ollie with a 48' board. Once they get beyond their traditional way of skating they are discovering the fun of cruising and carving. They dig the speed.

Old school no longer seems to equate with "boring" or "lame." By focussing less on tricks and more on simply carving, longboarders are changing the current new school skater's view of the world.

Despite this interest from new school skaters, chances are you feel somewhat disinterestCd in the current "new school" skateboarding scene if you skated in the '60s or '70s. No doubt you've seen how longboard manufacturers compete for retail space and attention while new school manufacturers are everywhere and beyond. The traditional magazines like Thrasher and Transworld Skateboarding rarely carry ads let alone editorial on longboarding. This leads to the question, Where do you find longboard ads and editorial/ Why in surfing magazines! This ties in perfectly with longboarding's roots. As you can plainly see, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

MuG OF THE MoNTH

Li

it1'MIHIYiM'.\lllmihJ

BY MARY BINSTED Recently, the

Ontario Snowboarding Team got to ride above the tree- line. and h " b II dozed our hill this summer so no trees have groWn

I'm not talking t e we u -

"

.

.

et" Ontario style either. I'm talking about the these m~unt~ms are so high

Y

nothing grows up here,

" B c I terior mountains. It looks 1ust like the Kokan.. . • n

label all white and Jagged like. . . .

•The Nationals were held March 27-30 at Big "."'h1te. which_is known for its baking-flower-like powder. Unfortunately March isn t exactly a prime pow month. but we did get a 15cm dump one night and as a result some of us amve_d_a little late at the halfplpe qualifiers. But since this was a snowboa_rd compet1t1on .,,_ erythlng was running about two hours (no exaggeration) behind schedule and all was well. ..

First day was the parallel slalom. which is actually a pretty exciting event to watch. Two racers go head-to-head down identical cours~s. and only _the winner advances. Ontario was represented by a very small alpine team , w rth about half of them on freestyle equipment. Racing seems to be a lot more popular in Quebec and Alberta, and It showed in the standings.

Next day was the powder dump and the halfpipe qualifiers. The pipe w.u extremely sweet. Perfect shape, so smooth a~d no ice to be foun~ . Word_~ it the guy who Invented the Pipe Dragon was hired to shape the pipe. Th1S g,rl, Tara Tlgen, was absolutely wicked. You had to look closely to make sure w.u a girl landing those wicked 540s. The Ontario boys _showed the country who rocks though, with most of your favourite local~ making the finals . Spec~ note

goes to the Manitoba team who entered the pipe even_though they don t even have one in their province. (I didn't think they had hills e~her). Those boys know how to huck. That night everyone feasted on pasta and garlic toast at the competitors banquet, if you could stand waiting in line for three hours. In the end everyone got fed and there was a massive prize give away.

On to Saturday. While the freestylers were recovering from the rest of the previous evening's activities at Snowshoe Sams, the racers where out bright and early checking out the crazy G.S. course. It was held on a run named Sur-

prise, and the run couldn't be named anything else. It's all curvy and rolly at the top and just when you think you should be crossing the finish line anytime soon,

the hill drops away and next thing you know you' re flying off Niagara Falls onto sheer ice and having to make a rather sharp left tum . That gate claimed a number of victims, but no one was seriously injured.

LONG BOARD

STYLE\

Want to get some exposure for your skate shots and stories?

Send your photos, articles, artwork etc. to 360 and give your budding career a boost. We're always on the lookout for fresh material from across Canada to feature in the mag. Material should be forwarded to 360 Spins, Box 606, Station A, Toronto, Ontario MSW 1G2. Let over 10,000 readers see what you saw or read what you wrote.

Deadlines are roughly the 10th of the month previous the cover date.

Saturday night was the halfpipe finals - held by the glow of the biggest lamps you have ever seen. You see, the bit of the mountain this event was hekt on isn't lit for night riding and the best part of it all was traversing two peaks in the dark to get there. There was massive scaffolding set up at the bottom

equipped with laser lights and turntables for the rave that took place afterwards.

The Ontario boys named Jesse rocked, with Jesse Fox placing 2nd and Jesse Fulton placing 3rd. Trevor Andrews got I st. They all rode big, clean. smooth and inverted. Of course the ' Up-Side-Down Guy." Brandon Mead, absolutely went off -- hucking it bigger than you have ever seen anyone go in your life.

The last day was the Triple Air/Boarder X Event. If you're not sure what a triple air/ boarder X is, well neither were we. It turned out to be three huge table tops all in row. The boarder X part was for insurance reasons onty.

M~ybe the or~amzers weren't sure either because that morning they were still bu,ldlng the hits. Some riders didn't even get a practice run before the comp was under way. Once again, Mr. Fox came away a winner, taking

2nd. And this being Brandon Mead's strongest event he decided to go off yet again, with several huge double back fiips . Rippey couldn't land one in the X-Games and he's got a promodel, Brandon lands them clean, (nudge. nudge. wink, wink.)

Little blt more powder, some double diamonds, a few

little cliffs (ok, ok. maybe they were just snow covered rocks), lots of trees -- no major run-ins with tree-wells -and it was back to the mole

hills of Ontario for me. Bu< I'm not going to complain , 'cause it1s better than not riding

at all. And anyways you can aJwaY' pack your bags, spend your life savings on a plane ticket and head for ch• mountains. There1s lots of work out there, 1 hear janitorial is the way to go.

360 Spins • 24

Longboord soul.

Downhlll on the Sector 9 pintail.

360 Spins • 27

t

Whe

Support th e shops that support the sport

O.NIARIO Barrie Tropical North (705) 725-8888

Burlington Surf Paradise (905) 639-2925

Co/1/ngwood Too Rad • House of Boards (705)445-7795

Concord Riordan Sports/Board Zone (905) 738-8510

Hamilton DMBC Skate & Snow (905) 777-1149 McMaster Sports (905) 523-8880

Grimsby Slot Machine Skate & Snow (905) 309-0650

Huntsv/1/e Pipeline Surf & Snow (705 ) 768-2875

Klncardine Skaters Domain (519) 396-7259

Kingston Wind Addiction (6 13 ) 542-946 3

London Splurge Skate & Snow (519 ) 432-9043

Markham DBS Skate Supply (905 ) 201-1721

Midland Underground Boardroom (705) 528-0676

Mississauga Board Barn (905)608-0117

Full TIit (905) 567-1296

Surf Paradise

Newmarket Adrenalin Sports (905) 953-0826

North Bay Cheapskates (705) 495-4736

Oakv/1/e Hustler Skate & Snow (905)844-1868

Or/Illa Kahuna Surf Shop (705) 325-2461

Orleans Backbone (613)841-0439

Ottawa En Equllibre (613) 730-8266 On Deck Skate & Snow (613) 723-0550 Surf Side (613) 726-7873

Pickering Pacific Skate & Snow (905) 839-2262

St. Catharlnes Sud Skates (905) 684-8434 Sam/a Hakuna (519) 344-4782 Surfin ' Shop (Bright's Grove) (519) 869-6090

Sault Ste. Marie The Rad Zone (705)256-1912

Toronto Board Sports (416)485-94 63 Empire Skate Supply (4 16) 703-5596

Equilibrium (416) 599- 3200

Full Blaat Records (416)530-0512

Hogtown Skate & Snow (416)698-2500 King Lizard (416)944-3351 Nolae (416) 971-6479

Reactive Ink Tattoos & Piercing (416) 204-1657 So Hip It Hurts (416) 971 -6901 Spazz Boutique (416) 944-9368 Sporting Life Bikes & Boards (416) 485-4440 Tower Records

(416) 593-2500

Classified ads Longboarding -- the latest rage from California. Art of the Carve mail order offers the ultimate skateboarding experience . Riding on a longboard is like snowboarding on asphalt! Decks 46" and up ... Old school wheels that will blow your mind ... For a free catalogue call 905-7611919 and leave your name and address.

We feature longboards from Sector 9.

Got something you wont to selt? Your old snowboard, boots or a skate deck? Looking for somelhing lo buy" Place a cla ssified ad irs cheap and easy Ad rates are 25¢ per word, per month. Thal mea ns a 16-word ad w ould cost a measly $4.

Phone number with a rea code counts as one word First word wi ll appear in bold type.

Send your ad copy, neatly printed or typed, a long with payment to. CJosslfleds, 360 Spins, Box 606, Sla1lon A. Toronto, Ontario MSW 1G2.

DEADLINE for gefflng your ad and payment to us Is the 101h of the month before the cr:,,er date.

Transcend Boards (416)693-9047 Urban Outfitters (416)214-1466

Uxbridge Coffee Hound Sports (905) 852-9957

Woodstock Pedal Power Bikes & Boards (519)539-3681

Sudbury

B.C.

Skadurz Pro (705) 671-1612 Thornhill Silent Sports (905) 889-3772 Thunder Bay Slyder Sports (807)345-5154

Vancouver Thriller (604) 736-5651

(905) 624-5229

ish: _contest coverage

Cit

.t "a , 0 0

1ft

I'

J!

_spinterview _secret skate bash _photos, photos, photos

G>

iS

360 Spins • 29