Longboards prove a big hit

See videos of the longboarders here

Leather ripped apart and rubber-soled shoes screeched across the pavement in downtown Cathlamet Saturday and Sunday when internationally sanctioned longboard racers took over the town and slid, crawled and dodged their way down the town's steep streets.

The two-day professional longboard competition began calmly enough on Saturday at the Stockhouse Farm on Puget Island. The sedate, long and lonely distance skaters didn’t really prepare the few spectators that hung out at the finish line for what was in store later in the weekend.

Organizer Judy Edmondson said the 7.5-mile race, called a “push race,” around Puget Island had drawn about 20 amateur and pro-board racers by starting time.

The skaters began arriving at the Stockhouse Farm with skateboards tucked under their arms. In singles and pairs they registered for the event, then set about renewing old acquaintances.

Edmondson said the idea for the race came from her son Addison Fox, age 14 years.

“Addison has wanted to do a push-race on Puget Island for some time,” said Edmondson. “His grandfather lives out here and thought it would be a great place for him to have the race.”

Edmondson said at first she told Addison “no” because Puget Island was too far a distance for the skateboarders to have to drive for “just a push-race.” They needed more of a reason.

Then Edmondson said one day Addison caught her in the right mood and she said, “Okay, lets do it!”

“So we brainstormed on ways to make it happen,” Edmondson said, “and we thought if we had a benefit attached to it we might get more people to come out.”

Edmondson said her father, Cameron Edmondson, had mentioned that the Wahkiakum Family Practice Clinic might be shutting its doors for lack of money and so she thought it would be a good cause to support.

“We thought we’d try and generate some interest that way but we also thought if we had a broader range of events we’d bring more people in,” said Edmondson.

She said during the discussion with Addison and her father, Addison took off to see how long it would take him to skate around Puget Island on his board. “By the time he got back, my father and I had turned one event into a weekend-long, three-race event,” said Edmondson.

She said that after a little research, her father put her in touch with the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce, which agreed to be the local sponsor. The Cathlamet Town Council also agreed to let the skating association close River Street on Saturday and other streets intermittently on Sunday for the downhill race down Columbia onto Broadway.

Edmondson said the Chamber and Town Council were very supportive and liked that all the proceeds from the event would go to help keep the clinic’s doors open - and bring a lot of people to Cathlamet.

After the push race on Puget Island racers moved to River Street for the next phase of racing. Called Tight Slalom racing, the challenge matched racers against the clock as they navigated a string of obstacle cones that were set up on a downhill course along the middle of River Street.

Surprisingly, the average age for open style Tight Slalom longboard racing is 40 years old.

“I started racing in the 1970’s,” said John Stryker, 46, “and I’ve never thought of stopping.”

Brad Hackman, 46, is still at the top of his game. Short, stocky, fast and tattooed Hackman is the 2007 downhill Tight Slalom world champion. His movements are quick, fluid and show an economy of controlled motion as he kicks it through the slalom cones heading downhill. “I do this for fun,” said Hackman.”

Sunday was a great day for what came next - a “festival of speed.”

Professional longboard racing stems from the skateboarding craze developed in the 1960’s. The speeds, however, are new. During Sunday’s race down Columbia and Broadway, the board racers were reaching speeds of 35-40 mph, with their bodies poised just a few inches above the asphalt.

The streets of Cathlamet were lined with spectators. Onlookers stood behind bales of hay as the first longboard speedsters took the turn from Columbia to Broadway and immediately slammed into the hay bales.

The races continued for several hours as one racer after another was eliminated. The crowd groaned each time skaters slid on their bottoms, or tumbled head-over-skateboard into the hay.

Canadian Patrick Switzer won the $500 prize.

“I love it,” said Switzer. “It was a good race and $500 is something to race for.”