Competition keen at Downhill Corral

The 5th Annual Cathlamet Downhill Corral Skateboard Festival has come and gone with its crowds, skinned knees and elbows, traffic disruptions and displays of athletic skill.

Organizers, led by PDX Downhill company in Portland, put on a 2 1/2 day festival that drew hundreds of competitors and spectators for the eight events that covered almost every aspect of the sport.

The Cathlamet businesses that stayed open for the weekend enjoyed the extra customers.

Complete results won't be compiled until this coming week, said organizer JP Rowan of PDX Downhill. Only unofficial results were available as The Eagle went to press this week.

However, 21-year-old Brandon Tissen of Medford, Ore., repeated as the King of Cathlamet, a title one earns by competing in all or most events and placing high in each; this year, he won the Sidewalk Showdown Slalom. Tissen won the title last year as organizers made up the category to recognize the overall skill of the racers.

Billy "Bones" Meiners of Portland won the Downhill Race on Sunday. He helped organize the first festival in 2009 and had placed in the Downhill Race every year since. Teenager Chance Gaul placed second, Nikolas Calafato third and veteran William Royce fourth.

Sixty-three racers entered the Downhill, Rowan said, down from the previous year. Weather added a new twist to the race as light rain wet down the course late in the elimination rounds.

"You'll see riders sliding all over and trying to keep their boards under control," said event announcer Rob McKendry III.

He was right. The racers came down the hill sideways to cut their speed but to no avail as many slid into each other or the hay bales lining the course. Sometimes the last person in the four-person heats was able pass those who had crashed and win the heat or place second.

"The rain made the road very slick," Meiners said after the race. "The oil and dust that had built up was just like grease."

The Downhill racers wear used motorcycle racing leathers and helmets with full face protection. They glue plastic discs to leather gloves and slide their hands on the pavement in turns to support their bodies, and they turn the board sideways to brake.

In the Boarder Cross (Boarder X), competitors limited themselves to helmets and elbow and knee pads. They race in four-person heats over ramps and jumps, at times bumping into each other. Tissen won that event.

On Saturday morning, racers gathered on Puget Island for a 7.5 mile push race. Brandon Desjarlais edged out three-time winner Robin McGuirk in that event.

Friday's action featured three slalom races--a tight slalom with cones spaced closely, a giant slalom with cones spaced widely, and a sidewalk slalom with cones, jumps and curbs.

Sunday closed with the Boarder X and Slopestyle--an event in which competitors show their skill and fancy moves.

Skateboarding isn't a mainstream sport, and boarders aren't always welcome where they go. For this reason they appreciate the welcome they receive in Cathlamet.

"Thank you, Cathlamet," McKendry says every year. "Thank you for letting us take over your town. "Downhill Corral has become a destination event for skateboarders all over the world."

"I can't believe this is going on; this is so good," one Seattle resident commented.

Another skateboarder who didn't compete because of injuries savored the environs. "I live in an apartment in downtown Portland," he said while looking at the view down Spring Street. "This is so beautiful."