Organizer announces end of Downhill Corral

Jp Rowan, the organizer of the Cathlamet Downhill Corral Longboard Festival, has announced that he will not hold the festival this year.

The festival has brought hundreds, if not over 1,000, spectators and competitors to Cathlamet each August since 2009 for some exciting events.

Here is his announcement as posted on Facebook and some of the following comments:

“To my skate family, I have an announcement to make:

“After a lot of deliberation I have decided I will not be hosting the PDX Switchbacks Series nor the Cathlamet Downhill Corral Longboard Festival for the 2016 season.

“By no means does this decision come easily. Nine years of event hosting with PDX Downhill has been an amazing chapter in my life. Getting to be a part of the downhill community, and having the opportunity to give back is something I will never regret.

“That being said, sadly, the past couple years have become a burden both financially and physically. I have never been very good at making the events that I host profitable, and by that I mean they have almost always lost money. In the past, I had the luxury of being able to cover those expenses with my business Rip City Skate, but the past couple years that responsibility has fallen completely on my shoulders. I have also had to put in an extraordinary amount time and effort into the organization of these events. So much so, I had not realized how little time I was putting into myself.

“The past 10 years have been truly amazing and it has been my pleasure to be a part of such a great community. I feel unbelievably fortunate to have had such an intimate relationship with the skateboarding industry. I got to be the positive change I wanted to see in the world, and in the process I got to see the difference I could make in the community around me.

“This is by no means the end of my relationship with skateboarding, or even the skate industry. This is just a transition. Some time to gather my thoughts, relax, and most importantly have fun. I still have a ton of ramps and a whole lot of inspiration so you can only expect more to come in the not so distant future.

“Furthermore, none of this would have been possible without the hard work, determination and support of so many others. This list is bound to fall short, but just to give an idea of how many other amazing people have helped me along the way: Skip Marcotte, Judy Edmondson, Catherine Francioli, Ross Druckrey, Brandon Tissen, Patrick Haluska, Addison Fox, Ali Johnson, Veronica Deggendorfer, David Mitchell, Billy Meiners, Jon Huey, Brandon Stewart, Casey Morrow, Rob MC III, Eric Hovey, Rebel Robyn Scott, Henry Moore, Tad Onchi, Chip Wood, Corey Olson, Jordan Huotari, Tecate Jon, Michael Cook, Miles Luedtke, Larry Peterson, David James, Angelus Aidian O’leyne, John Bergman and Tom Cheek

“To all of you, and so many more thank you. Thank you all for being so awesome!

“JpRowan”

Here are some of the comments on Facebook:

“Jp, thanks for bringing such a great event and an even greater group of athletes to our town; Cathlamet will miss you,” said Bob Kizziar of Cathlamet. “Remember we work to live. We don’t live to work.”

“I guess I will have to file for unemployment,” said Rob. J. McKendry, III, who served as race announcer. .”This was the longest job I’ve ever held. Not sure where to start...Cathlamet Downhill Corral Longboard Festival has brought so much joy to me and has given me the opportunity to make so many lasting friendships. I won’t be able to encapsulate the many directions my life has taken because of this event . . “

“It ain’t over yet ,Jp Rowan,” wrote Brandon Tissen, who twice won the title King of Cathlamet. “You’ve taught me so much. There’s no way this is the end of the Cathlamet Downhill Corral Longboard Festival. Anyone who has come to this event knows what an amazing time it is for the riders and spectators, and there must be expectations from people on how we are going to make it bigger and badder than last year, right? Cathlamet has provided such an amazing atmosphere each year that is prime for progression, and I want to see that continue for years to come. So many good times and good lines . . .”

“I totally know where you’re coming from,” said competitor Eric Hovey. “You’ve done more than most for the skate world and I know it can be pretty thankless at times. Thanks for making so many events happen and spreading the stoke! Good luck with everything buddy!

The idea for the races was conceived in 2008 ago when retired event coordinator Judy Edmondson and her son, Addison Fox, then age 14, visited her parents, the late Cameron and Ruth Edmondson, in their Puget Island home. Addison went out on his board and came back to suggest they hold a push race on the Island.

They started brainstorming and came up with the idea of a variety of events. They took the idea to Rowan and Billy “Bones” Meiners and other Portland racers who came to Cathlamet and fell in love with the streets and hills and welcoming community.