For those of you who missed it, our reposting of this month’s SLUG Magazine article regarding “downhill skateboarders” released a firestorm of activity on our Facebook, some in support of longboarders and many against them. A few of the comments are listed above and the rest can be found on the Salty Peaks Facebook where you can join in on the debate.
First of all let me say this. We respect SLUG magazine. It’s this kind of independent journalism that has been lost in most of the United States with large corporate boards afraid to take a side on anything in fear of losing an advertiser. Also, SLUG has been rooted in skateboarding for a very long time, so it’s no wonder they have a strong opinion on the situation. That being said, one of our employee’s, Zac, would like to offer a different take on the debate and we hope his sentiments can be received in the manner in which they were meant. So for now, I will turn this post over to Zac.
I’ll start with this. I’m a snowboarder first and foremost, skated more as a kid but since I don’t recover from shinners like I used to, I’ve been thinking of trading my cruiser for a longer deck even though I have only longboarded once in my life. This is merely an observation on the skate scene…
Downhill/longboarding has been getting a lot of flack around the shops and scene, and I mean A LOT! But why all the hate? I’ts still a skateboard right? Well, apparently not according to the “Core” skate guys. Arguments against longboards are vast and varied but we’ll discuss a few of the most popular ones. Regardless of how you feel about this subject one fact cant be ignored, longboard sales have been growing exponentially for the last few years thus breathing a little life into slightly falling numbers of skate sales. Paying the bills is hard to do on just core skate products alone and longboarding is helping many stores stay afloat to allow them to continue bringing the skate stuff you crave.
Accessibility is a reason (if not the biggest) for the recent longboard explosion. Anyone can stand on a longboard and let gravity or a few soft pushes move you about, and that fact makes the sport super accessible. You will see everyone from 10 year old girls to 60 year old rad dads riding a longboard around the neighborhood. It’s easy and a great way to move around the streets. There will always be those hipsters that will hate on anything remotely popular, therefore hating on longboarding because it’s trendy. Yes, trends can be annoying and some are just plain insane (see Beanie Babies) but hating for the sake of hating is just a lame as that stack of POG’s in your mom’s attic. If this applies to you, just finish reading here and take your single gear bike downtown for dubstep sushi or whatever is the “cool but not cool” thing to do nowadays.
The fact that such a diverse age and sex demographic can participate seems to have the “core” kids upset. I assume its over the lack of the dedication of hours/years it takes to learn ollies and all the other tech moves one hopes to do on a skate throughout their lifetime that longboarding skips. Least we forget that skateboards were around for a solid 20 years before the ollie was even invented in 1976 (but didn’t gain much popularity till ‘78) but that’s not the point of longboards so who cares anyways.
Longboarding is to skateboarding as groomers are to snowboarding. Saying that longboarding is not skateboarding is like saying that you aren’t snowboarding unless your riding the park, We all love to charge a nice groomer every now and then and some people love to just do that all the time, its still snowboarding, and thankfully keeps them out of our parks where they can become safety hazards and just a general pain in the butt. Exact same logic can be applied to skating, if someone wants to just ride around, why not have them do it out away from the parks so you can try to land that new trick for the 1st time without having to dodge some kook who is just circling the bowl or sitting on your favorite ledge just watching? Is Alaska Jeremy Jones any less of a snowboarder because he only rides steep mountains and not park and street like Sandy local Jeremy Jones?
Some people just want to take a mellow run and feel the wind in their hair, not jump down a 6 stair or fight the crowds in the mini-ramp at the local park. Arguing that you can still do this on a normal skate is correct but misguided, it’s the same as saying you can use your street motorcycle off-road. Yeah you can, however why would you, when you can get equipment that is designed to do what you want with it? Longboards aren’t just a board that is longer, they are highly researched designs and shapes that maximize the boards potential for downhill maneuvers. Using the right equipment for the job is not only sound logic but helps to keep one safer. (think of street bike Tommy trying to flip a crotch rocket and missing the foam pit)
Everyone who has skateboarded for more than 30 seconds has done it, you hit that pebble or crack that is just big enough to stop your board dead, launching you superman style towards the pavement. Solution to this problem, larger wheels. Best way to fit the largest softest wheels on a board is to have a lot of clearance between the board and wheels, hence the cutout designs of many longboards. You can add risers to a regular skateboard but only so much, thus limiting your wheel size, drastically reducing the level of grip and size of objects you can plow over. Same with the trucks, a wider more angled kingpin truck gives you the ability to make more fluid turns while on a more stable platform. Don’t blame the riders, blame science. Some things just work better for certain tasks than others do – it’s why we have forks AND spoons!
So I guess my point is this: longboarding is just a different aspect of the same sport. It’s not crowding your parks or stealing your “secret” spots, it’s not making normal skates obsolete or old fashioned. Its simply adding another floor in the building of skate. It’s keeping stores open, helping people learn the joys of skating, reducing the amount of cars on the road and getting more kids off the couch. Its not taking anything away from you so why take anything away from it?
