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Monday, 10 April 2006
S.A. Extreme Sport How To's: Skateboarding
by Jacques Marais
Here’s one for all the young guns. Skateboarding - more of a street culture than an extreme sport, to be honest – traces its roots back to the early 1950s. Inspired by surfing, the original Roller Derby boards came to mimic the attitude and style of wave riding by recreating these moves on land. The craze soon spread beyond the borders of the USA, attaining cult status with younger generations around the world.
Main Event:
Africa might have lagged behind during those seminal birth years of skateboarding, but the sport boomed onto the boarding radar with a bang at the turn of the millennium. These were the heady years of the Red Bull Downhill Extreme, an annual speed fest featuring adrenaline seekers from every corner of the globe.
But this was no ordinary brotherhood: with three death wish downhill disciplines, participants hailed from a dozen-plus countries and five continents. They were the self-proclaimed Gods of Gravity, and duked it out in luging, in-line skating (or roller-blading) and skateboarding. The latter discipline, more popularly known as ‘stand-up’, saw legendary names such as Chris Chaput and Darryl Freeman taking on Dallas Oberholser, our very own chairman of the board.
Crowds of Capetonians lined Kloofnek Road and watched as wave upon wave of speed freaks bombed the switchbacks coiling from Table Mountain towards the aquamarine waters of Camps Bay. Stand-up speeds in excess of 100km/h were measured, and thrills and spills were the order of the day. Currently, Red Bull is focussing their attention on breaking the world downhill speed record, and the local skateboarding culture has never had more street cred than right now.
Skateboard DIY:
You’re never too old to be bitten by the boarding bug, and greybeards like Manu Antuna and Chris Chaput continue to claim top honours in the skating game. But board design has come a long way since those early days when Jack’s, Hobie and Makaha boards held sway. Wooden planks and skate wheels have made way for polyurethane rollers and carbon decks, and chances are you’ll have to fork out at least a couple of grand for a quality board boasting a designer label.
The shape, length and design of your deck (or board) depend on whether you’re free-styling or plugging into your need for downhill speed. And don’t think skateboarding is limited to tarmac roads – these days, mountain boarders are blasting gnarly off-road slopes on beefed-up boards featuring all round suspension. The low-down is in the go-down, often a helter-skelter, head over heels affair. A word of warning though - a good helmet and the full gamut of body armour are a must if you want to plug into the boarding buzz.
Contacts:
Get your wings: Check out Red Bull’s site for extreme boarding info – www.redbull.co.za
Rolling Resources: All skating disciplines under one single banner – www.skatelog.com
Magazine: South Africa’s definitive boarding publication – www.bluntmag.co.za
Gear & Stuff: This is but one of dozens of one-stop, on-line shops – www.spfmedia.co.za
Forums: Get into the freestyle chat on a range of forums from this site – www.vert.co.za
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