Seems a bit weird reviewing the year before its even over but having not been on a hill for 2 weeks (and not having a proper run because the conditions were god awful) for what... 4 weeks? Well I have nothing better to do at the present time. So what stuff has happened to me this year?
In January I wrote about the year before (my first year of skating hills.) That year was immense. Sessions were skating Peep with a close family a hell of a lot. Everything was a novelty and that was a cool feeling. This year the skating is a lot more diverse and theres a lot more people. I have got to know some absolute shredders and seen some crazy things done on a skateboard. Theres less novelty to skating hills now but I suppose thats just something that happens. I still love downhill as much as when I first stepped on a board at Peep, but not everything is new anymore.
I was really psyched on the year a little after february. I was gonna have it.
Ah April, April was an interesting one. The Mark Short All Around Skate interview came out that I'd been very excited for. I can't remember if it was announced beforehand or if I just knew it was going to come out eventually, but I dived into it. And it made me feel a bit sad and I wrote about it HERE. The thing was, I wasn't trying to lay into Mark Short.
In that interview, Mark talks about getting into downhill and watching Sergio Yuppie's video parts over and over again. Well I got into downhill watching Mark Short's video parts over and over again. Everybody has role models in their skating and when a big inspiration seems to be so not stoked on the scene that you are in, it's not a great feeling. I was clear that the only thing I was judging was the words in that interview, and I maintain that. He absolutely shreds and to be able to slide anything like that is a dream for me.
What else happened? Oh yeah, I went to Houyet.
Or more accurately- I WENT TO HOUYET WITH THE VANDEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will freely admit that I am just a big kid, and I can still feel the stupid smiles that would rock up on my face every time I remembered that I was travelling in convoy with the Vandem dudes and the metal was turned up to 11. The weather was awful, the company was immense. The ferry was nasty but the Vandem was... well, there are no words to describe it's majestic beauty. I didn't skate so well due to limited dry runs but one of those was the most stoked i've ever been on a skateboard. And then it was over. I wanted more but I know how lucky I was to have got that opportunity. Cheers dudes.
In May I reviewed my Sabre trucks that I'm still skating. Cool to have people from various corners of the world enjoying something I wrote. I really bloody like these things!
And then Crash and Burn.... ah... so... I don't use this word very often at all, but it seems appropriate.
At Crash and Burn weekend, I was a bit of a cunt. I realise that now. I mean the weekend went badly for me but there was a lot that I could have done to have made things better. An example? I missed the day where ALL of the runs happened. I missed it because I hadn't gone out and got a proper sleeping bag and manned up and camped. There were some silly crashes also, I really don't like having crashes with people. The inliner was my fault for not being able to stand up and footbrake into the corner to avoid him (still don't know who it was.) Adam Persson was just one of those things. I didn't know he was there, he didn't have time to let me know because of the speed difference and we crashed on a narrow road coming out of a horrendous corner. Thats it.
After that I really started enjoying my techsliding. Hard wheels are amazing fun. Currently trying to decide whether to downsize on my slide board or start combining a longboard with hard wheels. The future will be fun in any case.
THE BLOODY CATS!
Oh, when did that even start!?!?! I can't remember. But when I'm bored I will quite often find wherever my cat is, take a picture of him and photoshop some Cult Goodness around/on him. Risch helmets, boards and gloves also now. I don't think anybody minds. And some people have liked the stuff im doing! I don't know why but if the stuff I make when I'm trying to avoid feeling a bit down ends up making somebody laugh, well thats really cool.
Myself, I am not that happy with things at the moment with regards to life and skating. But things can only get better, and i'm determined to get to a place where I can get out to hills a lot more and am happy when not skating. Most of this involves learning how to do things for myself.
On it.
I've learnt a lot this year, and I know how to make next year the best yet.
Will
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