We were on our way. A hot August day in Southern California made it easier for us to decide on heading south. We had already descended from the hills of Northeast LA, toward downtown, leaving much of the increased temperatures behind. The hills can act as a blockade for wind and, as heat rises, cause an oven-like effect that always keeps Highland Park a good ten degrees Fahrenheit warmer than coastal Los Angeles communities like Marina Del Ray.

Once we’d passed downtown, we trudged through the stubborn traffic of Commerce, Buena Vista and the rest of the commercial & industrial expanse that covers southeast LA all the way in to Orange County. The destination was Oceanside, CA, a place where skateboarders and surfers oddly mix with the military presence of its nearby neighbor, Camp Pendleton. Beautiful coastline, as its name implies, meets desert landscapes of boulder, sand and  backyard DIYs. A perfect place for a SoCal shredder.

We missed the exit for the “bomb" burrito spot in San Clemente, so we held out until Oceanside for a bite to eat. The gas station-attached Mexican restaurant was deceivingly delicious and provided exactly what we needed before making a bee-line for Alex Road Skatepark, better known as Prince Park.

The only other time I’d ever been to Prince Park, I was badly injured, enough to not be able to even push through the park. The design and build of that skatepark is one of the best I’ve skated in the US (and anywhere at all, for that matter). Beautifully flowing bowls, transitions mixed with banks, steel mixed with pool coping, spines, tombstones & loveseats all incorporated perfectly to create an easy ride, but with plenty of opportunities to get gnarly. There are four bowls (or bowl forms) in total, and a really fun street section that flows back and forth to the rear of the park.

I was on this mission with my friend Chris, who I’d met at Garvanza Skatepark in Highland Park about a month prior. Although we are both LA implants, we’re each from the mid-Atlantic east coast - he from Richmond, VA and myself from Wilmington, NC. Several mutual friends and even shared sessions from years ago made it cool to reconnect. And we like to skate the same type of stuff, so the trip to North County was inevitable.

One thing I noticed about the skaters at Prince Park - everyone rips! Everyone’s got something, whether it’s technical skill, the willingness (balls) to go big, undeniable style or all of the above - everyone’s got something going on. After eighteen years of skateboarding, I felt like a kook at Prince Park, but it’s better that way - everyone pushes everyone to try new stuff and improve on the regular! It was a warm and sunny day. That 75 in Oceanside would have been 86 in Highland Park, so we couldn’t complain. We did, however, make the decision to move forward (and save some energy for destination numero dos). We gathered our stoke, had a smoke and skated to the car for spot two of the day.

Following a quick and necessary gas station pit stop, we headed further inland to Escondido. As we ventured east, we made tracks upward in elevation, and landscapes began to change. The dry desert floor climbed sharply and transformed into huge round boulders. It seemed as though, at any moment, hundreds of gigantic rocks could come crashing down on the coastal population and end thousands of people’s plans for the day. But to avoid being down, we got hyped! A friend of Chris had a backyard DIY build that is still young but super impressive. At first, it was difficult to acclimate to, but after a little session vibe was initiated, everyone got to finding lines and landing tricks!

For the sake of nondisclosure and not blowing up the spot, the session was fun, the new homies were really cool and the times at that property were great. A beer donation, a few great powerslides and good conversation wrapped up a solid session. Kyle Berard even showed up, as he and my buddy Chris each had a part in laying some of that concrete.

The coolest part of the this DIY was its unique boulders (similar to those that made up the desert mountainside any direction you looked). There were three boulders that stayed in the “park,” cement played around them on all sides so that a skater can “rock ride” over the top, ollie over or wallie off the side of each one, mid-line in runs of the course. It was unlike anything I’d eve skated. It was even cooler that this guy (who dropped skateboarding and picked it back up over a decade later) worked with an idea in his head, planned and developed it into reality. That’s what it’s all about, folks. Scrape some dollars, bring those dollars to the right places and people and put the work in. Before you know it, you’re skating custom spots in your own backyard.

It had long been dark, and I was finishing my tall boy to shining floodlights on the park. It had, after all, been quite a long day for Chris and I, and we decided to head back north to Los Angeles. No overnight trip for us this time around. But it wouldn’t be long until a return trip was in order.

I’m actually already overdue for another adventure southbound. Who wants to go skate?

 - 7Ply Epic

On August 3rd, 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made the very public announcement that skateboarding, along with surfing, sport climbing, karate and softball/baseball, will be official Olympic sports in the 2020 Summer Olympic games in Tokyo. The mainstream world, right along with the mainstream media, received this news with a smile and many congratulations to hobbyists of each of these "sports.” But in the case of at least one of those new Olympic sports, participants did not feel 100% positive about the inclusion. Coming from the skateboarders’ area of interest, many skaters in the US (and internationally) didn’t have the greatest attitude toward the new sport becoming "Olympic” in stature.

Many purists of the skateboarding world, a.k.a. real “core" skaters, feel strongly that skateboarding is something for skaters, by skaters and not for the masses. Skateboarding is one thing (and sometimes the only thing) that remains sacred for many skaters around the world, especially those that began doing it before it rose to mass appeal and popularity through media and entertainment. Skateboarding, historically has been dirty, risky and too vulgar for the neighbor’s kids, so to speak. But over the last 20+ years, skateboarding has become more commercialized and, therefore, accessible to many many more humans, especially in America.

The popular rise of skateboarding to the public has been a slow and inconsistent path, but it is now, more than ever, exposed (in certain contexts) to the greater population. The introduction of Street League was in 2010, and it has now become a staple amongst many skaters to follow and fanaticize. Contest prize purses have swelled, interested corporate sponsors have become more plentiful and fame of certain pro skaters in the mainstream has become commonplace.

US “core” skateboarders are frustrated by this, because they feel that they would be skateboarding whether or not it was popular. And many times they’re completely right. Skateboarding is hot right now, but there is a close community of skateboarders that will continue to love skateboarding every day, for better or for worse, until they die. And those are the people that feel embarrassed and sickened by the presence of “posers” and fair-weather fans that don’t truly understand the culture. In addition to the insincere skaters, the large companies pumping money into skateboarding right now may very well back out at its peak, when kids move on to the next “Xtreme Sport” or favorite past-time.

I think any thoughtful and open-minded person could sympathize and understand why a skater might feel this way. Especially someone who’s put decades of their life and life’s work into the thing we call skateboarding. There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes - attending city hall meetings to get skateparks built, going to court for skateboarding tickets, building backyard halfpipes and crowd-funding DIY concrete spots in illegal places. Real skateboarding includes all of those things and always has.

Now, in 2016, Skateboarding is an Olympic sport, whether us skaters like it or not. Many skateboarders are indifferent. Yet there are also arguments by skaters in favor of Olympic Skateboarding. 

Skateboarding’s inclusion in the Olympic Games is not the first time it has been commercialized on a world stage, however this is the largest thus far… Street League and the X Games have already brought skateboarding to American television screens and the forefront of Instagram and other social media channels. It has been done before. But this time, skateboarding can be broadcast to the world at large, to those that never have been introduced to skateboarding, and even to those that do not have the means to skate. The Olympics, with the right guidance from the IOC, the ISF (International Skateboarding Federation) and the FIRS (Fédération Internationale Roller Sports), will show skateboarding in its truest form through competition. But there’s a big “if” there.

For competition skaters, this would mean greater stakes, bigger rewards and faster evolution of skating talent worldwide. The progression will be unprecedented, and the ability to make a living for the best of the best will be better than ever. For those that reject “contest skating,” big corporate-sponsored skateboarding and everything involved in said realm of the “sport,” it’s widely thought to be a different story.

For everyone on the other side, the street skaters, the core purists of skateboarding: 1. Skateboarding will not change for them. If anything, those that are full-time training for the biggest contests won’t be focused on filming video parts any longer, leaving the landscape more open and creative for others to do their own thing. 2. Skateboarding will be more respected (in general) worldwide and will probably result in more people being cool with us skating spots at/near their homes and places of businesses. There will be less hassles of skating street, which has already begun from pure public opinion and modern architects designing skate-friendly obstacles. 3. There will be more places built for skaters to skate. The boom of modern skate plazas will continue, as more and more public officials will likely envision a future for skateboarders in their cities & towns.

Sure, there will always be a push back from core skaters when you bring up competition at all. And sure, there will always be classic kooks who will never understand or truly try to understand skateboarding from our perspective. But such is the world we live in. In the end, more money will come into skateboarding, and along with the money will come endless criticism from the passionate gatekeepers of our skateboarding culture. But if those seeking a rewarding skateboarding career are being paid fairly to represent (insert here) brand, is there anything really wrong with this picture?

Skateboarding is one thing that brings people together. We can go anywhere in the world, language barrier irrelevant, and go skating with fellow skateboarders that will look out for us. Skateboarding is one of few true unifiers. It is powerful, and it’s here to stay. Don’t let the kooks break it apart. Those looking to make a buck in our industry aren’t going away; we can’t make them. So let’s make the best of it and stick together in this turbulent landscape. Brazilian, American, Australian, Canadian or otherwise, we are all skaters, and we make of it what we want. Nationality aside, we are all skateboarders. Skateboarding will be present at the Olympics. Will we abandon it, for the fakes to try and replicate? Or will we come together and show the world why skateboarding is the sickest..?

 - 7Ply Epic

The day was warm and dry. The unobstructed sun was in full blaze, and we climbed upward, closer to it. In Washington with my girlfriend and her immediate family, our day’s mission was to see and explore around Mt. St. Helens. The road meandered on hillsides that gradually transformed into mountainous highways. The views of the Cascades near our destination were incredible, and the feelings of awe were further elevated by the legal marijuana candies we’d purchased 45 minutes prior. The buzz began to take hold as the roads brought us into some real Northwest majesty. Bryan, Amanda, Barb, Chloe and myself all anticipating the day ahead.

Initially, we made a stop at the Mt. St. Helens Visitors Center, which was still almost 50 miles away from our next stop, much closer to the (what used to be a) peak, at Johnston Ridge Observatory. The touristy vibes were present at the trailhead and info center, but a short walk onto the trails immediately offered a bit more solitude and space for our own adventure. At this point, the buds had taken a good effect. The Washingtonian cannabis candies were just as pleasant as the weather. Some of the group needed to head to the car for other supplies, and so Chloe and I branched off on our own walk. The deceiving view of Mt. St. Helens made the mountain seem so close to us, but after some time moving on our feet, we began to realize the distance on the range, the sheer size of the mountain and how quickly the views changed for us.

The resilient rodents of that area, Deer Mice, were aplenty and very comfortable with the humans passing by. Cute yet tough, these creatures will always give me a reminder of that day and that area of the US. Resourceful enough to survive the earthquake and eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980, they claim a special place in US natural history and respect from people like me and Chloe, who take note of tiny critters in interesting places. We also happened across two people that had been hiking in the area all day long, and they shared some information and handy tips for routes to take. What seemed a father and son, they were very friendly and glad to share what they’d learned about their respective hikes (the younger man was playfully giving his elder a hard time for covering much less ground). Once hearing of hike directions and options, we were ready and excited to make it past the bend for a special panorama looking eastward and further into the Cascade Mountains.

The trail(s) slowly morphed from easy walking on paths long, wide & flat to a mountainside cliff strip with no protection from an easy fatal fall straight down into deep canyons and rocky spires. At certain points of the trail, it was necessary to keep handholds with each step, which was surprising after seeing the amount of people on these trails (who seemed like casual hikers). I was in my (very) skated etnies and had a good bit of adrenaline activated in me by the apparent risk at hand. And then… The path widened and turned around the sharp ridge to reveal an astounding view of Spirit Lake and Mt. Adams in the distance. The view of Mt. St. Helens from the very same spot was the best it had been yet. It was the place we decided to stop to relax and admire this nature.

The feeling of being a this place, physically, was exactly what I had been needing (over the last 6 weeks or so) to release any anxiety, pressures of work or social life and simply any questions I’d been avoiding internally. A moment to reflect, without a reason to do anything, a need to do anything or mobile reception to share any of it (at that time). Just some conversation with my girlfriend (mainly to express our amazement) followed by silence. Moments like these are the ones I read about in novels and dream about at home in the city. It’s pleasant to reflect on them (as I’m doing now), but to truly know and appreciate them is to fully and purely appreciate the moments as they unfold in those pockets of time. The ones we can’t recreate in totality. I can see Virtual Reality, as a whole and industrial sector, recreating many experiences for human beings in positive ways, but I truly can’t imagine a piece of technology reforming the feeling we shared together on that mountain ridge at Mt. St. Helens, that day, the last day of July in 2016. No words can describe that emotion, hence the only people full understanding these words are the ones who have experienced such.

As we cooled down from that appreciation of Earth, we started to stand, stretch and begin our return to the trailhead. We’d agreed to turn around and walk back to the meeting point at a certain time, and so we made moves back toward Johnston Ridge. Catching up with Bryan, Amanda and Barb during the retreat, we got to share our experiences during the last stages of the day’s hike. We were all a bit stoned, which made the conversation and resultant experience just a bit more groovy and beautiful. And upon our return to the information center, there was a presentation being given by one of the State Parks’ employees.

At first, I was scrambling for water to avoid dehydration but then immediately was drawn into his talk. I learned that Spirit Lake had been completely moved and transformed from one of the slabs of mountain crashing into it back in 1980, sending huge volumes of water uphill and into a separate reservoir, completely changing the natural landscape of the area. I learned just how destructive the natural disaster, and most sadly, how the vast majority of those killed that day were visiting outdoorsmen and women enjoying their hiking, climbing, canoeing, etc. It was blowing my mind how something so sad could create something so impressive and majestic as what I was deeply and happily admiring just 30 minutes prior. The weed candies helped with these face-melting realizations, and just as those thoughts entered my head, I looked back to discover that our entire group’s jaws were dropping just as far as mine was. The area around Mt. St. Helens truly inspired me and made me even more grateful for our planet (and aware of its capabilities). And I didn’t even experience SO much of what the area has to offer.

I will need to make a return sometime in the next decade, if it IS in its current state. The mountain is still an active volcano, and although FEMA has correctly predicted over a dozen earthquakes since 1980, there has not yet been a prediction of or an actual volcanic eruption. A reminder that, simply, anything is possible and that another sad sad thing could happen again, even when the risk is public information.

The drive home was comical, mostly because of the pleasant high. I don’t know how else to say it but Hell Yeah. It was a great day. Probably the longest one of the trip. But more than worth it. Getting to know my girlfriend’s family a bit better, taking the time for some road trip book reading and witnessing the raw beauty of nature I’d yet to see. All things add up to a wonderful experience and another chapter of

 - 7Ply Epic