Squandrew @squandrew - Tumblr Blog

gingerfae

not super glam. but I am cleaning and having a very happy body day. So here tumblr, have my stomach.

squandrew

My lady is pretty.

#girlfriend #jellyfishsandwitch

flannelmonkeys

#longboarding #Ollie #gap

coors-lightyear

Grant Taylor

leonkarssen

camdownhill

sketchiest bs check in the game.

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its-better-a-secret

Boom! The shot of the weekend.. XD

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thedalishelves

hyperwavecrd

cityblightsmagazine

There exists a rift, apparent to even the casual observer, in the “longboard” and “skateboard” industries - our hard wheel brethren decrying the kooks and commuters of longboarding with the cliche of unfunctional pintails and flip-flops. The core downhill community tends to be a non-inflammatory bunch who try to skate a plethora of disciplines and shapes, but there does escape the odd chuckle in the general direction of a skater on the other end of the learning curve. However, look no further than Magenta’s Old Whoops New Grooves video or any of SLAP Magazine’s San Francisco Treat video series to find out that powerslides and driveways are back in vogue, and competitions like the Dew Tour Streetstyle prove that downhill is becoming more and more relevant, even in today’s hyper-commercialized street skating competition circuit.

The Downhill Disco represents the other end of the regression of skateboarding becoming whole once again. Baring many similar features to Comet’s Ithaca Slide Jam or Eugene’s Boomtown series, these events are the new breed in Downhill skateboarding, worring less about huge standup slides or indeed finding a particularly sick hill, but rather enhancing an otherwise mellow downhill stretch of asphalt with a blend of ramps and grind-able surfaces, and, to placate the pleas of groms, generally some sort of “big air” contest. Andrew Mercado’s Gullwing Trucks team were the token street skate representatives going higher and tweaking far more stylish grabs than their slide glove donned cousins in shred, though all failed to win the “big air” comp, which might have been renamed to “longest air” for a more accurate posterity - Dan Couch won the event, broke stuff in both his legs and couldn’t walk for months. In addition to the brake yo’ self competition on day two, there was a slopestyle slalom race down the hill the next day, in which many shenanigans ensued. The only place the Disco deviated from the modern event paradigm was the lack of a judged “freestyle” or “best trick” competitions, for better or worse.

Generally speaking, as is readily apparent to even the casual observer that the skill level has gotten ridiculously high over the last few years and with regular sanctioned events like this happening over a variety of local scenes, the future looks bright. Grom class dominators like Wyatt Gibbs and Chance “Not A Rapper” Gaul, who both already hold their own in the open class as well, will give way to a new generation of kids who started skating before they were taller than a modern speedboard. Which is convenient, because it seems The Disco’s jovial blend of casual freeride and high level, balls to the wall shredding is the perfect mix of hands on learning and extraordinarily close views of the masters of the craft. As years go on, hopefully people the nation world over will realize how easy it is to legally close a road so hundreds of their closest friends can skateboard in a controlled, safe environment. Maybe we’ll even start to see downhill skateparks pop up with hairpins, rollers, fun boxes and whooptie whoops. Hey, a guy can dream…