Westbound Boarder

The Dew Tour consists of five major, multi sport events spanning across the country, with a cumulative points system. The Tour features skateboarding (men and women, park and vert), BMX (park, vert and dirt) and freestyle motocross. At season’s end, the overall points leaders in the five disciplines will be crowned year-end champs and awarded the prestigious Dew Cup title. A Portland, Ore. stop is on the schedule, so listen up…

Shaun White is at it again. This time he will by fighting for the Skate Vert World Championship title at the Dew Tour Skateboarding Open. It all goes down this June 25-26 at Boston’s legendary TD Garden. Those competing against White this year include Dew Tour defending champ, Bucky Lasek, Boston Local Andy Macdonald, Alex Perelson and vert legend Bob Burnquist.

In addition to the Vert Competition we have also got the Skate Park World Championship competitors, including Paul Rodriguez, Chaz Ortiz , Greg Lutzka and defending champ Ryan Sheckler.

Dew Tour Schedule:

The Gatorade Free Flow Tour is the official amateur series of the Dew Tour and yesterday they announced their complete skate schedule for the 2010 season. It all begins May 22^nd and registration is open to all amateur skaters and BMX riders (21 and under) across the country. The contest is comprised of 47 events across 30 parks, featuring skateboarding (park and vert) and BMX (park and dirt) competitions. Destinations include the series park highlights at the Kona Skatepark (Jacksonvill, Fla.) and our very own Department of Skateboarding (Portland, Ore.) among many, many more.

The winner of each event earns a trip to compete against the pros in the Dew Tour’s season-ending finals this summer. For registration and more details on when the tour is headed to your neck of the woods this spring/summer, check out gatoradefreeflowtour.com.

Wow.  It’s hard to believe that it has been more than a year since we published our first post on Westbound Boarder.  My how time flies!  2009 was an extremely busy, but great year, and we’d like to thank all of you for stopping by our blog.  We hope you’ve enjoyed reading!

In case you’re new to our blog, or simply just want to refresh your memory, here is a list of our most popular posts from 2009:

• Spotlight Female: Kimi Werner, National Spearfishing Champion
• Skimboarding, The ‘Shore’ Kind of Fun
• Windells - The Funnest Place on Earth!
• Get Those Ladies Off Yo’ Board!
• Westbound’s Guide To Sk8board Tricks
• Surfing: Longboard vs. Shortboard
• Resort Review: Vail, CO
• Saturday Shop Review - Val Surf
• Featured Female: Chanel aka CC
• Snowboard Buyer’s Guide: First Things First
• Safety First!
• ‘SUP With Your Board?

We’re excited to bring you more in 2010 and beyond!

(Note: If you would like to be a guest blogger or contributor, we welcome any and all female voices in the action sports industry!  Contact us at westboundboarder@gmail.com)

For those of you not paying attention, August has proven to be a pretty epic extreme sports month for the Portland area. Downtown Portland was host to the 2009 Wake Jam a couple weeks back (check out our recap & pics!) and is now bringing you the Dew Tour this weekend. That’s right. Today, Thursday August 13th - Sunday August 16th, the best Skate, BMX and Freestyle Moto Cross athletes will be competing for the highly coveted Dew Cup, and you can be there to witness it.

Tickets are available at the Rose Quarter and Online. Prices are quite reasonable and you can enjoy the entire weekend for less than $100 bucks.  It gets better too, with any single day or all session ticket purchase, you will receive a free ticket for Thursday’s event’s, which are not on sale to the public.

Still wondering what the Dew Tour is really about? Check ‘em out online, but here is a brief run down. The Dew Tour has been around since 2005 and is the first ever action sports tour. It consists of a five month tour, featuring competitions in three different action sports (Skate, FMX and BMX). At the end of it all an overall Dew Cup winner is determined and over $2.5 mill in prize money will be allocated accordingly.

Last years Dew Tour champs include FMX pro Adam Jones, BMX Vert competitor Jamie Bestwick, BMX park rider Daniel Dhers, BMX dirty dawg Cameron White, Skate Verter Pierre Luc Gagnon and lastly Chax Ortiz, Skateboard Park extrordinare. Where were all the ladies last year you ask? I really don’t know, but I will be on the look out for them this weekend, that is for sure!

It’s a skate week first. Westbound Boarder is bringing you all kinds of skate-o-fun this week, so be sure to keep on checkin’ in…

I don’t know what is stopping you from getting out there on your skate. Maybe nothing is, but for those of you who want to learn, it’s time to take that leap of faith. Where better to start than to making the investment in your very own skate? Now I am not talking about Andrea’s kind of skate board, I am talking about a real new school board that will have you cruisin’ down the Portland Waterfront and onto the Burnside Skate park in no time.

Getting yourself into a new skate does not have to break the bank. Most local shops out there will have you set up in 30 minutes and for about $100 bucks, maybe even less. You can always get your skate online and it may save you a buck or two, but if this is your first skate, your best bet is to go into a local skate shop and figure out ‘mujer a mujer’  what type of skate will work best for you.

So first things first though. You need to know a thing or two before you go and buy the first skate you see. You will need a skate deck, grip tape, trucks, wheels and bearings.

Deck: Well this is the deck; it’s what you ride on. The price of the deck is generally directly related to the graphics and branding. If you don’t care about those things, then there is no problem buying a cheap skate deck, although it is still important to consider weight and the shape of the deck. A 7-ply deck means that it is laminated with 7 layers of wood and is lighter, vs. a heavier 9-ply deck that is more bulky, heavy and awkward. Also, pay attention to the shape of the deck, you want a decent amount of curve to the board vs. a flat and straight board (you want to ollie and kickflip someday, right?!)

Trucks: Consider the trucks the axel of your board. Some of the cheaper trucks will snap the first time you attempt a trick. This is where buying from a skate dealer (vs. a sporting store chain), is actually important. Examine the trucks and make sure they are not too light, this can be a sign that the metal is of bad quality, walk away (most of your local skate shops will have quality gear, although don’t be afraid to ask questions). While price may be a concern, always go for quality with the Trucks and go to a proper skate dealer to get the trucks that suit your skill level.

Wheels: Not as important for a beginner, although I would recommend a softer wheel if you are a beginner. The softer wheels roll easier and absorb impact much better. The harder wheels are meant for the park as the harder wheels make power slides easier and may trip you up if you come across a rock or something. Most experienced skaters have a few skates with different wheels; a set with softer wheels when they are cruising down the street and a set with harder wheels for when they are shredding the park. It’s not a bad idea to start with one skate deck a have a set of hard and a set of soft wheels, so you can alternate when you want.

Bearings: They keep your wheels going when you stop pushing, which have a great impact on your speed. The bearing speed is measured by the ABEC value. (The ‘AA’ bearings are what you will find at a mass sporting goods store, stay away!!) AA is followed by ABEC 3, 5, 7 and 9. If you are a beginner, stick with the ABEC 3 or 5 for sure. If you get going too fast right out the door it may make your riding more intimidating.

This should be enough information to get you on your feet and to the place where you can ask some informed questions to your local skate shop professional. Need some more information? We have got it so just ask away, westboundboarder@gmail.com

As the ladies of Westbound are so excited to have found SLAG this week, we cannot stop thinking about getting you ladies out there on your skates. Westbound Boarder is introducing to you the first annual Skate Week. Just when you thought that you were going to get out of skating, we have decided to lay it on thick.

We are bringing you everything you need to know next week from learning to skate, participating in contests, how to buy your first skate,  where to skate, who to skate with and why skating is so darn cool.

You a master skater, or do you want to be? Let us know what you have to say about skating, why you want to learn or how you became such a pro.  If you want to share your story, or just want to be sure that we cover a skate topic you are dying to learn about, let us know! We want to hear from you, we want your questions and we want to share your skate wisdom with the world. And who knows, we may even feature an article from you if we like what we hear. So give us a shout out at westboundboarder@gmail.com. Let Skate Week roll!

Of all of the board sports which I have tried (which is A LOT!), learning to skate has been the hardest for me. With the struggle of mastering my skate and longboard skills, has come my irrefutable respect for all skateboarders - even those with the slightest bit of skill. With all of this said, it is my ongoing goal to improve my skate skills. So when we here at Westbound Boarder came across Skate Like a Girl (SLAG), we were to say the least, STOKED!

SLAG is West Coast phenomenon who are proudly based in Seattle, WA and have chapters in Portland, OR & San Fran, CA. These chicks work to improve communities, create all-female skate crews (with male allies, of course) and they want YOU to join them. Straight from SLAG themselves, they offer a little something, ‘from never-eva to forever-eva skaters.’

It all started back in 2000 when a few ladies (Fleur Larsen and Holly Sheehan), put together a skate clinic which taught skate basics to over 50 women. The SLAG craze immediately snowballed and now these ladies are bringin’ it.  Whether you have never skated before, or ollie better than Vanessa Torres, SLAG still has something for you. From all girl skate instructional clinics to ladies only skate jams to week-long skate camps, skate contests and demos…the list…goes…on…

• Where do you fit in? Well SLAG has some pretty stellar summer events and they are right around the corner. Check out their events page to get the 411 on the all ladies skate jams, competitions and lessons.
• Don’t have a skate? Check out my article later in the week on how to purchase your first skate deck, where I will talk about the skate basics and how easy it really is to get your first skate deck.
• Still not convinced? The girls at SLAG are for reals. They really encourage all women, all ages and all levels to participate in their jams and lesson sessions and even in their organization. So if you have skills other than skating and love the cause that is SLAG, then they want your expertise!
• Still have any questions? Shoot us an email at westboundboarder@gmail.com or give us a shout out by leaving a comment.

So I think I have covered all of the bases and the excuses that you gals may come up with. All that is left is to grab your skate and learn to ride it. So c’mon and join the ladies skate revolution right along with the Flippin’ Chicks at Westbound Boarder and SLAG!

Her daughter learned to skateboard before she could even walk.  Barely one year old, Anne-Michelle would put her daughter, Mileah, on a skateboard, give her a little shove, and watch her go.

Anne-Michelle and her husband, Arun, are the proud owners of Ohana Board Shop, a small skate shop located in San Jose, CA.  Ohana - meaning “family” in Hawaiian - is just that; it’s a family shop with a local vibe.  But it’s the owners’ story and background that make this resident shop come to life.    

Anne-Michelle and Arun have been skating and surfing ever since they can remember.  In fact, they first met at a wakeboard camping trip; and years later, well, here they are.  After getting married, they both did the 9 to 5, corporate job thing - Anne-Michelle as an IT and public relations professional, and Arun as a photographer.  But while their minds and bodies were behind a desk 8 hours a day, their hearts remind at sea.   

One day in March 2005 as they were walking along the road, they noticed a retail space in the distance marked with a small “for sale” sign in the window.  They both looked at each other with the very same thought - “let’s try opening a shop.”  Two months later, in May, their idea turned to reality and Ohana Board Shop was born.   

Initially, the shop started as a consignment store where people could buy and sell their old boards and gear.  However, as time went on, they realized there was a huge demand for skate gear in San Jose, and their shop quickly evolved to include everything skate.

However, unlike most skate shops, it has a very local, family-oriented feel.  Located only half a mile from a large mall, Ohana knows its niche - aka, the owners don’t sell anything you can find at big skate chains, which is how they’ve managed to keep and maintain their stellar reputation the past four years.  

Aside from the clothing, Ohana Board Shop is known for its great customer service.  Anne-Michelle describes it as the kind of place where beginners (females included) can feel completely comfortable walking into and buying their very first board.  Most skate shops you walk into are very uncomfortable feeling.  But at Ohana, the Nordstrom of skateboarding, the staff is highly trained to make customers feel calm and comfortable, helping them find the perfect board to fit their style.    

But what Ohana is most known for is their toddler skate lessons.  Using their own daughter as inspiration, the couple started offering toddler skate lessons last August, and the lessons immediately took off.  Anne-Michelle sent an e-mail out to everyone she knew promoting the lessons (they were offering the first month free).  Well, thinking she’d get maybe a few kids at best, 25 kids signed up the first month alone.  It was that very moment they knew the toddler skate lessons would be a hit. 

Anne-Michelle and Arun teach the lessons at their house and typically invite about four kids over per lesson, however, they also teach private lessons when requested.  They offer four levels, including a “mommy and me” level to start.  The lessons are so popular they don’t advertise them on the Web site.  They can’t; they get too many kids already!   While the lessons are going well, their next plan is to purchase an indoor facility so that they can continue to teach lessons, rain or shine.

Describing her husband, Anne-Michelle calls him “a man with many ideas.”  He always has a new project in the works, and unlike most people, he usually makes them happen.  One day, he came home with an idea to make his own clothing line.  Called “Organics,” he manufactures organic skate wear hat is hip and cool, but environmentally friendly and soft to the touch.  The line sold out immediately, and continues to be one of the top selling lines Ohana offers.  Currently, the line consists only of branded T-shirts (six in all) however, they have plans to create sweaters next, and expand from there.       

Arun’s latest labor of love is a Web site for surfers called Nor Cal Surfers.  The site launched last week and features rider, shop and company profiles, weather forecasts, photos and videos; and Arun plans to expand to all of California in the foreseeable future.

With a top-notch local business, two amazing kids, and their own clothing line, life couldn’t get any better for Anne-Michelle and Arun.  What’s next?  A new clothing line?  A global surf site?  Perhaps even another shop? Only time will tell (or just check out their shop and see!)

Saw this online today and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share!  These boys take skateboarding in Venice Beach to a whole new level.