The Central Mass longboard event birthed out of a mixture of scenic town hills, a young and blossoming longboard scene, and the increasingly-connected internet community. After uploading some videos of bombing down his hometown hills in Harvard, MA, Mike Girard‘s YouTube viewers kept asking: “Where are these hills? Can we come skate them?” After enough of these comments, Mike decided to put together an event.

Girard decided that an official closed road event was the best way to get the most people involved in the safest manner while keeping the town on his side. As a first-time organizer with no prior experience, Mike reached out to Loaded and Orangatang for advice and support. Kyle Chin provided valuable feedback and helped shepherd Mike through the experience. The first Central Mass ended up a great success, with over 50 riders and the first-ever event to be covered by Push Culture News [video]. In year 2 the event expanded to roughly 150 participants; by year 3, nearly 250 riders came out to this rustic town. The downhill race and slide jam all managed to squeeze into one day, but it was clear that a second day would offer safer and more enjoyable riding for all.

In this fourth year, the Central Mass event is expanding substantially. The Board of Selectmen, with the strong recommendation of Harvard Police Chief Ed Denmark, unanimously approved Girard’s application for an expansion to a full weekend affair. As always, there will be insurance, haybales, on-site ambulance, police detail, bus shuttling, premium sponsors, exhibitor tents, a huge rider showing, partnership with local skate shop Eastern Boarder, and exciting riding throughout; New for 2013 are 8 more hours of sanctioned closed roads for Day 2 on an all-new slide hill, food and media partners, expanded local and national media outreach, built ramp features, live announcing, a larger cash podium, less crowded slide heats, and a party on the night of the 17th.

To help grow the event and share the story of the northeast skate scene, Girard reached out to Wheelbase Magazine’s editor-in-chief Marcus Bandy. Between organizational advising, pre-event publicity, live announcing, photo recaps, exclusive media coverage and expanded industry outreach, this partnership will be a great resource for Central Mass 4. We are excited to announce this partnership – More major releases and sponsorship announcements will follow shortly. Bring on the stoke!

Central Mass has been a labor of love for me and, I hope, a way to join together the greater east coast community. It has grown immensely, and this year I wanted to grow it beyond just our region. I wanted to reach out to someone who knows the industry, supports the scene and is experienced with event organization. That’s why I brought on Marcus and Wheelbase as a main partner: to help spread the word across coasts, ensure a smooth and stoke-worthy event, and produce some kickass media. I am amped to have Wheelbase on board – they’ve already been a big help! – Mike Girard, Head Honcho.

To learn more, check out the following:
FB event page
skatecentralMA.com

Lastly, here is some early preview media for this year:
Skate the East
Harvard Press
Nashoba Publishing
Central Mass 3 Recap

The post Central Mass 4 Longboard Festival – August 17th & 18th appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.

For those of y’all planning on making the trek to the Maryhill Festival of Speed: If you’re bringing a ramp-worthy axe along for the ride prepare to be double-stoked! Gullwing Truck Co has just informed us that they’ll be holding their Mini-Ramp Death Match at the Goldendale Skatepark for the third year in a row. It’s said that the entry fee is one can of beer, and the winner takes all. so if you’re not yet of age for the state of Washington (Psst: It’s 21, just like the rest of the U.S.) I don’t know what to tell you. You might as well show up, just in case someone is willing to pay your entry fee and drink all your beer in the event that you win, which is unlikely because, hello, Andrew Mercado. Oh, wait. Spoke too soon. The flyer also tells me there’s some ca$h & product prizes as well… Good news, young gun. Looks like you may not go home empty handed after all.

The post Gullwing Trucks’ Mini-Ramp DeathMatch 5000 – June 28th appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.

OG Wheelbase homie and all-around shredster Kody Noble has combined forces with the team at Riviera Skateboards. Kody lives the hashtagskateallthethings ethos to the fullest and walks the talk. Er, skates the talk, rather. Mr. Noble is currently working with the R&D dept (a.k.a. skating a whole lot) to develop the next lineup of shredsleds to come out of the Riviera Skateboards warehouse.

I’m stoked to be joining Riviera skateboards!
Riviera is a crew of people that love skating and surfing and making a rad product to enjoy life with.
I could not be happier to work with such good people.
Thanks crew!!!

 

We would like to extend a digital-high-five to all parties involved. We can’t wait to see the new shapes hit the streets and to see more clips of Kody like the one we’ve seen just above. Speaking of which: Our Editor-In-Chief got to snap some shots of Kody at the epic-ender-spot for the street portion of the edit, so keep your eyes peeled for those shots!

If you haven’t heard already, Kody is going to be joining us for the Keep on Tuckin’ Tour! This means that you, yes you, could very well get your hands on Kody’s signature scruffy-mug-rug, provided you’re able to meet up with us at any of the tour-stops. Check out the event page on Facebook for those details.

The post Kody Noble Joins Riviera Skateboards appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.

Squeezed between bars, bike lanes and bodegas in the Lower East Side, The Longboard Loft has proven to be an important part of the New York City longboard scene. Not only are they filling their shelves with the top names in the game (along with some lesser-knowns), they’re finding ways to give back to their community as well as provide an easy transition (for newcomers and rekindled interests alike) toward our favorite outdoor activity.

Mike Ryan, team manager, and Shane Gilpatrick, Social Media Monster, were kind enough to take some time out of their day to walk us through what makes the Loft unique. If you’re ever in the NYC area, swing by, say hi, ride their demo boards, bring these dudes some pizza (no anchovies) and crack a joke about Ninja Turtles. They love that stuff.

The post Shop Check: The Longboard Loft appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.

Wait. I should have prefaced that with “spoiler alert”. Ah, oh well. It’s too late now. I’ve totally ruined it. There is absolutely no way that you’re going to enjoy Blood Orange‘s 5 Slides edit of Byron Essert now that you know he “usually” rides with his left foot forward. Well, since I’ve already ruined that, I’m gonna continue to tell you that he actually did seven (7) slides in the edit. Now, I’m not “mad” but I would like to inform Mr. Jack Boston that some of us have finicky heart rates to look after and the inclusion of that much style in one edit is, to put it simply, reckless.

- The News Guy

The post VIDEO: Byron Essert is not Goofy. appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.

As if the caffeinated Tumblrizing teens need any more fuel for the “great skate debate” (of “skateboarding vs longboarding”), Yoni Ettinger just had to go and release a radical part on his Earthwing Skateboards pro model “big skateboard” deck. (This was brought to our attention via the Paris Truck Co. Vimeo account, which reminds us to inform you that they’ve got some street trucks finna hit the scene.) Entertaining enough on skate-related merit alone, to even consider getting a board that large to move in that way just puts my mind in a bottle. Fortunately for our friend Yoni, he’s got legs for days and a rad view on the direction skateboarding may very well be headed. Congratulations to you, Yoni, and your wife on the new addition to the family. You keep showing us skating like this and we’ll sit through looking at as many baby photos as you see fit!

The post VIDEO: “Yoni Ettinger – This Is Longboarding” appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.

Make sure to stay in the loop via the event page on Facebook!

If, being that it’s nearing in to the wee hours of the night, you’re frightened by what you see going on at the Jam (or you just wanna say hey) swing by the Wheelbase Mag tent and chit some chat with the 2013 Keep On Tuckin’ Tour crew! Keep tabs on that journey via the event page on Facebook. See you on the road!

The post Bowl Jam at Whistler presented by Gullwing Truck Co. appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.

The first ever Angie’s Curves Downhill Race is set to be held in less than two weeks’ time on June 21st-23rd. Angie’s Curves is part of the IDF World Cup and is presented to the universe and all her glory by Sector 9 Skateboards and the Ian Tillman Foundation. We’ll be out in full-force with our homies on the 2013 Keep on Tuckin’ Tour (keep up-to-date with that on Facebook) and would love to make your acquaintance. You can find us hanging out under the Wheelbase tent a.k.a. the Brotunda shouting words of encouragement to our fellow racers.

Real quickly, here are some pro-tips from the Angie’s Curves Organizing Board.

• Due to high fire danger, NO SMOKING OR OPEN FLAMES allowed at the race venue or you will be banned from the event and removed from the property.
• Wahoo’s Fish Tacos will supply food and drinks on the hill.
• Race track is isolated, so bring any supplies you need at the beginning of the day.
• Bring sunscreen, sunshade, and water. IT’S GOING TO BE A HOT ONE.

For full details, head on over to the official Angie’s Curves website. Don’t worry, you don’t have to type anything. Just click anywhere on this entire line of text that I’ve hyperlinked for you. Go on… It’s easy. Just click.

The post Angie’s Curves is Just Around the Bend! appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.

As the Maryhill Festival of Speed draws nearer we find ourselves becoming increasingly stoxd. I’m sure there are some of you out there prepping your gear (Perhaps already packing? No, that’s crazy…) as I type, so let this serve as your initial heads up: Bring your park setup! The Wheelbase Magazine crew will be MC’ing and judging Maryhill’s Daily Halfpipe Jammy! Each day at lunch, we will be holding a contest to determine who be killin’ and who be not doing that. Good news for the number one killa each day: You’ll get a small trophy and prizes along with an invite to compete in the “finals” on Sunday for a larger trophy and prize. If you’re the dude or lady-dude who be not killin’, maybe we’ll have some ice for you. Maybe a hug if you’re real bummed.

Monster Energy and Five Mile Skateboards are hooking it up with the halfpipe, so be sure to thank you when you see them at the event! Five Mile will be building and hauling the ramp a whole 400 miles from Tacoma, so perhaps something a lil more tasty and/or thirst quenching than a thank you would be well-received. And with that, I’m out to work on my nosepicks and, perhaps, even ride my skateboard.

The post Halfpipe Comp at Maryhill Festival of Speed appeared first on Wheelbase Online Skate Magazine.