Today, Wheelbase is three months old. Crazy! So much has happened since we launched the mag that it’s hard to believe that so little time has actually past since we went live. Shit, so far we’ve flown around in helicopters shooting pictures of downhill races, we’ve seen a helicopter crash the very next month, we’ve traveled all over meeting so many new friends & skating even more rad spots, and now we’re about to pile in a van filled with yet another crew of dirty shredders and tour up the west coast of the U.S. We say: “bring it!”
Longboard skateboarding doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon and neither do we. There is a lot going on in our community right now that reflects an emergence of a strong and thriving culture of shred. So many skaters are out there riding all types of terrain & boards, creating new events & communities, and sharing their pictures & videos all over the worldwide interwebs. It’s wild to find that we now have a number of Wheelbase readers in Russia, Egypt, Chile, and even Indonesia. Our tribe is growing and that is so radical.
We like the way skateboarding legend and longboard pioneer, Mark “The Gonz” Gonzales, sums up this tribal element in an excerpt from his recent interview with Huck Magazine:
“If anything, [Skateboarding] it’s a tribal art form because different people from different cities skate differently, and they try to enforce their tricks on people who visit their territory or come to their city. They want you to use their language and do their tricks and be inspired by their city. So skaters from San Diego say certain words and skate differently than skaters in New York. I think the reason skateboarding’s always going through changes is because it’s an art form. If it weren’t an art form and it were an athletic thing, everyone would be wearing jerseys. It would be more organized, and personal style wouldn’t be emphasized.”
We can see such things happening daily in longboarding. Dudes from Canada have their certain style and way of riding, NYC has it’s push-culture thing going, The Los Angeles crew has it’s unique perspective, Europe and South America have distinct styles of their own, and the list goes on. We are all doing our own thing and vibing off each other’s skating cultures. What an exciting time to be a part of this growing tribe.
We’ll be the first to admit Wheelbase has a unique take on skateboarding and the community of longboarding. We embrace our uniqueness, and we embrace yours. What’s Next? Let’s get fired up!
To the future!
Where’s my flux-compassiter? Oh there it is—let’s do this!
Capacitor, like the electronic device.
besides, they only go to the future after they go to the past. so then that means old skool styles are coming back?
yehaw! wall riding!
That’s right. Wallride colemans! New shit!
Don’t forget that steezy Nor Cal style of skating!