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 A few words from WAC, hailing from Boulder Co. A tight crew of riders. Sharing the stoke and bringing others into the addiction of speed. What first got silverfish interested in the crew was their fastidious list of skate spots in their area a great resource and it shows how into the ride the crew is. In this interview WAC elucidates on site spotting, safety and pie. Another crew that stands as a template for the development as a solid riding crew.
MK: What is the history of the crew how did it get its start: WAC: The WAC crew got its start in early January as a group of friends who got together to watch college basketball. We realized that all of us had an interest in longboarding, so we planned to go out and ride when the weather got better. How many riders do you have and how many people have you attracted since its inception? We currently have 7 riders that are on the sponsored team, and in the club that we have, there are about 15 people, with new people coming every week.  MK: What brings your riders together?
WAC: Our riders are brought together by many different aspects of the sport. Some love to lay down big huge carves, others like to bomb huge hills for maximum speed and a large adrenaline rush. All in all, we just love to ride. MK: What decks do you guys ride, what setups do you prefer for your type of terrain? WAC: We all ride various Loaded boards. Which setup we use pretty much depends on which run we’re at, and what the conditions are like. For the steepest mountain runs we prefer the Loaded Hammerhead DCS complete. We have two of these so we can run pairs down the canyons. For skateparks and parking garages we usually ride Loaded’s Pintail. We have three ‘tails in the mix: a Flex 4 with Randal 150’s and Abec 11 Grippins, Flex 4 with Tracker RTS trucks and Abec 11 Strikers, and a Flex 2 with a Seismic slalom setup and 66mm 74a 3dm wheels. We have one Loaded Fish with Tracker RTS 139s and 70mm 78a Loaded wheels that we use for the skatepark. But by far our favorite boards are our Loaded Vanguards. These are our true mountain carving boards. We have several setups: one Flex 3 with Randal 180’s and 70mm 78a Loaded wheels, one Flex 3 with Randal 180’s and Abec 11Gumballs, one Flex 3 with Uptruck LM trucks and 66mm 74a Moska wheels, one Flex 3 with a Seismic longboarding trucks and 75mm 76a 3dm wheels, and one Flex 4 with Uptruck LS trucks and 66mm 74a Moska wheels. We switch off between Ninja abec 3 and Pleasure Tool abec 5 bearings. The nice thing about having multiple setups is that you can hit a wide variety of runs in the same day.  MK: Describe one of your typical group sessions.
WAC: Every Sunday night we host our weekly Board Meeting. We all gather at a local parking lot pretty much kill time talking shop until everyone shows up. We then drive over to a local hill and ride the crap out of it on every board possible. We’ll get maybe 10 - 20 runs in and ride 3 – 7 boards each. We usually coordinate some rides for during the week but more or less our meetings are just a chance to meet and ride with other boarders. MK: Do you ever have problems with authority when you are skating? WAC: Only once…We were riding down this wicked steep hill (NCAR) and as it turns out the road is actually privately own by the government and they do not look kindly on boarders. The local security flunky was upset that we were on his hill and proceed to run one of us off the road at 30mph, right into the rocky shoulder. He just gave us a stern talking but that’s about all he could do. Thankfully we have not had any contact with the cops. Our thought is if you’re respectful to the cars and neighbors, then they will leave you alone. MK: How do you find your spots? WAC: We drive around aimlessly on the weekends. Its pretty to find the runs in Boulder because the city butts up against the Flatiron Mountains. All we have to do is find roads running east-west and chances are it has a good slope. Our mountain runs are a bit harder to find. We could, and have, spent all day driving around the mountains and not found any quality runs. We have a three dimensional mapping program called Google Earth that allows us to search for mountain roads with the best slope and turns. Pretty much Boulder rules because you can’t throw a rock without hitting a great hill. MK: You guys give detailed information for people to hit spots you ride. Many people feel that they should guard their spots like an empty pool how do you feel about that? WAC: Keeping a favorite spot is great for you, but is not the best way to foster a community. WAC is not about seven riders, it’s about connection. Our goal to grow a longboarding community where riders can get together, discuss the latest equipment, and share their passion for boarding. We also want to be a resource for local riders. If you’re new to the sport it might be a bit intimidating if you do not know where the best learning hills are. If you’re more advanced, we throw up some helpful advice about potholes and run outs. Really we just want riders to have a good time and ride hills within their ability level. Pretty much we just want to be helpful, not selfish. MK: Do you have any plans to add google earth links to your locations? WAC: We use Google Earth and are currently revising our website to incorporate maps from it. MK: Who do you admire as proponents of your sport? We really admire cliff coleman, because he is a powersliding god, and a great longboarder in general. MK: What is your favorite type of pie? WAC: Apple pie a la mode, but I like the pie heated and I don't want the ice cream on top I want it on the side and I like strawberry instead of vanilla if I have it; if not then no ice cream just whipped cream, but only if it's real, if it's out of a can then just the pie, but then not heated.  MK: What do you feel is your most memorable session?
WAC: Our most memorable session was in late may, where we got around 11 people to come riding one of our favorite hills (Lehigh) and all rolled it together. There was this huge chain of riders, stretching all the way down the street, it was so much fun. MK:What are you currently working on, any projects or goals that the group has or its individuals may have? WAC: We recently had a close friend of the team die on his longboard. His death was unfortunate but really taught us the importance or wearing a helmet. So in addition to our weekly meetings, we are currently working with several companies to promote safety awareness and helmet usage. It would nice to see every rider with a lid but the truth is far from that. We hope that by encouraging the production of lighter and cooler helmets, the general boarding public will respond by using them more often. Really we don’t want any one else to die when it could have been prevented by a simple lid. MK: If you guys could go on a longboarding vacation what would it be? WAC: We live in one of the best longboarding locations in the country. The mountains of Vail, Aspen, and Breckenridge are only an hour away. We do have a trip planned to the Ditch in NM next week, that should be fun. MK: Any advice for people hoping to put a crew together? WAC: For anyone that would like to put a group together, it would be best to start with your close friends, and get them interested. Once you have a solid group of riders that can go whenever, go to your favorite skate shop, or look around for other riders and see if they want to join you. There has never been a longboarder that I have talked to that doesn’t want to ride with new people or find new hills. MK: Any final thoughts, anything you want to add? WAC: WAC is amorphous, it stands for everything, it stands for nothing.
Check them out at waclongboarding.org
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