Submitted by Directive0 Deep in the heart of the quiet and unassuming province of Ontario, theres been a recent surge of activity amongst the longboarding enthusiasts. The surge happens every year around the time the weather starts too look up, and the white snow retreats back into its often docile liquid form. The scene itself has been around and developing long before I became an enthusiast, and still continues to grow especially now thanks to the recent developments and convenience of online forums.

Its not only skaters who are benefitting from the surge in online activity, vendors too now have a place to peddle wares and check the pulse of the average consumer. Small stores like Mcphail's bike-shop, a cycling store just starting to retail longboarding equipment, in Kitchener Waterloo have managed to tap the entire Ontario scene simply by being an active role in the online community. When you go online, your confronted with a somewhat inaccurate representation of Ontario's longboarding culture. Everyone is chatting and communicating as if they all knew each-other well, and were even perhaps neighbors. There are inside jokes, bail stories, common acquaintances, etc. But in reality the skate scene in ontario is, simply put, a random outcropping of several different groups of skaters, most following their own skate backgrounds and interests, most who would be completely cut off -except for a few acquaintances-, but all enjoying the feel of a stable longboard and the breeze in their face.

The scene is not completely dominated by one discipline, it appears. In Dundas and Cambridge, for example, there is a large influence of downhill skating. One could theorize simply because the location provides lots of ample runs. Ottawa has the Gatineaus, and even areas no one would think to skate like Kitchener and Stratford have hills to be cruised and carved. Each area has their own amazing set of crown jewels that the locals proudly show off to all who are interested. And there is great variety in the quality of the road and the grade of the slope. Yes the Ontario skate scene is by no means dormant, quite the opposite it is taking off, and becoming more active with every good weathered weekend. It is a scene that has been a long time coming, and in the capital of Ontario there are a group of skaters doing their best to have fun even without the aid of an escarpment or any massive hills.

Toronto is a bit of an enigma in the Longboarding world. Having no homegrown companies or great downhill runs, one would wonder how true enthusiasts could practice the sport at all. But beneath the surface of the droning concrete confusion, a group of in the know city dwellers hold the locations of a small group of parking garages, hills, banks, and flatlands in high value. Like draining swimming pools at the pitch black of night, Toronto skaters get a giddy thrill scouting out garages and lots that would be perfect for a late night run. It has become the staple source of skating and the only redeeming quality of the city for many, and for others a reason to make the long drive into the city and put up with ridiculous Toronto drivers. Every few months, the persona of Jacob Furlong along with several others helps organize large city longboarding meets through the mailing lists and websites set up at Torontolongboarders.com, which are more of a media event then an actual session. Flanked by photographers and just the curious these meets often drag in large groups, sometimes reaching 60-70 people in size, through the city streets taking over massive 2 lane streets and clogging traffic. The response isn't always positive, and police interest has forced the real organizers to go "under the radar" on several occasions. The events have gained lots of media attention, and have been mentioned or focused on in several well known pieces of skating literature and its something many Toronto longboarders are proud of. These meets have actually served the community well, as they help give momentum to the movement, and recruit new riders. One might even consider them a form of activism, letting people know that the community is there to allow the average person to see that its not a novelty sport and that there is a large, responsible user base. It also allows the riders to "take back the streets", as some of us put it.

Apart from the garages and meager hills, anyone with a longboard in Toronto knows the ease of use in getting around the downtown core, the sound of enraged drivers, and the looks of jealous pedestrians. Longboarding in Toronto is freedom plain and simple, and with the aid of the TTC mass transit system, it is possible to traverse one end of the city to the other in short periods of time. It is no more a hobby or past time then it is an extremely efficient method of transportation. If you happen to forgo the longboard and walk around downtown, its not uncommon to see several Longboarders within the course of an hour, mostly the 25-35 business people, or "yuppies", following the recent longboard trend. While this might not be uncommon elsewhere, it is something of an anomaly in Toronto, only having occurred in the last several years. Being a member of the recent influx of longboard revivalism, and having over a year's longboard experience I like to think that I just barely squeezed in under the "trend-follower" mark, but realistically I think thats how most longerboarders start but the truly devoted stay for the flow. With the creation of the Ontario Longboarding Forum, something that should have been set up years ago, skate meets that would come once every several months can now be organized once every weekend. And what started years ago with Torontolongboarders.com can be spread to even more skaters as the scene continues to grow thanks to the actions of the deeply secretive and devoted Toronto Skate Militia. As soon as winter returns the scene will fall dormant again, hibernating for another year, but now as summer only begins to ramp up its hard to imagine the good skating and good skating relationships that will be had.