Let me give you a bit of background on this sweet hill called High Rising. Nestled between pine forests, fynbos and Martian-like landscape, it’s situated off the N2 highway just outside Grabouw, a 90-minute drive out of Cape Town. Grabouw, is a mid-sized town famous for its cultivation of apples, pears, plums and other deciduous fruit. But just 2km after the large KROMCO apple factory and 4km off the main N2 highway lies the Houwteq complex, a little dark secret of the Apartheid era. (Now I get to the point where I ask myself, “How did I even get to this, and do we need to go into it?” But considering downhill skateboarders bomb hills, it's all a bit relevant.)
After doing my first race at the High Rising hill in 2004 and attending the four that followed after that, it was only in 2006, while I was getting my arm tattooed by Simon White, former SAGRA member and co-owner of the Wildfire tattoo parlours, that I got to hear about the Houwteq company. Considering back then that Simon White luged and was one of the original race organizers, naturally in my hour-long tattoo session we'd be talking about downhill racing. While sitting in the chair and in deep conversation trying to distract my mind from the three needles that were piercing my skin with black ink, we got to chatting about Houwteq and what the facility was really used for. All I could remember hearing was “top-secret military facility that manufactured long-range missiles and some type of satellite-destroying technique.” The Houwteq facility was watched by the CIA, and eventually with the new government coming into play in 1994, Houwteq was shut down completely in the 1990s. The complex has stood still like a ghost town for years; they say that everything was left as it was. Now a complex that was once used to manufacture bombs of mass destruction has been discovered by downhillers, who coincidentally just wanted to, well, bomb hills really fast on their skateboards.
July 11 - 12, 2009 Overlook Drive Lafayette, Colorado
June 17, 2009 – Over 50 elite skateboard racers from throughout the U.S. and beyond will meet July 11 - 12 on Overlook Drive in Lafayette, Colorado, for the Seismic U.S. Nationals of Slalom Skateboarding – the highlight of the 2009 season of American skateboard slalom racing. Spectator admission is free.
Colorado is the epicenter of American skateboard slalom racing, and Overlook Drive is one of the best slalom hills in the nation – with smooth, grippy pavement, a consistent 9% grade, and double-wide lanes. Racers will reach up to 35 mph as they speed through twisting courses in both head-to-head and single-lane formats.
Champions in multiple divisions –Juniors, Amateurs, Masters and Professionals both male and female – will be crowned in four disciplines. Hybrid Slalom, Tight Slalom and Giant Slalom are traditional formats, but making its debut at the Nationals is SK8RCROSS – a mashup of slalom, downhill, boarder cross and roller derby. A unique starting mechanism will hurtle competitors onto the Giant Slalom and SKRCROSS courses on Sunday.
Overall titles will also be awarded to the combined champion of each division. Winners in the professional category will receive thousands of dollars in cash prizes.
A Vote for Dakota Today = Maloof Money Cup Tomorrow
As he has always preached, Chris Chaput shows us again that he truly embraces all forms and styles of skateboarding. Abec 11, with its recent addition of subLIME wheels, has added its first vert skater to its team. Chaput and Abec 11 are proud to introduce you to this Grom-Phenmenon, Dakota White. Check out the following video where Dakota is rockin Abec11’s newest green wheels.
Now that you have gotten a taste of what this kid is about, help us help Dakota get out to the Maloof Money Cup 2009 held July 10-12 in Orange County, CA where, last year, there was over $450,000 in prize money!
The Maloof Money Cup is the premiere showcase for amateur and professional street and vert skateboarding
The Maloof Money Cup (www.maloofmoneycup.com), hailed as a three-day, five-event competition and festival, is back for a second year as the world’s greatest skateboarding competition. The event, created by Joe Maloof, owner of NBA’s Sacramento Kings and the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, returns to the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA.
“The Maloof Family is honored to be presenting the World Championship of Skateboarding again this year. We are particularly excited about all our skaters and sponsors that helped make last year such a huge success and we look forward to seeing them all back again at the OC Fair this summer,” said Joe Maloof.
For those of you not familiar with Meetup.com, it is a great online community that facilitates get-togethers for those with similar interests. Just enter your gig, how far you are willing to travel and let the camaraderie begin! Check it out…. there are Meetup groups for just about everything under the sun. There are groups for dog lovers, wine lovers, hikers and bikers to name a few. I say just about everything under the sun because if your interest was skateboarding, there wasn’t a single group to be found within 100 miles of Huntington Beach. WTF?
Enter HB local, Chris Chaput.
On April 18th, 2009 he organized the first Longboard Skateboard Meetup group.
Inaugural Colorado Downhill Skateboard Race Triumphs Over Inclement Weather
International field of professional skateboard racers converges on mountain road to battle the challenging course and Mother Nature
Forty-eight Downhill skateboard racers travelled from as far as the Czech Republic to participate in the first Buffalo Bill Downhill, held in Golden, CO, on May 9th & 10th. For many, the one-mile mountain course was demanding enough in itself, but rain and heavy fog on Sunday morning left some of the favorites watching rather than participating in the finals. The racers had Saturday to practice, develop their strategies, and test out their equipment. Few were prepared to deal with the next day's wet surface conditions and poor visibility.
Events & Coverage 
