photos by Ruben Sanchez & Marco Farrell
There are many of us out there who are constantly thinking about the next time we will be able to get back on our boards. Some of us are lucky enough to do it for a living but most of us are weekend warriors. Nonetheless, we do it because we crave that heart thumping fear of taking it right to the edge of disaster. We are the ultimate boarder.
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Tim Hoover of Santa Barbara had a crazy idea. Put on a contest to find that ultimate boarder. Each competitor would compete in skate, surf and snow and the overall winner would be crowned the ultimate boarder. What would it take to put this kind of contest together? Easy! Invite the best skateboarders, surfers and snowboarders, have a good amount of cash to give away, put on the best parties and treat everyone with respect.
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I got the call from Don Bostik; I was invited to compete in the first ever Ultimate Boarder. How could I pass up this opportunity? I marked my calendar with the dates and went to work. As time got closer, I looked at the web site to see some of the biggest names in the action sports industry who, like me, could not pass up the opportunity. Names like Todd Richards, Andy Finch, Aaron Astorga, Nathan Fletcher, Chad Shelter, Clint Allan, Eric Mchenry, Jimi Scott, Justin Lamoureux, Kurt Wastell, Kyle Konx, Mike Rogers, Tosh Townsend, Shayne Pospisol and many more. Looked like I’d be the oldest competitor at 49 years old.
Well, I decided to drive south from the great Northwest (Oregon) for the week rather than fly with all my gear. I hooked Sky Siljeg as my copilot for the trip and it just so happened that Sky would be the youngest competitor at 13. I wished he was at least old enough to drive! We loaded up the van with all our snow, skate and surf gear and headed south a few days early so we could get a couple days of practice at Squaw Valley,our first stop for the snowboarding portion of the comp.
Upon arriving in Tahoe, I found a parking lot with the view of Squaw, rearranged the van, we crawled into our sleeping bags and lights were out. At the crack of dawn I woke up and it was fucking freezing and I needed coffee fast. We found Starbucks right at the base, got a cup of joe and made calls to our loved ones to say we were there safe. The hill wouldn’t be open for a few more hours, so we just hungout.
My family flew in the same afternoon, so after riding we headed down the mountain to my sister’s house. We meet up with everyone at the skate park. My oldest daughter Aspen, would compete on Saturday in the Queen of the Park at Serria. Dad was going to compete on Sunday for the first leg of the Ultimate Boarder. Aspen ended up taking sixth place.
That night was the opening party for the Ultimate Boarder. The room was filled with some of the greatest skateboarders, surfers and snowboarders. It was the who‘s who of their sport. Don Bostik said a few words to open things up, followed by the creator, Tim Hoover, and to end things off Dave Duncan announced the heats for the next day’s slopestyle. But the surprise treat was the band Chucks of Metal with Terry Kidwell and Shawn Farmer.
Sunday came with blue skies and 65 degrees and both Sky and I had drawn the second heat, which would start at noon. The second heat was filled with some heavy hitters: Todd Richards and Andy Finch, as well as Tosh Towsned, Nathan Fletcher, Aaron Astorga and Mike Rogers. I got the honor of following Andy Finch.
Of course the top snowboarders were expected to kill this portion of the comp with various 5, 7 and 9 spins which were unreal to see live. But it was the surfers and skaters that impressed me. Riders like Tosh, Nathan and Aaron had great runs. Mike Rogers, who had just learned to snowboard the day before, put down the run with the longest layback slide down the hill. Way to go Mike!
In the end, Todd Richards was at the top of the podium, with Clint Allan hot on his toes and Andy Finch taking third. I ended up in 29th place. Next up: surfing which took place in Ventura at C street.
We got two days offs: one for travel and the other for practice. I bypassed practice and took the time to visit my mom and friends. One of those friends, Lance Mountain, called me a few weeks earlier and told me the next time I was in LA to come by and skate his newly built pool so that is what I did.
Wednesday for the surf leg, we had good three to four foot waves with glassy conditions. It looked super fun and rippable. We all got to surf two 20 minute heats and were judged on our two top waves from either of the two heats. Top five guys made it into the finals.
Standouts for this leg were Eric McHenry, Aaron Astorga, Tosh Towsend, Shayne Pospisil, Nathan Flecther, Kyle Knox and Todd Richards who was called on an interference. I had a tough heat due to the noodle arms and choked in the end with a 42nd place showing in surf. In the end it was Eric McHenry taking the surf leg. Shayne took the blue jersey away from Todd as he dropped to fifth place in the overall rankings.
Also making a charge was “Double A” Aaron Astorga, with 19th in snow and eighth in surf putting him in fourth place overall with the last leg (skate-which is Aaron’s strongest discipline) left for Saturday. He had a good chance of winning it all: the 30 grand and the title of being the Ultimate Boarder.
For the skate portion of the contest, the mini ramp was constructed at the Ventura Fairgrounds. The ramp was 48 feet wide by six feet tall. Each heat had five skaters skating in a 15 minute jam format. Chris Senn and Chris Kays were in my heat. Those guys rip and pushed me to skate hard. Other standouts were Chad Shetler, Double A, Nathan Flecther, Todd Richards, Tosh Townsend, Sky Siljeg, Logan Preston and Mike Kresky.
Those guys took the top 10 in the finals. Aaron and Todd, making it to the finals, both battled it out for the overall. Todd had some good skate skills with big FS ollies, a BS air to disaster and he even threw in a heelflip BS air. Aaron killed the mini with long BS 50s to fakie, launched a fat BS air off the extension and FS board slides but it was Chad Shetler taking the win with a full bag of tricks. Aaron would end up in second and Chris Kays rounded out the top three. I was 25th overall in skate.
Now was the moment of truth. Who would be the first Ultimate Boarder?
Let’s count down from the TOP TEN:
10th- Clint Allan
9th- Kurt Wastell
8th- Nathan Flecther
7th- Jonathan Warren
6th- Tosh Townsend
5th- Shayne Pospisil
4th- Chad Shetler
3rd & $5000- Kristian Phillip
Who will it be Todd or Aaron?
2nd and $10,000- Todd Richard
Your Ultimate Boarder and $30,000 richer
is “Double A” AARON ASTORGA.
In the end, I had a great time meeting and riding with some of the best and if it wasn’t for my poor showing in the surf I could have been in the middle of the pack. The event was unreal and I look forward to next year where we should see a bunch of new faces and I’ll be 50 and still living the dream. Thanks goes out to Tim Hoover and his family, to the head judges Jim Rippley (snow), Shaun Tompson (surf), and Christain Hosoi (skate) and all of Tim’s team who help to pull off the first Ultimate Boarder.
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