Still Stoked Longboard Skates For Surfers

The Landsurfer Story-Chapter2

After the testing at Brighton and Gloucester I took the boards up to Leeds. I gave Tom a 4ft Performer for his birthday and Danny a 5ft Cruiser. Both these guys and their mates were at Leeds Uni, where we found the most superb slopes and underpasses to longboard skate.

Danny had come up with the name Still Stoked, because we were all mad for surf right then. More often than not it was too small for Danny or onshore mush or just flat! We even went in one memorable December evening at Scarborough, after a classic downhill session at Oliver's Mount, when it was minus 6 degrees wind chill and 7 degrees water temperature. We were mad! So danny said "call the boards Still Stoked, to remind us always of those rare, great and wonderful days we sometimes had in the surf.

Tom performing an "off the nose" spinner on a prototype Landsurfer at Oliver's Mount.

Leeds city was such a great place for smooth surfaces around the shopping arcades, and nobody seemed to mind me skating my 6ft Landsurfer around the place. I even got hoots from the scores of kids skating outside the Town Hall as i cruised and carved around on my 5ft Cruiser. Tom reckoned I got some respect there.

We did a lot of filming and coined the "Leeds Stokers", who in the late autumn of 1997, became the first longboard skaters in Leeds' history.

The Landsurfer was prominant in our filming and we got a good section of walking the plank from "Jesus Tom" and Donny, and all sorts of fun bits with Tom and Ed tandem, all of which ended up in the Still Stoked Story video.

Leeds was a great time and had a real pioneering spirit to it. The day at Oliver's Mount was pretty radical too. That would be one hell of a hill to put on a downhill event. If banking was built into the hairpin at the bottom of the impossible first drop, it might be just about makeable. It would be an awesome test of the downhill pros!****

I plan to do the next two chapters of this blog of the Landsurfer Story as picture galleries of the days with the Leeds Stokers.

This entry relates to: [ Skating ]

Posted at 16:21:20

Sea, sun and surf

There really is nothing to beat a hot sunny weekend in May, is there?
Saturday night we had a barbie Severnside at Newnham to celebrate Buffalo's birthday. He did loads of tricks on the balance board and skates, including a new one which we shall bring you soon. Canny sk8ing, when Matt's awesome husky towed him on the retro carve. That was pretty rad and we'll be filming it next.

Then Sunday and a quick call to PJs and Tester, me and Katie were off to Llangennith. It was great and nostalgic too, everyone has been asking after us and the word is that our caravan evaporated mysteriously one night. As you enter the campsite there is just a bare patch and Katies herb garden left!!

Anyway the surf was perfect longboard waves, waist to shoulder high. We saw all our mates, felt a great vibe and caught waves. If you have'nt been, then you should, it's the best, so hot in the sun and as Beau says, just like Byron Bay.

This entry relates to: [ Surfing ]

Posted at 17:05:02

The Landsurfer Story - Chapter 1

It was in the Autumn of 1997 that I first got the idea of the 6foot board. I had tried the 'plank' at Dig's in Woolacombe, which seemed to me to be too stiff and narrow for serious landsurfing. So I came up with a board that was possible to lie on and pop up on. That basically meant 6foot long and 1foot wide, and that could only be achieved if there was a truck able to take it.

Some early Landsurfers from 1998

The Landsurfer was born due to the obsession I had with sea and tarmac and thanks to the Independant Truck Company, without which it wouldn't have been possible.

The first testing grounds were Gloucester streets and Brighton proms. I'd already become a bit of a lone longboard freak in Gloucester and when I started skating Brighton, I got a lot of stares and a few astonished surfers not knowing whether to take me seriously or not.

I could tell James at Ocean Sports didn't really know what to say, but he encouraged me anyway. Then Stephen Pope turned up outside the shop, asked for a ride, and proceeded to demonstrate how to walk the board on tarmac. He asked "Donny, can I be a team rider when I come back from Oz?" I said "You bet", and in July 1998 he turned up just in time to ride the hill at Widemouth at the first Bude Downhill.

Stephen and Old Red, Widemouth Bay 1998

I had nine months to develop the Landsurfer, get it right and launch the pro board. Next chapter will introduce my main skating buddy Matt "Buffalo" Hammersley, Tom, Danny and the Leeds Stokers.

This entry relates to: [ Skating ]

Posted at 12:46:19

The Still Stoked Website

Our fourth generation makeover for Still Stoked is now up and running. We have a few updates yet to do on boards and images. We think the new site is now really accessible and looks fantastic, all thanks to Tom Wright at Severn Solutions. Hope you will all agree and get good fun and stoke from the site. Always look forward to receiving emails from anybody and everybody.
Donny

This entry relates to: [ Skating ]

Posted at 12:08:50

In the workshop

It's Mayday, we saw the dawn in up in the old wood and now I'm ready to go again. At last the new travel board 2004 series is ready to go. Hooray for that!

The new boards look really rad and I've just been in the workshop finishing some sprays, two boards going out tomorrow.

I'm stoked. Happy Beltaine!

This entry relates to: [ Skating ]

Posted at 13:41:53