International Downhill Skateboard Racing for First Time on Pikes Peak

CASCADE — The fastest skateboarders in the world rallied atop Pikes Peak over the weekend, adding a new chapter of racing history to the storied peak’s twisting highway. The extreme sport is also knows as “long boarding”.

Bombing down a 1.4-mile stretch of the freshly paved Pikes Peak Highway, more than 120 international competitors reached speeds of more than 50 mph while skidding and jostling through 10 hairpin turns. The race course — heralded by racers as possibly the best, with its wide asphalt enabling high-speed passing and banked, technical turns allowing sustained speed — plummeted 680 vertical feet in 1.4 miles.

Riders Louis Pilloni, left, Kyle Wester, center, and Jackson Shapiro jockey for position in the consolation round of the race. Zak Maytum of Boulder, CO, won the race. Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post

A rider races down the 1.4-mile course with Pikes Peak as a backdrop during the International Pikes Peak Longboarding Competition on Pikes Peak outside of Colorado Springs, CO on September 8, 2013. Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post

Billy Bones makes a fast descent as he races down the 1.4-mile course on Pikes Peak outside of Colorado Springs, CO, on September 8, 2013 during the International Pikes Peak Downhill Longboarding Competition. Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post

Racer Zak Maytum, the 22-year-old owner of Boulder’s Venom skateboard supply store, represented his home state with a win.

Winner Zac Maytum, left, gets ready to blast past second-place rider Jimmy Riha, right, as the two round the second to last turn in the race. Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post

“I just had to win this race,” he said of the first skateboard race on the iconic highway. The race was sanctioned by the International Downhill Federation as a qualifying event for the world championship.

Maytum eked out a win in the final turn of the final heat — after two days of racing — by snaking the inside line, forcing California’s Jimmy Riha into second place. Oakland racer Byron Essert took third.

Thousands of hay bales prevented countless injuries as dozens of racers skidded out of their turns, slamming the bales at high speed. One racer was rushed off the course Sunday with a broken leg after he crashed into the bales at Turn 8, a winding S-turn the racers dubbed “the Kink.”

“I should be bummed, but how can I be?” said 2006 world champion Fredrik Lindstrom, a 39-year-old downhill veteran from Stockholm. “This is one of the best race courses ever.”

Frederick Lundstrom, of Sweden, focuses on the road ahead as he races down the 1.4-mile course on Pikes Peak outside of Colorado Springs on September 8, 2013 during the International Pikes Peak Downhill Longboarding Competition. Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post

Check out the Denver Post for more coverage of downhill skateboarding on Pikes Peak.

Icone Skateboards – icone.at
Boardsport Finland – boardsport.fi

Pikes Peak Downhill 2013 – pikespeakdownhill.com

Results:

Rank Name Nationality Points
1 Zak Maytum United States 650
2 Jimmy Riha United States 625
3 Byron Essert United States 613
4 Calvin Staub United States 602
5 Billy Meiners United States 592
6 Kyle Wester United States 583
7 Jackson Shapiera Australia 574
8 Louis Pilloni United States 565
9 Andrew Haiby United States 557
10 James Kelly United States 550
11 Tyler Howell United States 542
12 Micah Green United States 535
13 Justin Rouleau United States 528
14 Chadwick Gibson Australia 522
15 Aaron Hampshire United States 515
16 Chance Gaul United States 509
17 Fredrik Lindstrom Sweden 503
18 Kawika Omoto United States 497
19 Brian Cortright United States 491
20 Erik Lundberg Sweden 485
21 Trevor Ovenden United States 480
22 William Royce United States 474
23 Garrett Creamer United States 469
24 Patrick Schep United States 464
25 Ville Hietala Finland 459
26 Scott Lembach United States 454
27 Alex Tongue United States 449
28 Maxwell Capps United States 444
29 Dre Nubine United States 439
30 Brian Holden United States 434
31 Devon Reece United States 430
32 Gunnar Morin United States 425
33 Spencer Smith United States 421
34 Travis Morris United States 416
35 Elliott Newey United States 412
36 Nathan Ryan United States 408
37 Riley Irvine United States 403
38 Daina Banks United States 399
39 Zach Robinson United States 395
40 Keith Henderson United States 391
41 Shaquille James United States 387
42 Brent Dubendorff United States 383
43 William Brunson United States 379
44 Brian Lugbill United States 375
45 Ethan Vinograd United States 371
46 Ryan Ricker United States 367
47 Mitchell Van Dyke United States 363
48 Sinjin Davis United States 360
49 Adam Persson Sweden 356
50 Jake Wilkinson United States 352
51 Ryan Stroh United States 349
52 Ed Lynn United States 345
53 Max Myers United States 341
54 Salty Sharp United States 338
55 Christopher Kemp United States 334
56 Aaron Gruilch United States 331
57 Josephmyles Duran United States 327
58 Kevin Cooper United States 324
59 Mike D. Snyder United States 321
60 Knox Heslop United States 317
61 Nick D’Bk United States 314
62 Christian Montoya Pradel Peru 310
63 Doug Tolman United States 307
64 Justin DuBois United States 304

CNaz

My Life at Speed Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Chris Nazarenus, had a chance meeting with key executives at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1998. It would be the "Jerry McGuire" moment that would change her life forever. Although she knew nothing about motorsports at that time, the chance meeting would influence her passion for all things fast, great stories and interesting people. That's what you will find here at My Life at Speed.