After only three years of racing, local longboarder Nathan Lang seized a decisive victory at one of the largest longboarding races in the world, Pender Harbour's Danger Bay 6, beating his rival from last year's race, Tom Esteran.
"It's awesome," said Lang of his first win, which included a prize of $1,300 and three skateboarders.
After a third place finish last year, Lang was ready to dominate the two kilometre course where racers reach speeds up to 65 km/h on long skateboards.
"This is one of the most important races I've done," he said.
Squamish residents Emmit Falconer and Ben Boyd also competed at Danger Bay 6, held May 18 to 20, which saw 160 racers peel down the course in heats of four. After every heat, the bottom two racers are eliminated. Falconer placed 13th. The Chief was unable to determine Boyd's race results at press time.
Danger Bay - believed to be the first longboard race in Canada - is a highly anticipated race in for the sport's enthusiasts. However, because it is was not sanctioned this year by the longboard racing governing body the International Gravity Sports Association (IGSA), some of the premiere European racers did not enter the competition.
But despite the event's hiccups, all three racers proved their skills enough this year to garner sponsorship from board-making company Landyaghtz, and each has been featured in skateboarding magazine Concrete Wave.
The three friends and recent Howe Sound graduates started on average sized skateboards, but decided three years ago that they wanted to go faster.
After trying a longboard race, they set up a course and began to practice.
"We'd just go up to the highlands and we planned a course out and road it everyday," said Falconer.
"It's not really about money or anything," he said of his passion for longboarding. "It's just about going out and hanging out with people and going downhill."
Land will compete the Maryhill Festival of Speed, a world cup race sanctioned by the IGSA and held in Washington this September.
