Now That’s A Triathlon!

Bringing together all board sports into one, the first annual Ultimate Boarder competition ends this weekend in Ventura, Ca. The competition started last weekend with the first portion of the event - snowboarding. On Wednesday, the surfing competition was held and Saturday is the final stage of the event will take place with skateboarding. The final stage is at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, an excellent park right on the water. Surfer’s Point is nearby so you can make a day out of it by catching some waves and then checking out the competition.

One of the coolest things about this event is that amateurs and pros competed together. Athletes came from all over the world to be a part of this. Throughout the week, there were parties, concerts, and other cool happenings around Ventura. You can check out the live webcast here for the rest of the competition.

I’m quite excited to see this new event that blends some of my favorite sports to participate in. It really is nice to see these sports get so much more respect than in the past. Dare I say that surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding are mainstream now? All I know is that when I drive around town now I see kids on skateboards in neighborhoods that would have never gotten into it when I was a teen. There is a much more diverse group surfing and on the mountain too. I think it’s awesome! Bring boards to the masses!

In fact, one of the best stories I’ve heard about skateboarding recently is when I had to take someone to the emergency room last year (they are fine, just stitches). A young girl, about eleven, struck up a conversation with me in the waiting room. She was telling me how much she enjoyed designing clothes and that she was very good with a sewing machine. Of course, I asked her if she wanted to be a professional designer for her career. Nope. She wants to be a pro skater. It hit me why she was talking to me at that point as I looked down and noticed we were wearing the same style of Vans slip-ons. I asked what tricks she could do and her eyes lit up while she described the skate park she went to in the Valley with her cousins every chance she had. It was really awesome how stoked she was, much more than talking about clothes. As enthusiastic as she was, I’ll bet she really rips! Hopefully I’ll see her name winning competitions in the future!