Ryan Howard with the film and edit.

Best known for his kickass filming and editing skills, Tom is one of the rising stars in New England and by far one of the gnarliest kids on and off the hill I know. He’s also quickly making a name for himself in front of the camera — riding for Nelson Longboards and Tiger Design Wheel Co. — with some of the smoothest and steezy switch toesides I’ve seen in a minute. He’s got some great insight on where the sport is, and where he thinks it’ll be going, as well as an impecable eye when it comes to videos. Tom will touch base on a variety of topics in his posts and will be a driving force behind some of our coming interviews with east coast riders. We’re hoping we can convince him to chef up a few videos for your viewing pleasure, too.

We’re super stoked to have him on board, help us give him a warm welcome and share the news with your friends with a Like or Tweet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7WhuKhkL-A

When it comes to buying gear, you always gotta support those that are gonna give back. Most of the industry in this sport is out west so when you see locals pumping out products, and especially of this tier, you gotta support. The new lineup of boards looks prime, and deserve to be checked out. Buy one soon cause it looks like they are in limited supply!!!

A link to the facebook can be found at https://www.facebook.com/PassionSkateDecks

Tyler Bainbridge’s second annual Longboard for Life event is back for 2013! Tyler and the organizers are hosting the slide jam to raise money for the American Cancer Society. There will be a 10-15 dollar entry fee for all those hoping to compete. Last year the event raised $1500 dollars, and with double the attendees expected this year, the event should raise far more.

The event will be completely sanctioned, meaning no cars and no cops to ruin our fun. With a very high level of competition last year, the jam will be split up into a “pro” division for those seasoned riders, and a grom/amateur division for the less experienced. With over 100 competitors expected this year, the different divisions will allow for the newer guys to get all the time they want on the hill while still allowing for some intense, high speed riding to keep the energy high.

The Longboard for Life slide jam is sure to be a rad time. Come out, skate, and support a great cause. You can find out more and RSVP through the Facebook Event.

For more info check this local newspaper article about last year’s jam, as well as the video below:

View of all the action.

To say the event was a success would be one of the understatements of the year, as it proved to be one of the the best non-race events hosted on the east coast ever, and raised the bar for what’s to be expected in the future.

By the time we parked and got to the race it was about 9:15AM, the bottom section below the funbox, was full of skaters warming up as the Comet crew on the top half of the hill were putting the finishing touches on the ramp setup. Everything came together and people started skating the entire hill by 10:00AM/10:15AM; from that point forward it was ON! Once people warmed up and got a feeling for the ramps and the pavement things escalated quickly, with everyone clearly feeding off the energy from the crowd and other skaters.

Comet team rider and Toronto native Eric Jensen was really working the hip and launch ramp all day.

The entire Comet team was in attendance, including our good friend Brian Peck, Liam Morgan, Jesse Breiman, Anthony Flis, Big Dave, Jared Henry, Eric Jensen and a slew of other well known shredders like MuirSkate owner Scott “El Beasto” Lembach, Eric Roth, Ed Garner, Josh Wright, and too many more to name.

The top half of the hill was definitely where most of the action was centered around as they contained the majority of ramps and features. A spine/rail jam along with two hips, two smaller kickers, and a launch ramp made for an exciting and fun downhill skatepark that pushed people to go bigger and be more creative than usual. Below that a fun box stayed chillin with most choosing to avoid it after watching at least one person launch over the entire feature straight to flat ground, instead of the landing ramp.

Brian Peck and Skate The East’s Mike DiPietro getting some follow run footage.

The photos and videos speak for themselves and tell the story better than I can. The vibe was great, the weather was perfect, and the city of Ithaca was a real sport by letting a bunch of skaters shut down a road and play for a day. So many props and thanks go to Comet Skateboards for putting together such an unreal event and raising the bar for what’s to be expected at east coast events in the future. People pushed themselves hard, got pitted, and showed just how motivated the east coast scene is these days. I’m so stoked to see how the rest of this season will turn out, as I think this is just the tip of the proverbial talent iceberg out east.

We’ll start with this photo series of Brian Peck popping an absolutely chiller ollie off the kicker and onto the hip to whet your whistles a little. Stay tuned for tons more soon.

Brian Peck pops an ollie, starts sweatin’, uhhh.