#omenhaulsasstocenmass week 3 and 4 recap

August 28, 2015

The Tuesday after the Toronto Session we stopped by some local shops and got to skate down some fun sidewalks in the outskirts of the GTA. (Greater Toronto Area, or the "6" if you listen to Drake songs).


We stopped in at Moguls in Mocean and checked out some of our decks, talked with the owners, and bought some new shoes for Nate because he torched his shoes during the first part of the trip.



The Next stop was Longboard Haven and getting to meet RUFUS the guard dog. Rufus was a ton of fun to play with and after we ate pizza and stayed till 9 PM just hanging out, we had to leave and headed out to Ottawa.

We worked our way to Ottawa to hit up the Top of the World skate shop and shred behind the Parliament building. The entire time, we were told stories of the tight roads and the epic traffic through Ottawa and Montreal. After navigating the streets to find the local shop, we rolled past the Top of the World a few times before being able to find it, and a few more times before being able to park the Van. A 23' van is not a comfortable vehicle to drive in Ottawa traffic, but we managed to get her pulled into port, and were able to hop out and head to the shop. When we showed up to the shop there were a few skaters wandering the store, awaiting to skate with us. After purchasing some yoga pants for the upcoming race we headed out to the hills and skated a sweet bike path. We showed up to the spot and saw many more locals out for a rip! Our local friend Carlos gathered the followers and we skated the day away. 

We met up with the Locals and skated behind the Parliament building. Dodging and weaving on their sick bike paths.

 

After a much needed meal we retired from skating and loaded the van back up and pointed the wheel towards Montreal.  Whilst searching for Boutique Rollin we rolled past the shop twice, the first time in awe of the cool skatepark across the street and the second time was because of the dumb navigating of Nate's phone. After finally finding a parking spot right in front of the shop, we lurked around the shop awaiting the inevitable skate session that was about to go down! As the time grew nearer and nearer, we met up with Antoine and Sam and headed to session a gnarly path. After following the locals down the roads, we all grew more confident in the mob! Dodging cracks and the occasional pavement change we had a blast being able to choose what path we wanted to skate. We were in a downhill paradise. After a few GoPro runs with Nate, the darkness set in and the stories of the good times began! We lurked around the parking lot for a bit and talked about our future plans for the tour. After leaving Montreal we crossed the border and made our way towards Massachusetts to plan on being around Harvard the day after.

Ended our evening skating some very tight and technical paths with two Local homies, Antoine and Sam.

 

We stopped in at North of the Border in Salem, New Hampshire and met up with Nick Hanson before deciding to roll out to Boston.

As we rolled into Boston, we rolled over to pick up Chris Birch. When we picked him up, he told us tales of a crazy local driveway with skaters living at the top. As we drove to the foretold driveway, we met up with Ethan Ledger, the kid at the top of the hill, and a few other guys including Fin "pounder" and Norman Plante. We skated the drive, getting all the sick angles with the GoPro and taking many sketchy runs with each other. We then headed to Downtown Boston and hit up Thuro Skate Shop for a great day of skating. When we showed up, people were already there awaiting us and our van. We headed to a steep freeride spot, with very chalky pavement. The locals were awesome, letting us get some follow runs in with the car and even had someone on the hill all day filming while we skated.

Chris birch is not all about speed or length, he's all about that style! 

We then rolled over to Harvard, Mass. for the 6th annual Cen mass6 festival. Because the event was so awesome and was so jam packed with skating, partying and all around good times, we make our own write up on it. 

As we wrapped up a jam packed weekend at Cenmass6 we checked the map and marked our next destination. 22 hours west, Kansas City, Missouri. The members of the van, Morgan Owens, Levi Green, Nate Blackburn, John Slugg and Wesley Eldridge prepared themselves for the deadly drive ahead. With the biggest drive behind us and an entire day of skating around KC, we fed ourselves delicious bbq and drank our weight in soda.

Checked out the Burning Spider Stoke Co. and let me say, these guys are stoke on skateboarding!

Morgan Owens diving deep into the bush while Aero.Media get the click.


Here is John Slugg  (sluggy bear) getting blunted and not spliffed during the Kansas Shred Session. Picture by Aero.Media.

 

After a great feast and an even greater day shredding the steep slopes of KC we all slowly began to break down. We lurked around the Burning Spider Stoke Co. for a bit talking of our recent adventures and our lust for how awesome of a lifestyle these guys had, living above the shop and working, skating and living with the homies. The lack of sleep and the poor diets were started to catch up, but the will power of the crew shined through when we had an 11 hour drive that night too! With our bellies full and our minds ready for the trek ahead, we headed on out to Colorado!

Aero.Media snagged this photo of the Milkiest Way, and the OMEN #mobileruckus van.

Between KC and Colorado there is a lot to skate, yet we didn't skate any of it. We had a schedule to be on and we weren't about to get off track. As we rolled into Denver early, first time we have been on time, we hit up a bomb breakfast spot called Denver Biscuit Company. We had never thought that biscuits and gravy would taste so good. After a good helping of the best biscuits and the best gravy, we sped our way from there to Board Life USA. Again, for the second time we showed up early and had to lurk longer than would have liked. Hanging out there, we met up with our Mids friend, Josh. He showed us around the area while we waited to see who showed up at the shop. After hitting up the sweet and refreshing ice cream spot outside Board Life, we hung out with some of the locals in the area and did our favorite thing to do, talk about skateboards. After a good amount of time, we rolled out of Denver and headed on out to Vail, Colorado. We met up with Max Wipperman and Loryn Robertson for some more rippin and dippin. We grilled up some burgers and talked away as the day light went down. We quickly headed to the next road over and did a few shuttle runs. With Levi broke off, we had a perfect shuttler! Max and Loryn took us to a beautiful spot overlooking part of the mountain range called Potato Patch. The road was by far from patchy, we are talking beautiful hairpins and perfect pavement. 

We met up with Loryn and Max as we booked our way through Colorado! luckily we had time to shred the gnar before we had to drive 12 hours! 

Our last and final stop before re-entering Washington was Boise, Idaho. For the last major leg of the #omenhaulsasstocenmass tour we had a 10 hour drive in front of us, yet again way to long of a drive. When we rolled into Boise, we popped into BoardRoom Boise and said whats up to everyone there. After hanging out for 15 minutes or so we met up with Parker Schmidt and headed to a sweet bomber. Overlooking all of Boise and a few wildfires, this road was mind boggling. So many turns, high speeds and the most chundery of chunder! We switched our wheels from small freerides to big ol' milkers. The roads were a blast, having not skated such long roads all tour. Meanwhile, we watched two wild fires start. One of them went out, the other one only grew bigger and it was in the perfect direction for us when we headed on out to Maryhill.

Here is Morgan Owens going toeside through a right hairpin! Photo by Aero.Media.


Parker Schmidt in full fighter plane mode through this corner. Photo by Aero.Media.


Top of the world with the Boardroom Boise Crew. 

As we drove through Idaho, it seemed like the entire state was on fire, we drove through a fire that had enclosed the Highway. Surrounding us on all sides, the flames seemed to engulf every piece of grass on the hillside. As we passed through, we prayed for the smoke to stay away from Maryhill. 

Les and Nate get wicked while Aero.Media gets the shot.
We stopped at Maryhill for the FREERIDE for the Wolfe Freeride Event, and because of how awesome that event is we posted a BLOG Specifically about it.

After Maryhill we headed to Oregon to stop by Daddies Boardshop and meet up with Master Hoang (Eric Hoang).

Photo by Aero.Media.



We also killed some time while waiting for Traffic to accommodate our travel plans and skated the infamous Switchbacks path with some of the Oregon Homies.

After that we drove straight back to Seattle, Washington to enjoy the comforts of a shower and a bed. We were all incredibly tired, but we enjoyed every second of the road. 

Here is a video featuring some of the Highlights of skating that we got to enjoy while on the road.



As cheesy and played out as it sounds, even though #omenhaulsasstocenmass was about traveling out to the Central Mass 6 Slide Jam, more often then not the journey is just as important as the destination, and with this trip we all agreed. We had a really good time on the road, but are glad to be home and comfortable for the moment. We are even more excited to hit the road again, and get our selves to new locations and meet new people! Till next time!

-Nate
Love you Mean it.

 

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