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Maryhill She-Ride / Wolfe Family Freeride

August 26, 2015

We started off our Maryhill She-Ride experience with the long and hot process of assembling hay bails on the corners of the hill. When we woke up that morning we noticed that the wind was absolutely howling. It was some of the most extreme winds that we have seen at Maryhill.

Heres our very own Nate Blackburn with a quick selfie standing at the top of Maryhill with his board of choice, the Chief. After lifting the Hay in the morning, we were able to skate the hill in the afternoon on Friday with a group of really cool ladies! It was most definitely awesome.

Thank you Aero Media for this shot of Nate Blackburn taking some fun runs with Les Robertson.

As Friday wrapped up the hay crew and the few non volunteer peoples headed to peach beach for the unorganized event camping. As we rolled in, there was the usual debauchery and shenanigans of heinous fun, and some adult beverages for the over 21 year old crowd. The crew was tired from a full day of bailing and many runs with the family, so the van knocked out early and refueled for the long weekend ahead.

Sun, Water, Cliffs, Buds, Brews, and Stoke.

As the sun rose over the Columbia River, we woke up and hung around the van. A few of us decided the river was a good wake up call and so half of the crew jumped in while the other half stayed asleep! Once we had eaten breakfast and made our way to the hill we were surprised to see that the wind had not died down at all! It was still just as strong as it was the day before, and with 4 times the number of people it was set to be an exciting day. Throughout the day, the runs got sketchier and sketchier, and adding people to the groups to make large tight packs only raised the potential for crashing. Around half-way through the day, as Nate, Morgan and Les dropped in, they didn't expect to collide into each other.

While entering the second repeater, the left turn was extremely fast with the tight grouping and the excessive tail winds pushing them down the hill. The hay was minimal in the entrance of the corner and the cliff behind the bails is not very forgiving if you manage to barge through the safety hay. As we entered the left hander we all stacked up into a small ball of congestion, and no one was prepared to handle some extra speed, but alas, Nate ran into Les, bumping him early into the Apex of the corner, which put him inside of Morgan who was planning on a normal trajectory through the tight left hander. Well, Morgan and Les met up about halfway through the turn, and they both ended up flying into the hay bails, and even off the side of the road. Nate managed to avoid the incident and was able to skate to the bottom of the hill without further incident.

Thanks to NWest Media for this shot of Les Robertson following some divine homies, one of few runs without Nate beside him, this is prior to the Cliff Crash incident.

After the day had wrapped up we all headed back to the unofficial camping location and slept for the evening. The Coast Longboarding Cribb Bomb had showed up and played music till 2 AM in the morning. We were all prepared for this, but some first timers were not as used to the typical Striker experience. Note: he has a Loud Speaker, and he uses it frequently.

Here is another shot by Aero.Media of the Action on the Second Day. The Wind had mellowed out quite a bit so the skating on the Last day of the event was much slower and playful than in the days past.

On sunday the winds died down and the runs kept going until our legs were jelly! The entire event ran smoothly and had very few crashes!

The last and final day of Maryhill was upon us and no one wanted the day to end. As the riders began to show up and park their cars in an organized chaos fashion, the U-Hauls loaded people and brought them up the hill. Those of us that were broke off hung out in the shade basking up the cool breeze and the rad people that flowed in and out of the Omen Pop-up Tent area. The others ran back and forth between the shade and the shuttles up the hill. The runs kept going as the heat beat down upon us, draining those who were skating and slowly cooking those who were stationary at the bottom of the hill. The day rolled on as everyone racked up runs and some even road rash, but that didn't stop the constant smile and laughter that came with skateboarding! Sunday began to end as the final runs were being called for and the hay crews gathered to start the long and hot process of gathering back all the hay and getting it to the bottom of the hill in order to be removed from the property.

Here is a screen shot from our newest video on the OMEN Longboards Channel Featuring the Wolfe Family Freeride / Sheride. This video was made by Aero.Media and Wesley Eldridge. As you can see the freeriding on the last day was incredibly tight and the packs were very fast with the minimal wind.

Before we could leave we had to throw everything out of the van and clean it to the point of being able to get the seats back in! After we managed to man handle the seats into place we played Tetris with all of boxes and boards and massive piles of dirty clothes! As we somehow managed to repack the van we said our goodbyes, gave some hugs and even a few kisses and we made like a bird and we flew away!

Thank you to Maryhill Rats, Dean Ozuna, and Ali Johnson for all of the help, wisdom, and opportunity to skate the best road in Washington.

-Nate
Love you mean it.