Throwback Thursdays: Searching for Speed

By now, you’ve likely seen Coloradan skateboarder Kyle Wester break the Guinness World Record for speed on a skateboard. He did it at an undisclosed location in Colorado. But if you are in the know, you know how to find it. Longboarders thirsty for speed have been traveling to this Colorado hill for many years to get their fix. For this Thursday Throwback, I show you a session from half a decade ago.

Back in 2010, I traveled to Colorado with Mark Frydrychowski and met up with the traveling bus, the Loco Express. Though we were all in Colorado for the Buffalo Bill event on Lookout Mountain, we couldn’t resist skating over 70 mph. Mark and I left his car in the city and jumped in the Loco for a late evening trip to the fast hill out in the country.

This hill is out there and that’s a good thing. It’s a much safer road being secluded.

Brian Elderkin gets his Landyachtz Evo with Bear Smokies and Hawgs wheels dialed. This is the kind of hill with which you don’t want to mess around.

When the pitch drops, so does your heart. This hill is steep.

When I was making these photos, I thought that I would never show them. This hill makes you respect the danger that comes with skating downhill so fast. In order to reach your top speed on the hill, you must cross the lane of traffic near the bottom. It is for that reason that spotters are essential to riding the hill. The locals tried for years to protect the sanctity and the popularity of the hill, only showing it to close friends and promising not to blow up the spot by posting it all over the internet. The cat is definitely out of the bag now and nothing is sacred anymore, so it’s time to show these photos. I do so with discretion and respect to the history of downhill in Colorado. No animals were harmed and no hills were blown in the making of this Throwback Thursdays post.

My travel buddy, Mark Frydrychowski, goes as fast as he as ever gone on a skateboard. He is draft bait for the others.

Woody, Hugh Johnson, and Raggie hold steady as they reach top speed. Katie Nielson with her crutches can be seen spotting on the inside of the corner.

Hugh, high on speed.

Woody is juiced up at the bottom.

Raggie takes off his shoes after the last run of the day.

While the conditions weren’t perfect for breaking a speed record, 70 mph is still really fast and we were all satisfied with our time on the hill. We left the hill, high on adrenaline. As we drove the Loco away down a dark country road, it was having electrical issues and the lights would turn off intermittently. It was as if we needed more adrenaline pumping through our system. What a rush!