If you’re a fan of longboarding, you have to get to Pender Harbour this weekend.
A legion of longboarders was set to descend on the Harbour on May 18 and they’ll be in the area camping and competing in a number of events until May 24 as part of Attack of Danger Bay 16.
The annual longboard competition was started 16 years ago by Bricin Lyons and it’s become a premier event for longboarders on the West Coast and around the world.
Every year, racers travel from faraway places to test their skills on the hills of Pender Harbour, competing against local legends like Dane Hanna of Team Irene, who recently won China’s Fortune Hill Challenge.
Last year’s Attack of Danger Bay 15 saw nearly 200 racers take part and this year’s event is expected to draw just as many participants.
The week-long event holds several races, including the Egmont Grind Push Race (held May 18) that has longboarders speed their way to a watery finish off the end of a dock in Pender.
On Saturday, May 20, the weekend fun starts when longboarders join the May Day Parade at 11 a.m. and then hold a skate hockey tournament in Madeira Park. Skaters can make a team and show up ready to play or bring a stick and join a group onsite.
At 2 p.m. that day there’s a slide competition for boarders and at 5:30 p.m. event registration opens at the racers’ camp for Danger Bay, Jake’s Rash Freeride and Jake’s Rash Rumble. It’s the last chance to officially get in on the action.
The main event – Danger Bay – starts at 8 a.m. on Sunday, May 21, when hundreds of racers take over a portion of Murdoch Road to the delight of at least as many fans.
This year’s event will have a new business class division that should provide for some fun viewing as longboarders don suits and carry briefcases down the hill for a chance to win an extra $500 cash prize, a suitcase filled with medals and a brand new tuxedo.
Spectators can take advantage of a shuttle bus from Oak Tree Market in Madeira Park to the race site or drive up Francis Peninsula Road and then park and walk in.
The shuttle bus starts running at 8 a.m. and races will continue throughout much of the day with awards following at the announcer’s booth, set up at a high crash site dubbed “carnage corner.”
On Tuesday, May 23, there’s a free ride for racers and then the fun wraps up on May 24 with Jake’s Rash Rumble, held on Stephens Way in Secret Cove.
All the races come with cash prizes and big-time bragging rights for the victors. In total, Attack of Danger Bay 16 will offer about $8,000 in cash awards for podium placements.
Find out more about this annual event at www.coastlongboarding.com
