Trip Recap: Southern, California

Our skateboard team traded Oregon’s gray skies for a week of sunshine, skateparks, and tacos on a Southern California skate trip that packed in more skating than most of us get in months.

The trip started in Oceanside with a rainy first night, but the group still explored the pier and grabbed Mexican food. By Friday the sun came out and the skating began. One of the first challenges was a long bump-to-rail where Lila spent time trying to land a boardslide. Later that day the group visited Poods Park and watched pro skaters session the bowl, setting the tone for the rest of the trip.

Over the next few days the group visited parks all across Orange County and Los Angeles, including San Juan Skatepark, Costa Mesa, and several smaller parks with curbs, ledges, and manual pads. For Marcelo, the amount of skating was one of the biggest highlights. “I’ve never skated so much in a week,” he said. “I tried skating bowls more since a lot of parks in California have them.”

The trip also included a stop in Los Angeles where the group met Robert Blasik, who runs a riser pad company, and learned about how parts of the skate industry work. A day trip to San Diego included a pump track and a stop at Linda Vista Skatepark, one of the largest parks they visited. With so many different obstacles, everyone had a chance to try new terrain.

“The exposure to all the different features improved my comfortability on a skateboard,” Kyler said. The group also watched incredible skating along the way, including seeing legendary bowl skater Peter Hewitt ride in person.

On the last morning, the group returned to the first park of the trip. After trying it all week, Lila finally landed the boardslide on the long rail she’d been battling since day one. Soon after, the crew headed back to the airport—tired, sunburned, and already thinking about the next skate trip.