The fastest event of its kind in Canada is back for two days this weekend, as the 13th annual Salt Spring Slasher downhill skateboarding race kicks off Saturday, Aug. 24.
Racers reach speeds of more than 90 kilometres per hour on a winding 1.5-kilometre course that starts at the top of Trustees Trail and ends about halfway down Juniper Place, according to event organizer Maxwell Kaye. Kaye said the event — also the third longest such race in the country — is scheduled each year around its most limited resource: hay.
“We have a farmer on the island who gives us a really good deal, so we pretty much plan the whole event around when he cuts his hay,” laughed Kaye, “which he thinks is absolutely bizarre. Big thanks to Mark Hughes; without him we wouldn’t be able to pull this off.”
It’s the hay bales, Kaye said — along with insurance and permits — that keep racers safe from sliding off the road into spectators if they take a fall during the weekend event. The Salt Spring Slasher hosts dozens of skateboarders from all over British Columbia and Canada, as well as international racers from as far away as Australia — and, Kaye said, a few stars of the sport will be participating.
“We’ll probably have 70 per cent of the Team Canada stand-up team, who will be going to race in Italy for the World Skate Games in September,” said Kaye. “World Skate were the ones who worked to allow regular skateboarding into the Olympics; this is like the little sister.”
Kaye said the racers are “hungry” as the Salt Spring Slasher is likely their last big race before Italy.
“No matter the weather, there will be skateboarding,” said Kaye. “Rain or shine, we’ll be racing.”
Downhill races will begin around 10 a.m. Saturday, with events running until mid-afternoon; Sunday should be just as exciting, Kaye said, with free-ride events.
“We do all the racing on Saturday, so that way the riders can relax on the second day,” said Kaye, “and it’s not two days of trying to get your race lines in.”
Spectators should come up Juniper a little before 10 a.m. either day and look for signs and traffic control officials in safety vests, Kaye said. He recommended dressing for the weather and bringing a lawn chair or something else to sit on.
“We’ve got a bunch of volunteers helping make this happen,” said Kaye. “Some of them are skaters, and the rest are just people who have been super stoked on the whole thing.”
For more information on the race, look for the Salt Spring Slasher Facebook page.