BBDH Pre-Race Video by Dan Herzog

BBDH Day 1 Video by Nick Grasso

BBDH Day 1 Video by Jason Salfi

Congrats to Justin Dubois for throwing another successful Buffalo Bill Down Hill race with over 100 participants from around the planet.

Chico Steezfest went off last month in beautiful Northern California. The night before the event, Comet team riders Justin Bryant and Liam Morgan made the journey form Berkeley California to stay out my house in Chico. That same night I got a call from team rider Dustin Hampton who told me that he too, along with Tye Nakayama and Pete Eubank were about to start the drive from Malibu (which is about a 10 hour drive). Saturday morning was race day, so we had to wake up at the crack of dawn.

Walking out into my living room to wake everyone up I found sprawled out on my floor the whole Malibu crew snuggling for warmth.

That morning we all went out for a delicious breakfast to fuel up before heading to the scheduled meeting spot right on the feather river. Once everyone was all signed up and ready to go, all 40 of us caravaned up to the first event, a DH race.

The road had a long curvy top section that peaked at about 35mph. It then dropped into a steeper section with a fast right hand sweeper into a final bomb where riders were reaching almost 50 mph. When it was all said and done, Tye won the race and was followed by Georges Siddiqi and Dustin Hampton.

Our next event was King of the Mountain where racers had to race down the hill with a cup full of water. Each racer’s time and water volume at the bottom was averaged together to determine a winner. Unfortunately the cops wizened up to our shenanigans by this time and asked us kindly to leave. We all jumped back into our cars and headed to a nearby lake for some BBQ hot dogs and beautiful scenery.

After everyone was fed and wounds were tended to, it was time for my favorite part of the day, the slide comp. The format was that of a one hour session where riders could get in as many runs as they could. Three judges were rating each rider on style, difficult of the trick, and overall "wow" factor. In the end, Nick Ronzani of Roger Brothers took the title with Liam Morgan closely behind.

After a few cored wheels and some fresh road rash, everyone headed to the final event, slalom. Each rider took a timed run down the course trying not to knock over any of the cones. Wyndam Lewis of Chico took the win by one one-thousandth of a second over Nick Ronzani in a tight finish.

After slalom all the points were tallied up and Comet rider Liam Morgan was announced as the overall winner of Chico Steezfest 2.0 followed by Wyandam Lewis and Georges Siddiqi! Congrats and thanks to everyone who came out to make it such a rad day! Keep an eye out for more North State Downhill events to come.

Jamie Reis pulled off another great TMMR outlaw this weekend.  Congrats!

What follows is the full vibe from that weekend and final results.  Enjoy!
Saturday was the novice race and some freeriding right outside State College. It was cool seeing a ton of young kids from all over show up, some even from my home town. Some kids had their parents drive them, which I thought was awesome since it was an outlaw race. It was fun messing around a little bit and shaking off some cobwebs from my legs while trying to not do something stupid to tweak out my ankle again. We sessioned one hill for a few hours with no problem then moved on to the race site down the road where we got the event off with a half hour to spare before the coppers rolled in. Surprisingly not many kids ate it through the one turn in the course. I think I saw two crashes, one of which was in the final. The final heat for the youngins was EPIC with two kids coming into the left 90 on top of each other and both going straight into the curb and off the road.

After the race we packed up and headed to Wal-mart and the beer store for supplies for the campsite/party. Liquor laws in Pennsylvania confuse the hell out of me. They have stores for hard liquor and wine, stores for cases of beer, and then bars and other stores can sell you a six pack or tall cans. It’s just one more thing on the list of reasons why I dislike that state. At the campsite Jamie had bought 120 hot dogs, a slew of condiments and the largest bag of pretzels I’ve seen in my life. The bag looked like it was for mulch or dog food or something. After setting up camp in the wrong spot and moving to the correct spot we pitched tents, opened the beers and partied all night. Justin made the mistake of passing out on the ground at ten and was subject to some of the funniest shenanigans I’ve seen. Waking up in the womens bathroom with hot dogs all over your face is probably one of the most confusing ways to wake up. In my opinion Blair won the party though but it’s arguable between him and the British dad who nearly fought this drunk camper dweller who was pissed that we were parked in front of his RV. It was an interesting night for sure.

I woke up to the sound of people screwing around and fell out of my tent and managed to tear down in a matter of minutes. It was a slow morning that desperately needed coffee and a substantial meal. Anton, J Raw and Anna, Justin and myself went to some little diner in the town near the camp site and had an awesome breakfast perfect for soaking up alcohol. We got to the race hill just before practice runs were started so we suited up and started bombing. I was worried about being able to stop after the finish line all weekend because my ankle is hardly strong enough to foot break and I didn’t want to slide my wheels since you need to rail the turns and otangs wear out way too quick. It took me the entire length of the run out to the T intersection at the bottom to stop while everyone else was a good 100 or more yards above me at the end. As well as stopping I hadn’t gone more than 35 or 40 since thanksgiving or something so I was a little sketchy for my first few runs.

During the first heats it seemed like there was a crash in every one on the first turn for some reason. Rob Mckendry ended up completely covered in mud because some kid took him out in his first heat. I was so sad about that because riding with Rob is always a fun time. He is by far one of the most interesting and entertaining people to be around and he’s got more stories than I could imagine accumulating in a life time. Last year he was in the final and it was Colorado versus Beast Coast and here Rob completely got shafted. I managed to push in front of everyone in my first heat, avoiding the pile up behind me. Luckily my push is still strong enough to keep up even with a weak ankle. My second heat had Will from Clutch and Sean Graves who are both fast and I was a little sketched at first. Will had something weird happen in the first turn that he just couldn’t explain and slid out. Me and Sean awkwardly went down the straight before the chicane almost side by side looking at each other to see who would take the lead into it knowing we were both moving on.

In the semi final heat Jamie mixed it up and I had Michael Rubin in my heat, who has been ripping unnoticed for some time now. He pushed out ahead and I ducked in behind him while the two kids behind us got a little tangled up in the first left, leaving one standing and us with all the room to just chill and move on together. The other semi final was similar but also disappointing. It had Alex Newton, Sean Graves, J Raw and someone else in it but Jeremy got taken out in the first left leaving Alex and Sean to move on. I always just want to see my friends on the podium and when a kid who rips as hard as Jeremy doesn’t do well at races it hurts me. That kid rips harder than probably anyone else on the east coast, no one knows it yet though.

The final heat was pretty epic. I wasn’t expecting to get past the second round with my ankle in the shape it was yet there I was standing on the line with my friends racing for the win. It was Sean, Alex, Michael and myself and everyone had a good push and the skills to ride this hill as fast as possible. I didn’t care at all where I finished I was just so stoked to be in the final heat again that it really didn’t matter. When we heard “go” that’s a different story though. I kicked as hard as I could but definitely had the weakest kick. Alex was out in front and Michael behind him with me and Sean next to each other going into the first left. I went wide giving Sean room to pass and then dove hard inside to get in everyones draft before the chicane. It was a mess of passing going on and I sat back and watched, air breaking before the right-left to see if anyone would go down and let the opportunity to pass arise since I was getting sucked in. There is a pretty substantial dip going into the last straight and I actually felt my unnecessarily long front kingpin hit getting out of it giving a quick wobble. Going down the final straight everyone else was basically three wide creating a huge air pocket for me to get sucked into. I flew past Michael and Alex with not quite enough steam to make it to Sean.

This was a great event that went off without a hitch and I have to thank Jamie Reis for putting it on. It takes a special kind of person to throw all this together and put up with a group of sketchy skaters complaining and being rowdy. I can’t wait for the next race in the Beast Coast series!

Final results:
1st Sean Graves
2nd Anthony Flis
3rd Michael Rubin
4th Alex Newton

What a way to spend a spring Saturday!! By the time the second Major Stokem outlaw rolled around this year, I was ready to get out of Vermont’s winter and get my skate on! The event organized by fellow comet rider Keith Rebhorn was an epic way to start the season, and if you weren’t there, you missed out!!

I got up early on Saturday morning armed with a lot of google directions and a couple maps, and headed out on my way to the race hill under the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey. Little did I know that 10 miles of I 95 were closed!! This caused the 3 hour drive to the race to take a little less than six, but I got there just in time to take a quick practice run, and get right to racing!

We were fortunate enough to have a beaut of a day for the race, and the park where it was held was closed off to cars. Although this meant for a little bit of a longer hike in, racing on a closed hill was unbelievable! My first run down with Keith was a good way to freshen up my legs, and the heats were on!! With just under 50 racers, every heat was stacked, and a whole lot of fun. I ended up coming in first on my first two heats, to make it to the round of 12. As I lined up with Sean Graves and Andrew Boreland, I knew I was in for a tough heat! I kicked out in second ahead of Sean and just behind Andrew, and could feel Sean breathing down my neck the whole time. As I entered the bottom turn, I took it standup and tried to make an inside pass on Andrew. Next thing I knew, I was drifting and flew off my board face first into the curb.

As much of a bummer as that was, I was stoked to be uninjured, and to have raced with such awesome people! Sean and Andrew ended up placing third and fourth respectively.

After the racing, we all took a minute to chill and tend to our wounds before the slide jam began. I was rocking the new Comet Voodoo Doll, and just switched out some wheels to have some sideways fun. It was a blast floating huge standers and just going fast and having a good time! These are the sessions that make our scene so great, everyone feeding off each other makes for some great skating.

At the end of the day, I got in the car bruised up and battered, but had an epic day racing and riding with the whole east coast and Comet crew. Thanks so much to Keith Rebhorn for organizing and putting up with all our shit, and thanks to Comet and the other sponsors for throwing down huge swag. See you all at the next race!!!!

If you’re reading this by February 28th, help us out
by voting for us here!

Our proposal’s got some history going back to the summer of 2004, when good friend K-Dub tracked us down to collaborate on some skateboards with his high school art class.

That same year K - Dub and Karl Watson founded the HOOD Games as a grassroots answer to the stadium crowded Staples center X Games.  Jason Salfi from Comet  was invited to assist in the effort and helped grow the event from 300 participants to thousands and pioneered holding these events in downtown San Francisco, Oakland, and LA.  It was a lot of fun and blew many minds!

Over the course of 2 years K Dub has worked hard to create the only skatable terrain for youth in West Oakland with salvaged ramps and obstacles from the Hood Games events and an abandoned skatepark in San Leandro.  Dub is an all star artist and mentor to many.

After moving production from the Bay to Ithaca NY, Comet peoples have been working with Ben Jones and many others in the community to improve the current skatable terrain here.  Ben Jones founded East Shore Skatepark last year and has steadily provided space for youth expression through skateboarding.

Comet, K Dub and Ben and now partnered together to create a program that improves the permanent skate terrain available and create a cultural exchange program between Ithaca and Oakland skate communities.  This summer the goal is to invest in skate terrain, create mentorship opportunities for youth and allow 10 kids from Ithaca to travel to Oakland and 10 kids to travel from Oakland to Ithaca.  As a longboard focused company that focuses on the needs of the all around skater, Comet sees this as an amazing opportunity to cross pollinate stoke among the various genres of skateboarding.  Kids focused on street skating will have the opportunity to ride the hills with longboarding pioneers of the respective areas and pros will be available at the parks to teach basic skills in transition skating and beyond.

This program will stoke above and beyond.  See our video pitch and vote for us here . Spread the good word.

Many thanks!
The Comet Team

The buttery aroma of thane filled the moist February air of San Clemente this Sunday with a San Diego Downhill Racing League event known for its technical gnarness. The rolling neon green saturated hills popped beautifully from the dark clouds and bright wheels of hopeful racers. With hearts pounding, helmets strapped, and eyes on the prize racers set for the competition.

It all started with an hour drive from L.A. with some good friends Aaron and Cooper. Cruisen down we were worried about the rain as immanent dark clouds encroached on the staging grounds. When we arrived on the scene riders were already practicing for the course putting everything into their practice runs just trying to make a good line on the course. Many washed out, ripped jeans, and smiled the whole time.

The course was short and sweet starting off on a flat you could get a good kick into a left elbow at about 15-20 mph. From there you speed down into straight bomb and through a sweepy right 90 degree where you pick up some speed. That sets you up for, the crash corner of the day, a 35 – 40 mph full 180 hairpin left where there was about 100 foot line of burned thane lines in the road preceding the turn. After which you bomb straight for a short while into a dual apex right with the finish line in the second part of the right.

Finally the race was on, with everything in order Tye Donnelly and his team were in place and ready for action. Racers all received numbers from 1-45 and paid ten bucks a piece. With unlimited push from the top racers had three chances to score times, with only their best time counting in competition. Then the quarter finals narrowed the top ten riders, followed by semi finals with the top five riders and the finals with the top three riders. It was hot racing indeed with lots of pre drifting and oblong wheels ripping the course to shreds. In the end it was Louis Pilloni in third (riding his last few heats on a broken board!), Evren Ozan in second, and the Swede Erik Lundberg taking first place.

After the race the whole crowd of hooligans and outlaws met at the local park for some good ol’ Bar-B-Q. The boys busted out the freeride boards and the football for some good times at the park. Also during the barbecue there was a buttboard race on a nice straight bomb out near the park. It ran in two heats a full Chinese downhill and a six man final where my boy Aaron Baygell took first prize.

Heading home from the event not one left without a smile. Thanks to Tye and his crew for continuing to put on great events every month.

by Peter Eubank

This HD video shows off Kyle Chin’s smooth riding style, Adam Colton’s videography genius, and some Voodoo magic.

For optimal stoke:

1. Play the video
2. Select 720p for higher resolution
3. Expand to full screen (4-arrow button above)

We invite you to share your experience riding a Voodoo OG, Voodoo XL, or Voodoo Doll with a comment below.

Day 1

November 21st was the first day of the 3 race series being held at Overlook Dr. here in ColoRADo. The course is a mellow 25-30 mph featuring three 90 degree corners with a bump or manhole here and there. The format was double elimination which guaranteed AT LEAST 3 heats, which could include anywhere from 4 to 8 racers! The race had a good outcome with 24 racers and some gnarly crashes!

Racing was tight and we had some nice pile ups in the first corner but was over all a great day of racing. We had Joel Putrah coming out on top followed by Calvin Staub, Kawika Omoto and Dirtbag Tom Stetler.

We wanted to keep the groms stoked, so we did things a little different. Instead of giving out a board to the winner, we took the top placing, non-sponsored rider and had him stand in the middle of the road with his eyes closed. All other non-sponsored riders then circled around him while he spun around and picked a rider at random. That rider then did the same and so on until we had 6 riders. The shwag heat was a close one with Handsome Dave winning by INCHES, earning him Ye Olde Cosmic Shred !

Day 2

Photo: Gary Glasser

The second race of the series was a rad day. TONS of crashes and tons of stoke! We had a little over 30 riders show up to battle it out. We had some nice 4-5 man pile ups, some blood and even broken bones!

We had some tight racing and a couple of 8 man heats as well as a chinese downhill for Ye Olde Cosmic Shred. The day went pretty smooth until a crash in the first corner that ended one of the rider’s day with a broken foot.

Photo: Gary Glasser

Everyone else walked away stoked that day with Cooper taking home the Cosmic Shred after pulling his way to the front through the pack of about 20 riders down the 2-lane road. Zak Maytum came out winning the race with Joel Putrah in 2nd, Kawika Omoto in 3rd, and Calvin Staub in 4th.

Day 3

Unfortunately, it was once again a nice day but we did have some water taking up half of one of the corners, so that was a good thing. Today we had almost 40 riders show up. We had some VERY close heats with some trying to take the line through the water! Most pulled it off, but some didn’t.

Justin Dubois surfs to the front of the pack

Justin Dubois blows a stop sign as the cops look on

About halfway through the heats, we had the cops pull up. We thought we were gonna have to shut things down but they actually parked at one of the corners and just wanted to watch us skate.

Sean Fister catches Cooper "Coopin’ out" in front of the popo!

Once again, we ran double elimination and had Zak Maytum winning followed by Joel putrah, Kawika Omoto, and Calvin Staub. After the finals, we had to get everyones placing so we could get their points for the series. This means that we had heats of up to 10 guys! Once we had all the points figured out, we did the prize challenge. We ran a chinese with pushing and pulling VERY encouraged. Do whatever it takes kind of attitude. We had Justin Rouleau come out with a Chalice, but we also had a set of Venom Sidewinders to give away. So for that one, we ran a different kind of chinese. Everyone threw their board in a pile and went across to a parking lot. The only rules were that you had to choose a board that wasn’t yours.

Overall, the series was a huge success. We had Prudential Overall Supply pay out down to 8th place! We had a Loki for the top placing non-sponsored rider, a very stoked David Hanson. Big thanks to Joel Putrah for making this idea a reality as well as Venom and Comet for supporting the Colorado scene!

Overall Results

1. Joel Putrah (Deity Speedboards)
2. Kawika Omoto (Comet skateboards)
3. Calvin Staub (Tactis Racing)
4. zak Maytum (Madrid skateboards)
5. Dave Hanson 26
6. Alex Silva 27
7. Kyle Wester (Skunk tech racing)
8. Justin Dubois (Comet skateboards)

Mac ‘N Cheese On Your Hot Dog from Comet Skateboards on Vimeo .

Thanksgiving is about getting together with family and friends, sharing stories and feasting. What better time to share with your skate buddies, riding the gnarliest roads on the east coast? After our respective family obligations, fellow Comet rider Keith “The Caveman” Rebhorn, Earthwing rider Pat Schep and all around ripper Michael Rubin came to my house in Virginia for a thanksgiving skatecation fueled by left over turkey and stoke.

After waking up earlier than we do for classes or work we headed out to skate some of my favorite runs. It was cold, windy and the pact I’d made with myself to only wear shorts seemed like a bad idea as we got coffee and breakfast at Sheetz. The first run we hit is called the breastworks. At the top of the mountain is a Confederate fortification from the civil war. There’s a beautiful overlook and historical trail as well as a sick right hairpin, doublewide lanes and never ending banked sweepers with a left hairpin to end out the two miles of twists. It’s the perfect run to get close and have a party with your friends on the way down.

After a few hours of skating, mixing it up and narrowly escaping many run ins with cars, even an 18 wheeler, we moved on to a big mountain pass reminiscent of Colorado we call Moredoor. It’s four and a half miles of 9% grade with some of the most massive left hairpins and gnarly never-ending right hand turns I’ve ever seen on a road. Going into these turns at 50mph with trucks and traffic going up the other lane, guard rails and cliffs that drop to the valley below leaves little room for error. The first two hard rights have a big shoulder that’s paved right up to the rock face that are super fun to surf up and under. Our legs were already fried from skating the breastworks and the sun was going down so we only got a few runs in before heading back to make some dinner and hang out but vowing to go back first thing in the morning.

Since we’re poor skaters our meal was mac and cheese, hot dogs and cheap beer, the combination of which gave way to the title of the video. After recapping the day by watching all the footage we recorded, we popped in the horrible classic Thrashin’. If you haven’t seen this movie and skate you’re missing out on one of the best/worst creations of the 80s. The skating is inspiring, the sex scene awkwardly long and the plot and acting lacking anything worthy of mention. The night ended in the early morning, like most skate trips, giving us only a few hours of sleep before going back out to shred.

The second day started groggily with the hour and a half drive back to moredoor. We got through a couple of driving rotations and as the morning turned into afternoon made our way to another run that’s only a mile but gets up to 60mph for the last section. It was weird because this run used to seem really scary because of how fast you hit the sweepers towards the latter half of the hill but after four miles of super gnarly turns at the same speed if not faster it was kind of a bore. We only got in a few runs before Pat and Keith had to start their drive back up to Hoboken, NJ for classes the next day. All in all this was one of my favorite skate weekends ever. Sharing good roads, good vibes, and having good friends over is what makes day-to-day life worth living.

and here’s links to the mac n cheese video as well as a raw run on the breastworks: http://vimeo.com/8300138 http://vimeo.com/7911455

One year ago, JP Kaloi from Hawaii / Rado, requested that we shape him a Voodoo with 1” extra width, length, and wheelbase. Hundreds people are ripping that creation called the Voodoo XL as a result of that collaboration. A year later we are going the other direction and bringing you the Voodoo Doll at 36 inches.

Several months ago, Comet HQ started getting reports from our close friends in both Northern and Southern California, that they were all cutting their Voodoos down to 34-36 inches and skating what they skate: Sweet round roads of goodness.

It became apparent that something needed to be done about this when people started ordering "short voodoos", "short symmetrical voodoos", "chopped voodoos", etc. through the notes section in our Webstore, emailing us, Silverfish IMs, blog posts, Facebook, telegraph, or whatever way they could, to get what they were looking for: A nimble topmount for speed and control.

Skateboarding is evolving at a fast pace right now. The classic chain of mutation, adaptation, evolution is in full force at super speed. The convergence of like minds into receptive portals is possible beyond any time since our species practiced telekinesis and telepathy naturally.

The pictures and words below tell the story of geology, gravity, and our powerful quest to create the perfect tools for navigating them with pure stoke.

Back in April of 2009, Adam Colton emailed us that he was looking for something to throw controlled slides at high speeds any which way he was feelin while Loaded R&Ded their speed board. We traded some wheels for a Voodoo and FSM and it was on. I have never met Adam nor have I heard his voice. We communicate through zeros, ones, sand, satellites and commonwealth airspace.

Adam introduced me to Dustin Hampton through our future primitive post modern connection and Dustin introduced me to Pete Eubank. Finally, there was a small cluster of Comet Voodoo hot rodders in Southern California customizing, chopping, and shredding.

Add to that mix Otang shredder Kyle Chin customizing an 06 carbon fiber Voodoo and the southern California Voodoo hive was buzzing. Simultaneously, the action was on with NorCal Comet riders Davis Vannasing and Liam Morgan and Chip Wood up in Washington along the same chain of months.

Sooner or later it had to happen. Adam sent over the exact dims of his modified Voodoo OG… (36.25 x 9.5 X 28.75 wb) encouraging us to make something and Liam and Davis’ emailed pictures of their 34 x 10.25 x 27 wb boards. FYI, Liam used a compass to draw the rounded tail on his board before cutting it down for all you aspiring shapers .

Finally this week, after 3 surgeries on my right and dominant hand (which is still in a bloody cast since late August) my left hand got down to it and shaped up 3 options for the crew to choose from. All three shapes were based on the dimensions of Voodoos modified by the riders themselves and feedback from 20+ skateboarders.

After much discussion, the co-conspirators gravitated toward A with kiss from B. C will be an option for those of you who would like to try something with symmetry from Comet.

As we all know, the function needs a little form or is it the other way around? Let your lines be drawn and the shredding begin. Go here to see the final board (link on the way). But before you leave watch this tasty video. In closing I would like to give a shout out to Adam C for sharing all of his awesome photography, and ideas and the crew at Loadetang, may the good vibes continue, Kaya Donaj Keys for laying down pen to paper, Arlo and Ira for developing the mad craftsman skills, Liam, Dustin, Pete, Davis, and rest of the Comet crew… that was one hell of an email chain / feedback loop. Live long and prosper!