ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

Great story. That's one sexy board and it does look like something trapped in amber. It has a really nice look.

...I put some of that "Edger" rip tape on it, a full deck, that sort of took the amber part out.

The deck is a bit heavy but way manageable. I've ripped around on it a few times now and I like it. One thing, it being a flat deck, it makes me sort of feel like my center is moved back on the deck. A couple of times I've felt pretty light up front like the front wheels had less grip, not sure I like that. I've got the same set up far as trucks and wedges go that I have on my Roe Unlimited, German Seismic up front flat, TTC in back with a Tracker wedge and Avalons. It just seems that with a flat deck, my weight is farther back.

I'm going to ride it more, I like the full shape and the wheelbase but until I get lots of cones behind me on it, I just won't know. I really like my Roe and that's going to be hard to get past.

On the other hand, I can't think of ever having a board that has so much behind it. I like that and I really enjoy knowing it finally got to see asphalt.

So how does it ride Adam?? Have you had a chance to slalom on it yet?

...put it together as stated and rode it, it will now be used when a hybrid/gs course challenges me.

yeah.

It looks edible! Very cool.

...you are right. This one is going to get ridden.

In 95, Dan Gessmer gave me a set of special milled 110mm hollow axle Seismics especially made for slalom application. I'll use one for a front and a TTC for the rear. I just got the board and have been a little busy with some other projects like adding camber to my PP 36" etc.

Soon it'll have some dings and my idea will have come to reality.

That was funny about the amber...

In the late 70's, I was just getting into surfing and as a inland surfer, I really was stoked to read ANYTHING on surfing. I forget where I saw the magazine but I think it was called "TRACKS" and it was a surfing magazine from Australia. Being an avid enthusiast and looking through this cool mag from far away, I saw an article on Dimitri Milovitch, the founder of the swallowtail snowsurfboard.

At the time, I was skateboarding a lot at the Phoenix metropolitan area pools, hills and skateparks. At "High Roller" in the pro shop was a couple of people who were pretty progressive. The had the insight to order those Sims "Lonnie Toft" snowboards and I bought one. I think they had a total of four or five and I know most of my friends bought them up after I told them about the runs I was taking at Snowbowl and Sunrise. Anyway, after figuring out how cool snowboarding was, I remembered Dimitriji and his swallowtail.

I had a friend at the time who was a draftsman who moved to Salt Lake City. He was one of my skateboarding friends who was really into downhill, ditches and longboard surf style skateboarding. We would do bongs at cul-de-sacs in the foothills of the rich parts of town and then make our runs. Anyway, he was up in Utah and had lucked into Dimitri's crew while skiing at Alta. I told him about my Sims Lonnie Toft and the single fin we put on it and the runs we bombed at Snowbowl and he told us we didn't know shit until we tried a Winterstick. So I had Sandie at Sidewalk Surfer order one, I think the year was 1978.

That winter I visited Greg and he took me to the Winterstick factory and introduced me to Dimitri, the Winterstick Team and I rode the Winterstick half pipe. Winterstick made skateboards and Dimitri also was into slalom skateboards. I talked to him about it and he told me of this "suitcase skateboard" that he was going to make that would allow him to skate in the airport between terminals...

He showed me this cool carbon graphite type foam that he was prototyping for some swallowtails and arced a piece of it that was about three feet long and took it to disintegration. It broke into about 10 pieces of equal size all at once, it was really cool. He gave us two pieces of that foam and some fiberglass cloth to finnish it with.

I took that foam home and shaped a cutaway type blank and skinned it with the cloth that was destined for some roundtail model Wintersticks. I got the thing shaped, flat bottom, rounded rails, glassed up with two layers top and bottom and then before I could see it completed, ended up getting a Turner. My project got sidetracked. My friend Tony Chelowa put my project in his attic where it lay dormant for for 25 years along with the other blank...

Last year, Tony says to me, "Hey Adam, check this out." and hands me my old project. It was totally cool, looking like some sort of cross between a BLACKBIRD and a Roe. I started thinking to myself, "Hmmm" so I gave Gareth Roe a buzzz to see if he wanted to take a look at my project. Gareth received the board and I introduced him to Dimitri, G~D only knows what they talked about as Dimitri is a composite engineer with projects for NASA, Lance Armstrong's Trek and many other cool tools of all sorts of disciplines not to mention one of the FATHER'S OF MODERN SNOWSURFING. Gareth didn't want to ruin the board and I only wanted to see the board finished so I asked Rick Howell if he wanted to take a crack at it.

Gareth sent the board to Rick.

I talked with Rick about it and told him, "Rick, just finish it." and I gave him my weight and flex preference along with the esthetic wants. Rick makes killer slalom boards with a surfy flair and I've always wanted one. I dropped off George Gould at Upland last year where I was skateboarding the newly opened PIPE and I got to meet Rick at Upland and race with him the next day at WLAC. We talked and Rick is a really cool guy.

Anyway.

Rick Howell finished that board that I started some 25 years ago.

I am quite proud to own it having known the hands that it has been.

Now I am after it's sister blank that has not been shaped...

What you see here is a board that has quite a history.