Written By Gerhard Nel & Stuart Barnard On the 5th and 6th May, the annual High Rising XDH event was held at the Houwteq Science Complex, Houw Hoek. The course is one of the shortest on the South African racing circuit, but what it lacks in distance it more than makes up for in technical difficulty and notoriety. First impression immediately after the initial push-off with a sharp right-hand 90 degree corner. This is  [ Read More ]

  Gerhard Nel intervies Mike Upham: Mike Upham is a pretty underrated skater. A formidable street skater, his images have graced the pages of the (now extinct) Blunt Magazine more than once. Mike jumped on the scene a while ago, and his original prawn-like style, fast, low tuck, loooooong slides and skills on the jump ramp soon started turning heads. Now that the intro is over, it’s an honour for  [ Read More ]

The 2012 range of Lush longboards is now available in South Africa. Lush Longboards Ltd is a company based in the UK with over 10 years experience in longboard manufacturing. Their expertise realy shows in their latest range. Rocker Concave, Camber Profile, multiple wheelbase options on top-mounts and drop-through decks, X-Flex and 4X construction are just a few of the tech specs that these boards feature. Finished off with Chrome Graphics by  [ Read More ]

A fresh shipment of Cult Wheels has just landed in South Africa and they are ready to be shredded. To witness that feeling of laying that sweet Cult urethane on a street near you, join The Cult now.  Cult Traction Beams – The ultimate in speed and traction. Cult Gamma Rays – Grippy gripness. Cult Death Rays – The wheel that reads minds. Cult Classics – Mystical freeride wheels. Available in  [ Read More ]

Gerhard “Steeze Pony” Nel interviews Paul “The Pope” Du Plessis I should write an awesome intro about my friend Paul. I should tell you about his backflips, high IQ or big-ass toesides. I should tell you about how he single-handedly “invented” the modern standup slide (or powerslide, if you are one of those skate everything puritans) for us South Africans. I should tell you about Paul’s serious cross-stepping skills, which  [ Read More ]

We are very excited with the new shipment from Sabre. We have the Raw/Silver Gravity Cast 190mm trucks from Sabre that we have all grown to love and are even more amped to stock the Hollow/White 190mm trucks with their hollow lightweight kingpin. Sabre trucks are super stable at high speeds yet at low speeds they are still quite turny. They are a top class all round truck. Freeride or  [ Read More ]

Congratulations to Gerhard on his new sponsorship with Lush! Read the interview on the Lush Longboards Blog. Lush: Here’s Gerhard, the newest member of the Lush family and our representative in South Africa, the aptly nicknamed “Steezepony,” likes to core wheels, and wishes he had Albatross wings. Lush: If you were a wheel, what size, colour and duro would you be? Gerhard: A 74mm Cult Mystothane Wheel in the Death  [ Read More ]

March is our Birthday month and what better way to celebrate than with a massive sale? Get25% off all First Nature brands until 31March, while stocks last. First Nature Brands: Rayne Longboards Lush Longboards JET Skateboards Penny Skateboards ABEC 11 Wheels Cult Wheels Sabre Trucks and Bushings Timeship Racing Gloves Biltin Bearings Vicious Grip Triple 8 Safety Gear   Send your orders to orders@firstnature.be. Quote “HAPPYFN” in the subject to qualify  [ Read More ]

Written By: Gerhard Nel Photos By: Anton Joubert If you haven’t raced in Mossel Bay, start filling that piggy bank. Mossel Bay is a sleepy surf-mecca, new to the sport of downhill. Waves Surf Shop, the local surfstore/skatepark, organised the race. Much like the town, the organisers (Sheppie and Co) are on a mellow vibe and new to the sport of downhill. Their experience in organising events, though, made them pass the  [ Read More ]

Witten By: Gerhard Nel Pushing your skateboard is a mission. Pushing your skateboard for 15 kays is agonising. Racing your skateboard over 15 kays in a humid, hot Cape Town, is suicide. The Mega Skop started at the Cape Town Civic Centre and covered the 15km’s to Tableview, along the city’s new NMT lanes (“non-motorised transport” – all the rage). Skateboarding is now legal on these paths. And, as skaters  [ Read More ]