Written by Massimo Bastiotto
Photo by Lloyd Clark
First Nature had a chat with Donovan Tome, winner of the First Timer Award at the High Rising Downhill Xtreme, his story begins like a lot of skaters in the downhill community; with street skating, although Donovan preferred the vert aspect of the sport. One day, he walked into a pawn store where he spotted a longboard for sale and the rest is history. In Donovan’s words, “I bought it, went flying down the closest hill and haven’t stopped fizzing since..”
Photo by Melissa Tome
Downhill skateboarding has evolved so much since its beginning, with the freeride aspect taking off in recent years, Donovan has a passion for downhill. He says “The feeling once you are going really fast and knowing there is no way of pulling out, you have to be 100% committed.” When asked about the ultimate debate between foot braking and pre-drifting, his answer reflects how we all have learnt, “Footbrake: GEEZZ I’ve hurt myself learning..haha.. but I’m coming right now. Pre-drifting: Seeek!!! It’s so much fun and so important unless you like pavements and bushes.” We all draw inspiration from other riders, in Donovan’s opinion, Scott “Scoot” Smith is his international favourite and locally, Richard Dweza. Videos have played an important role in the growth of the sport. Skaters are able to learn new styles and ways to do more technical tricks through videos from all over the world. Donovan puts it really well, “I do enjoy watching online footage from overseas, you get to see the wild sliding and camera work, but the local stuff makes me fizz.”
Photo by Melissa Tome
High Rising 2011 was Donovan’s first race: “The race was so sick, nicely organized and plenty awesome people made the 2 full days of skating a winner – sunburnt tired bruised and cut.” All that was missing were “hot ladies in tiny bikinis and maybe a bit more shade.”
In ending this profile, there is no better way but to use Donovan’s closing line. We asked him, “How would you get SA on the map internationally?” His answer: “I think SA is already a part of the downhill skating scene worldwide. But a couple quality movies made locally in SA would be a great booster too …”