Quick Crew Update: Skate[Slate] Philippines

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Skate Slate has assembled an epic crew of the top riders and are rippin through the Philippines with Jon Huey on Photo and Brian Cortright on Video.

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The Visayan Longboard Trilogy and the Philippines downhill scene have had a rich tradition for a long time. Add in some tropical chill vibes and the more recent addition of the Super Mango Clinic and there’s a series of events and gatherings now calling riders that can take the heat, respect the vibes and enjoy the locals on a magical journey in a very special land. Skate Slate has assembled a crew of the best to take trip overseas and take it all in.

Right now, James Kelly, William Royce, Levi Green, Roger Jones, Liam Morgan, Byron Essert, Brent Dubendorff, Brian Cortright and Jon Huey are riding everything from planes, trains, Jeepney’s, scooters, boats, skateboards and who knows what else across the region. I hit them up on Facebook for some photos and field reports to check in on what’s going down.

Jon Huey – @honjuey

The struggle is real. Road rash, sunburn, heat, hearding kittens, extreme heat and humidity, painfully slow wifi. We are taking turns borrowing wifi. No three prong in Phillipines for the laptop charging. Got an adapter that Chubbs and I are sharing. My external hd is broke so we are going to find electronics store to buy a new one. We will be trying to send photos once I upload and go through. We are on the move and sweating tho. It will happen soon!

Liam Morgan – @liam_lbdr_

We spent the last few days out on Siquijor Island for the first leg of the VLT. Couldn’t get any better than camping right on the beach in hammocks with hundreds of other stoked locals. Everyone just hanging out, eating, drinking, and skating together. Very family style. There was two events; a free ride on a super sick steep hill with perfect pavement and tons of corners and a race on a full grip pretty quick hill. Both were rad and especially rad to ride with all the local Filipinos who were beyond stoked to all be skating together. And to top it off, skating was separated by cliff jumps, waterfalls, flesh eating fish pedicures, beach chillin, waterfront bars and delicious local food. Now we are on our way to the next event in Oslob, which is supposed to be equally as epic.

William Royce – @williamroyce

Here is what I experienced so far, everyone got off the flight with major jet lag. We all immediately headed for the beach. Hoping the water and some drinks would cure our travel hangover waiting on the last of the crew to arrive. The house we stayed at had a concrete mini ramp so we skated that most of the day till it was time to get on the boat and sail to Siquijor. Once we arrived it was paradise, camping on white sand beaches over 200 people sleeping in hammocks every night and of course solid skating for 3 days. First day was a team race 4 on 4. Two international people and two locals so 8 man race heats on a mellow but fun short maryhill like course. Finals came down to the girls team and Dubes against Liam and Rogers team. Did I mention that the hospitality here is like I have never seen before? Everyone wants to say hi, ask where you are from and just generally meet you. No negative vibes whatsoever. After we got done racing the last day was a freeride on a extremely fun and challenging 1km long track. The top is super turny not giving you much chance to collect yourself before your have to slide again. Then it speeds up into a long windy tucking area. Lots of spectators from locals to skaters all watching the fun.

We also all rented scooters and most of us managed to wreck them in one way or another. But when we pulled the wrecked bikes back to the place they only wanted $20 for the damage so the good vibes continued on to the ferry and off the island as we sat on the roof of the ferry watching the sunset off to another island and another new adventure.

James Kelly – @jameskelly_shm

“We have an awesome crew here in the Philippines! We’ve been racing, hanging beach side, staking clips, and jumping waterfalls to list a few of the fun times. We just finished the first leg of the VLT race circuit that took place on Siquijor island. Now we’re Island hopping and staking clips for the SkateSlate article before the Mango clinic hosted by Patrick. We’ve seen some awesome sunsets and met amazing people, thanks to everyone that made this trip possible.

Brian Cortright – @chubbaluv

We’re all taking turns on wifi to get stuff uploaded

Definitely good times

Lots of sun and adventures

Probably stacked close to a 100 gigs of footy so far. Mostly lifestyle

Got a good stack of skating clips yesterday though.

We’ll keep the clips stacking

We’re supposed to be going to the best hill of the trip tomorrow

Next year get yourself a ticket too

I’m definitely coming back one way or another next year

Much love to these brands for making the trip happen! @timeshipracing @divinewheelco @bustinboards @arborskateboards @calibertrucks @skatebloodorange @abec11wheels @jetskateboards @liquidtrucks @thesewheels @powellperalta @aeratrucks @radesigns

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