Out Law slide comp

Out Law slide comp - Cape Town

Back in 1965 the South African government forced out all the occupants of the District Six area in Cape Town. The rich fabric of an impoverished but vibrant community was torn to shreds and, still to this day, there hangs a stigma about District Six. That was back in the day, times have changed and generations later have their minds focused on other aspects of life...sliding. The first Out Law slide comp took place at Christiaans St in District Six, a steep road running through open lots that was once part of District Six. The skaters that gathered there on the 4 of May were far from thinking about political wars but more on who is going to be busting out the longest slide or the smoothest skills.

Waking up in the morning to the sound of rain, was not a promising sound. But true to the forecast it rained in the morning and cleared up by the afternoon. This kind of weather keeps the Cape Town masses at home but not the skaters of Cape Town. My morning was occupied with text messages and calls from the usual suspects wanting to know if the comp is still going down. With every answer a yes, the afternoon was set and the comp was on. When I arrived too my surprise there was a row of cars parked in a side street and a small crowd gathered on the side of the road.

There were already skaters busting slides for a photographer from one of the local news papers. But before we could even start the event, the police rocked up. The driver rolled up slowly, stopped, looked at the crowd and switched on the blue lights. Kent went over to chat to the driver, a few minutes later there is a handshake and a friendly smile as the police drove off. We were told we were blocking a government road and all we needed to do was move our cars to another side street. After that the event got underway.

First up was the longest slide. Anton measured out 30, 40 and 50 meter marks with a measuring wheel. Skaters were charging it down the hill in full tuck to get max speed. The Leslie, took it upon himself to be the line judge, making sure all the skaters were sliding from the start point. With the crowd cheering everyone on, the slides were getting close to the 50m mark.

Kent Lingevelt busted out a huge slide that took him all the way to 56.4m, that became the target to beat. As most slides were falling just short of Kent's 56.4m, Tertius Vivier had been charging it from when he arrived, Tertius decided to use Rob Durands 53mm Spitfire wheels. As he flew down the hill coming close to the slide point, the small 53mm 90a wheels sounded like a jet plane. Tertius locked into a slide and cranked down the road. The flat spots getting flatter by the meter and the crowd cheering as he slide by, Kent's face went from been normal to concerned as Tertius came within 100mm of Kent's 56.4m slide.

After Terius's 56.3m slide, all attempts to get to Kent's distance was not happening. The afternoon got colder, the crowd got smaller and the event came to a close. Two local skateboard companies, Project Skateboards and Alpha Longboards, each gave up a deck as prizes. Kent Lingevelt took the top spot with his 56.4m slide, he went home with the winners cash and a Project Speedboard. Due to the freestyle been postponed to another date, Tertius took home the Alpha longboard for busting out his 56.3m slide.

And that was it, the first Out Law slide comp over. The spectators and the skaters were super stoked on the event and everyone is amped for another slide comp to happen. Thanks to the sponsors and all the troopers who braved the cold to make the first Out Law slide comp a success.