Rip City Skates is sponsoring a showing of the documentary Highway Gospel in Portland on December 13th at the Living Room Theater. A coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man dies but once. B.C. renegades race down mountain highways on customized longboards, while a middle-aged skateboarder fights to keep his Ottawa skate park and creaky knees operational. Whether it’s bombing down hills at over 100km per hour, just inches from the ground, or spending 25 years and their life savings to keep competing in the sport they love, these guys are truly devoted — and a little road rash or even open-heart surgery are simply tests for the faithful. What starts out as a gonzo skate movie turns into a surprisingly heartfelt documentary that bears witness to the power of community, dedication and the DIY spirit. With intimate and candid moments that may lead you to think this is a mocumentary, Highway Gospel is a humorous and at times heartbreaking multi-character documentary that strikes an intricate balance between rowdy and insightful while serving as a reminder that heartfelt stories can also be hilarious. Flyer and trailer after the jump.

Best crash vid ever. It’s hard to tell from this still frame, but that’s Ryan Vitale’s downhill run ending abruptly courtesy of the local wildlife during the third annual Buffalo Bill Downhill in Golden, Colorado with no major injuries to either party. [Source: Grind TV] – Thanks to Sarib for the tip.

The cover of Photo News Canada, which should be subtitled “Your source for Canadian photoshopped photography.” Another Seismic sighting. – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Lots of positive things going on at the first all female downhill event at Maryhill, but of course I’ve objectified here on S&A. That’s OK ladies, our readers will enjoy this video from Push Culture News for it’s empowering images of females, and not because they (readers) are pigs.

L.A. is going to ban bombing hills after two recent deaths. This is also bad news for Portland skaters fighting a similar ban in the Zoo Bomb neighborhood, although the ban isn’t an outright skateboard ban. They just want skateboarders to observe the traffic laws like stop signs and speed limits. Really, you can’t blame them for that. Portland’s coalition is asking for the same thing in lieu of an outright ban. The end result is that it will still be illegal to have a speed run downhill. Skateboarders aren’t usually prone to following rules and regulations regarding our useless wooden toys. Serious hill bombing will still happen, but maybe it will keep some of the yahoos away. [Source: “Los Angeles City Council bans skateboard ‘bombing’ after San Pedro deaths” – via the Daily Breeze.]

I’ve been strangely silent on the downhill controversy in Portland, not by design, but through a series of slip ups and dropped balls. Long story short: Some people on a very popular downhill skateboarding (and bike) route in a ritzy are of Portland are trying to get skateboarding banned on their streets because they are allegedly worried about safety, and of course, property damage. Portland has legalized skateboarding on city streets with the exception of a small area downtown. If we allow people to decide willy nilly which streets are OK for skateboarding then we might as well make it all illegal. Downhill activists have been working with the city and the community for a year now trying to make sure skaters follow traffic laws on the hill to avoid having it completely shut down. Video on local PDX news after the jump. – Thanks to Donny for the tip.

The second annual Mt. Tabor Downhill Challenge on Sunday, June 24th. This is sanctioned downhill race in Portland. Big prize money. If I can scrape up the entry fee and it doesn’t rain, you may get to see the Ski-Skate in some open class action. All sorts of fun. The MTDHC is a one day event featuring a downhill skateboard race, slalom race, classic luge (buttboard) race and a mini-bike race. All of the races will be held on SE Resevoir Loop Dr. of Mt. Tabor Park in Portland, Oregon. The winner of the downhill skateboard race will recieve $750 and the winner of the downhill mini-bike race will receive $300. Cash prizes for other classes will be determined later. Awards ceremony and after party will take place at the Mt. Tabor Theater. Entry fee is $60 for downhill classes and $30 for slalom only. Go to Tabordh.com for more info on the event… – Thanks for the heads up from Billy Bones.

Charlie Hales want’s to be the next mayor of Portland, but he’s getting no love from some residents of southwest Portland’s Arlington Heights hills neighborhood, who seem to be looking for a scapegoat. Why? They live on a hill that has become a popular downhill run, and Hales led the charge to make skateboarding legal on Portland streets. Trouble has been brewing for a while, and it seems unavoidable that heads would butt. On the one side you have wealthy, freaked out landowners who are are worried about hitting people and of course, property damage… On the other side you have a contingent of mostly responsible skaters as well as some others who may be not so conscious of the precariousness of the entire situation. The sheer number of people hitting the hills and the laws of probability dictate there will be incidents. The Oregonian briefly touch on both sides of the issue. The most level headed quote so far is from Hales himself actually: “It is not OK for people to bomb down residential streets at high speeds on any conveyance — car, skateboard, whatever,” he said. “We need to address that while still making it legal for people…

Billy Meiners quickly recaps the Mt Tabor Downhill challenge after the jump. Photos by Dabe Alan.

The guys over at Skatehouse Media and Wheelbase Mag have really upped their game when it comes to capturing downhill race coverage. Who would have thought throwing a helicopter into the mix (when not dropping into a mega ramp) would be useful, but for downhill it really is nice. While I was waiting for the video from Maryhill (still above top) to make the final cut, the crew went to another event in Colorado called the Buffalo Bill Downhill. Unfortunately, the helicopter crashed! But fortunately nobody was seriously injured and the whole thing was caught on video and in stills. The two photos in the bottom are credited to Marcus Bandy at Wheelbase. The one on the right is from a preview of the race, while the one on the left is an amazing shot of the helicopter as it is hitting the ground.. After the jump, catch video coverage of the crash and Maryhill footage with absolutely no (helicopter) crashes.