Black, curvy, and wonderfully twisted, Maryhill is one of the most well known downhill skateboarding racetracks in the world. Each year hundreds of skaters flock to Goldendale, Washington for the Maryhill Festival of Speed. A week ago I spoke to Louis down at Sector 9 and he asked if i could get my ass down to Washington to help film the event and hang out with the crew, beer would be provided. I was sold. Day 1/2 - Practice One of the best things about big downhill skateboard races is the awesome crew of people you are constantly surrounded by. Rocking at the bottom of the hill and looking around at the different crews of skaters all here for the same purpose is awesome. Familiar faces grinning at you, beers being shotgunned, Dr Dre crankin' from the Venom van, safety meetings around every corner, it really is nirvana if you want to hang out, skate and have a good time. After finding some fellow unsafe bro's and performing the ritual safety meeting, I grabbed my camera and hiked up towards the upper corners of the track to shoot some pictures. There couldn't be a more perfect road to photograph, the black tarmac contrasts perfectly with the blue sky, golden hay and bright colors of the riders.

Laguna Beach ripper Bryn Jones leading a pack of Norcal fools into a fast left

For those who didn't know, Maryhill includes a bunch of bored laguna groms armed to the teeth with water guns, Roger Jones sends a stream of ice cold water at the stinky poo dreads of Will Royce I stole Jimmy Riha from the hill for a minute on day two, here is what he had to say. "The riding today has been fucking awesome, there's nothing like skating Maryhill with as many as your friends as you can fit into one practice heat. IGSA are known for being dicks when it comes to sending down big packs in practice heats, but at Maryhill this year the level of riding has gotten so good that they are letting 20+ man packs rip down the hill. Shit can get sketchy but hey, that's why we have health insurance. Huge shoutout to the 5 Mile crew and anyone who helped who put together the miniramp, the shit is sick!"

Chance Gaul of the Sector 9 team launches high with some dirty stinkbug steeze on the 5 Mile miniramp

Qualifying - Day 3-4 Qualifying day one AND two were like any qualifying day, ultimate boredom. No point in dragging out two days of sitting around, so I'll get to the point. Dalua set a new track record yesterday afternoon and today Zak Maytum smashed it by a few hundredths of a second. Up in the top five qualifiers were Alex Tongue, Patrick Switzer, Mischo Erban and James Kelly. At the end of day two [today] they ran the King of the Hill shootout. The top ten qualifiers all took a run for the fastest time to take home a fat cash prize. Dalua took home the dollar with a solid time.

Dillon Stephens getting steezy through one of the top corners

Race Day - Day 5 As with any IGSA event, race day started with a LOT of sitting around. Around one the opens started racing and holy shit were the heats stacked. Every first race was filled with fast as fuck riders all with their eyes on the prize. Gnarly tailwinds meant the track was fast with a gnarly headwind into the last corner. The heavier riders were definitely at advantage in the last section of the track. After a day of heated racing and the Junior 1 race being re-run due to a rider dispute, here are the final results; Open; 1st Patrick Switzer 2nd Zak Maytum 3rd Alex Tongue Women’s: 1st Alicia Filback 2nd Rebecca Gemperle 3rd Marisa Nunez Junior 2: 1st Mike Slota 2nd Byron Essert 3rd Greg Kent Junior 1: 1st Ethan Vinog-rad 2nd Oliver Korman 3rd Jack Craddock

Junior 1 winner Ethan Vinog-rad won the first race and looked pretty bummed when they said they were going to re-run it due to a red flag. Luckily, he pulled the same sick pass in the last corner and took first place again, what a legend.

Ozzie Kelly Carter was on fire all day racing in the Juniors, but was unfortunately taken out in a crash in the final heats.

Despite being 5 days long and run by IGSA Maryhill is actually a whole lot of fun, even if you aren't skating. I spent a majority of the time poaching cherries and blackberries from trees all over the hill. I even caught 19 delicious rainbow trout from the little stream next to the campsite, fresh fish every day yo. Skate, Create, Enjoy, Gabe