Longboarders cruise campus

By Joseph Hollak
The Collegian

Steven Mueller has found a way to go from his car, parked way out in a green student lot, to the door of his first classroom across campus in about two minutes.

Call it surfing, sliding, carving or cruising, Mueller is just one of a growing number of Fresno State students hooked on the on-campus transportation trend of longboarding.

Longboards are similar to typical skateboards but instead of the average length of 31 to 32 inches, longboards range from 34 to as much as 52 inches long. The unusual length of these trendy skateboards hasn’t skidded their popularity, though.

“A lot of people are riding these days because of the trend,” said Mueller, a junior. “I started riding [longboards] because I didn’t want to walk.”

Mueller seems to be a part of a growing trend among Fresno State students looking for an alternative to walking everywhere on campus.

According to Ryan Nessier, manager of Wavelengths SBI, a skateboard and clothing shop in Fresno’s River Park shopping center, longboards are being purchased mostly for image and transportation purposes.

“They’re more stable and more comfortable to ride than the shorter trick or freestyle skateboards,” Nessier said.

As for who’s buying the boards, Nessier said his skate shop is seeing the typical longboard customer as the first-time college student.

“Right before the semester starts, we probably sell five longboards a day,” Nessier said.

A complete, ready-to-ride board package can range from $130 to $165, and guys apparently aren’t the only ones buying.

“I’d say about 25 percent of our sales are to girls,” Nessier said. “And that number seems to be climbing.”

A smoother, quicker, more comfortable way to get across campus may be what initially attracts college students to these concrete surfboards, yet that doesn’t mean boards aren’t without their dangers.

Fresno State sophomore Ryan Tubongbanua, who has been longboard riding for three years, recalls one incident recently on the campus when he ran into a tree to avoid a collision with students who were walking in front of him.

“No one moved out of my way, so I had no choice,” he said.

Tubongbanua was grateful there were no injuries in the crash, including himself and his 50-inch longboard.

Maneuvering through a crowd of people on campus can be the trickiest part for longboard riders.

“The longer the board, the less time you have to react,” according to Nessier. “As the board gets longer, the turning radius increases. If you get into a mess, it’s bail or crash.”

Not everyone is sold on the sidewalk-surfing trend that is increasing in popularity.

Adam Morris, 27, a freestyle skateboarder who skates the Rotary Skatepark in Clovis “multiple days out of the week,” isn’t a fan of the trend at all.

Morris thinks that longboarding is all for the sake of image.

“How do I put this,” Morris said. “Most of the guys I see longboarding are more worried about what they look like.”

Image isn’t everything to the typical longboarder though, according to William Chote.“If I were worried about image and what I looked like I wouldn’t be wearing a heavy backpack that throws off my balance,” said Chote, a sophomore. “Plus I would’ve spent a lot more on my board if I were into impressing people.”

Chote, who can regularly be seen skating to class on the board he bought from Wavelengths SBI this past July, said he would be lost with his longboard. He relies on it to get him home after a long day when his car is acting up and home is a half an hour away.

“I drive a jeep that’s constantly giving me trouble. I need this longboard now,” Chote said.

So while image might be a part of the longboarding phenomenon for some, convenient transportation still seems to be the main attraction for more and more Fresno State students interested in sliding across campus.

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