A couple of minutes after answering the front door of his home, Kevin Reimer holds up an X-ray of his foot its got about half a dozen screws in it.
But even with a broken ankle, Reimer is in pretty good shape.
At 22 years old, an age where a lot of his peers are struggling to balance a serving job with finishing up their bachelors degrees and deciding what to do next, Reimer has got it all figured out.
His plan? Longboarding.
Im certainly one of the luckiest people Ive ever met, he concedes, somewhat sheepishly, while resting atop a makeshift bed on his back porch.
Reimer, who recently moved to central Lonsdale from Vancouvers west side, has been skateboarding since he was 12, and went pro at 17. Currently hes sponsored by Rayne, a North Vancouver-based longboard manufacturer, and with the exception of his mishap a few weeks ago a freak accident in which he had to jump off his board to avoid a friend who had gotten into his path its been a sweet ride.
Last year, the rider earned a perfect season, winning the International Gravity Sports Associations World Cup Series, comprised of four competitions, and the World Championships for the second time in a row. At his fastest, he can get up to 120 kilometres an hour and still be in control. Its about as impressive as it sounds.
It worked out good, laughs Reimer, his dirty-blond Mohawk flopping lazily to one side.
I just kind of grew with it, and skateboarding started taking care of me more and more.
As easygoing as he seems, theres no doubt that Reimer is serious about his sport, and his ability to perform has captured the respect of young and old longboarders around the globe.
But here at home, it can be a different story.
Longboarding is a form of skateboarding that is typically used for cruising, downhill racing and basic commuting. An average board is about three and a half feet in length, about a foot longer than an average skateboard.
In the past 10 years, the sports popularity has grown exponentially, with competitions being held all over the world including Canada, the United States, Brazil and Australia. Vancouver and the North Shore are particularly appealing because of their hilly nature, but that doesnt mean that longboarders are always welcome here.
I went out in Caulfeild and somebody said, You know, Ill be honest, I paid a lot of money so I dont have to see people like you on my street, recalls Reimer.
He readily admits that the British Properties is one of his favourite spots to skate.
The hills are the best there. Its very low traffic and . . . we can go from the very top, almost at Cypress, to the ocean, he explains.
The only hitch is that skateboarding is banned in West Vancouver except for at the Ambleside and Gleneagles parks which are of little use to longboarders. But according to Reimer, the bylaws havent really stopped anyone.
Theres a short bus that goes up to the British Properties thats supposed to hold 20 or 30 kids and (at times) I cant get on because there are too many skateboarders going up the hill, he says.
West Vancouver police and district staff maintain that bylaws will be upheld, either via education, fines or even impounding boards. And while Reimer and other longboarders feel that there might still be a prejudice against them an old school mentality that all skaters are up to no good officials insist that it simply comes down to public safety.
To say that their concerns are unwarranted would be unfair.
Last year, in the District of North Vancouver, where it is legal to skateboard on streets, a 27-year-old longboarder died on the day before her birthday.
Glenna Evans, a fine arts student at Emily Carr University, was cruising down Mount Seymour Road when she collided with a van after missing a turn. An off-duty trauma nurse and firefighter who happened to be in the area at the time attempted to give her first aid, but they were unable to save her life. Evans was wearing full safety gear at the time.
The accident marked the first longboarding-related death on the North Shore, and its aftermath was as far-reaching as Evans passions. Longboarding aside, she was a talented tattoo artist and illustrator, participated in pyrotechnic theatre and was even part of a bicycle dance performance troupe for a while. Several memorials were held in her honour and an Emily Carr bursary was set up in her name.
I think its sort of a fresh thing in a lot of peoples minds, says Caelan Griffiths, a 30-year-old arts administrator and friend of Evans.
Evans death brought longboarding into the media forefront, and she was sometimes painted as bit of a daredevil something that Griffiths vehemently denies.
She was brave . . . she wasnt brash, he says. It came as a big surprise that the accident could even have occurred.
North Vancouver residents like Ron and June Espin dont want to see a repeat.
Espin, one of many locals that wrote a letter to the North Shore News over longboarding concerns, lives with his wife on Glenview Crescent, a south-facing slope.
He barely finishes describing seeing young riders come down from Mount Royal Boulevard daily, when a trio of them careens by.
Im sure theyre having a lot of fun and I admire their skills and all that sort of jazz, but its dangerous, he explains.
Ive even seen them going down here texting while theyre going down the hill and they dont go slowly, their shirts are rippling.
While the Espins havent had any startling encounters with the longboarders themselves, their friends tell a different tale.
Weve had neighbours come up this hill and nearly hit them. Im just concerned because if someone hits them theyre going to feel so bad, says June, adding the roads tend to be quite bendy.
But she stops short of calling for an outright ban.
We dont want to deprive them of their pleasure but (itd be best) if there was a designated place these kids can go.
From a law-enforcement perspective, longboarding falls into something of a grey area.
Unlike cycling, its not regulated by the provincial Motor Vehicle Act, so the rules vary by municipality.
The District of North Vancouver requires skaters to wear a helmet, keep to the right side of the road, stay upright and remain at a speed less than 50 kilometres per hour failure to do so will result in a $35 fine.
Bylaws are similar in the city, but skateboarders are restricted to using sidewalks instead of roads or be subject to a $50 fine.
But just how effective are those penalties?
Its not a huge incentive for people to stop, says Sgt. Peter DeVries, a spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP.
I think a more proactive and innovative solution would do much better to solve the problem than simply writing more tickets.
The answers dont come easily though. In response to the school of thought that longboarding should be treated the same as cycling something Reimer hopes will happen one day DeVries points out some fundamental differences between the two.
One is a sport. The idea is to go fast, the idea is to take hard corners and its not a utilitarian endeavour, he says.
The way that they ride down the roads is seemingly incompatible with the type of legislation that a cyclist has.
The other big issue DeVries cited, which has been echoed by other officials and residents alike, is the lack of a proper braking system.
They may have ways of slowing down but theyre sub-standard. Theyre not effective or efficient for the purposes of using roadways, he says.
Daniel Pape would beg to differ. The 33-year-old South Surrey longboarder actually supports restricting inexperienced riders from super steep hills, but he strongly believes in education over prohibition. Last summer, Pape set up a School of Riding, under his company Colabo, which is dedicated to promoting longboarding.
One of the main reasons I started the school was to teach them how to stop properly and how to avoid speed wobbles, says Pape.
The kids, aged nine to 15, dressed up in full safety equipment helmets, gloves, kneepads and headed out to Papes safe spots. There, on mellow hills with very little traffic, they practised spotting for each other, braking and falling.
By the end of the week these kids would know how to . . . set up a session in a safe way. Its pretty amazing what happens in five days, says Pape.
He thinks communities like the North Shore should follow suit.
Set up schools through the municipalities and garner some support from the locals to teach these kids how to do it in a safe way rather than saying You just cant do it. Cause thats not going to work.
Looking forward, there are probably many more discussions to be had before the North Shore works out exactly how to embrace longboarding.
Kevin Reimer, for one, is looking forward to that process.
We need action from both the municipalities and the skateboarders and I think were all ready for that, he says.
In the meantime, you can bet that hell be back on his feet and his board with the rest of his buddies just as soon as that ankle heals.
We really know and understand the risks, he says. We know what we do is dangerous, but its just so desirable that we cant not do it.
The District of North Vancouver hosts a public meeting to discuss longboarding on Monday, June 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m., 355 West Queens Rd., North Vancouver.
