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Stillwater Area High School
5701 Stillwater Blvd. N.
Stillwater, MN 55082

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  The Pony Express is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Mara Jezior
Online Editor-in-Chief

"First of all, longboarding has been stereotyped as a sport,
but I’d like to say that it is a lifestyle. What it takes to be a
good longboarder is commitment to the lifestyle, passion and
 an open mind for trying new things," said junior Adam Ostlund.

For a few students at Stillwater Area High School, longboarding is a
beloved pastime. After a long day at school, stress flies away with
the breeze when one steps onto his or her longboard.

Junior Taylor Sly said, "I have to do it every day or else I go
through withdrawal."

Sly and some of his closest friends began longboarding during the
summer between ninth and tenth grade. It started with a couple of
them buying boards and soon the trend caught on. Since many of
 them did not have their licenses yet, longboarding was a way to get around.

"It’s transportation, it’s relaxing, it’s cheap," Sly added. "With snowboarding and skiing you have to pay forty bucks every time you go but with longboarding, all you need is a road."

Longboarding was made popular in surfer culture by bringing the surfboard from water to land.

"It moves like a snowboard, it’s got a design like a surfboard and it’s got wheels like a skateboard," said junior Dom Friedlein.

Junior Zach Langer started out skateboarding, but the origins of skateboarding brought him back to longboarding. While skateboards are used many times for tricks, there are many different types of longboarding. According to Langer, tricks are only a minor aspect of longboarding.

"Skateboards are all the same shape; longboards are all different shapes and sizes. The style of your longboard is based on the type of longboarding you want to do," said Langer.

The varied techniques of longboarding include downhill, sliding, commuting, long distance and dancing.
In order to dance, junior Alec DiLorenzo said, "You can go up and down on the board as you are going. It takes a lot of practice to get dancing down. When your motions are smooth, it looks cool. This year, I’m decent at dancing. I’m a little shaky but I am getting it down."

For many, longboarding is seen as a stress reliever and a fun activity to do on warm summer days. For these friends though, longboarding is the glue that has kept their friendships strong.

Junior Tony Yorga said, "Some people get really mad at us. Other times people stop, watch and cheer us on because they think it is so cool that a bunch of friends got together and did this instead of playing videogames."