Mindless Longboards: Mindless Longboards | The Crackling review

Our man James Allen was at The Crackling this weekend. He sent over this writeup:

"The Crackling was a great weekend. We arrived Saturday afternoon with high hopes for the weather to stay nice, as the track was drying and there was little to no rain in sight. So straight away I picked a spot to park my stuff, and joined the queue of other eager skaters ready to sign up, pay up, pad up and skate.

After setting up my board and getting ready, I went for a few freeride runs to familiarise myself with the smooth but grippy terrain we were to be skating for the weekend. I had a couple of good warm up runs, skating with a few familiar faces, and meeting new ones, which is the good thing about these events, meeting people and and skating with pals. But just as everyone had warmed up and was having fun, Hog Hill lived up to its reputation and it started to hail/rain, and didn't stop for at least 2 hours, leaving most people sat inside chatting and eating. A few others embraced the weather and skated the hill anyway, making the most of their time at the hill.

As the day drew to a close, people packed their things and readied themselves for the campsite and the night ahead. I however had the luxury of staying with a couple of pals in a fantastic "Motorcottage" which included a comfortable and dry bed, and a cooked meal to end the day right.

The next morning we woke early to get ourselves up to the hill, ready to set ourselves up for a full day of skating, with full confidence in the weatherman telling us we had a full day of sunshine.

The day started with freeriding, letting those who had signed up to race, practice a few more runs before the racing commenced. Meanwhile, the slalom enthusiasts were setting up and doing their thing but the majority of the action was concentrated on the GS hill where the Slide Jam was being held.

All the skaters, myself included, crowded around Jorge as he bellowed his rules through the megaphone, and generally getting us all stoked, laughing and ready to have fun. As the Jam went on, I noticed the skill of some of the guys was incredible, not only making it tough for everyone up against them, but also for the judges to pick the winners. I felt privileged to be chosen among the 10 finalists, and as we each took our final runs, the crowds cheered and the judges picked their five favourite guys, and they deserved it with such awesome skating. Well done dudes!

After having such a great time on the slide hill, more fun was to be had elsewhere, as we swapped our slide wheels for something with a bit more grip, some headed over to the slalom cones and some to the race hill where the racing was about to begin. I was feeling nervous, since it was my first race, so I drank a whole can of Red Bull right before my heat, which probably wasn't a good idea, but I thought it would help with the nerves. A number of races had gone by, and I was feeling good and ready for my next heat, having done better than I'd expected in my previous two. We lined up, and on go we pushed, and it was a good start for me as I was toward the front of the pack, but as soon as we hit the chicane, another racer and I collided sending us both flying off our boards and then those knocking off the other skaters, leaving just the leader of the pack headed for an easy win. We all got up to race for the finishing line, except the guy I had collided with as he had an injury and unfortunately couldn't finish. Get well soon buddy!

The races carried on for the rest of the afternoon, with minimal injuries thankfully, but lots more fun as the racing dwindled down to the finals with a fast and intense last race to please everybody.

The end of the day consisted of the crazy Mini Moto races, which unfortunately I missed because I forgot to sign up, and then everybody's favourite part, the PRIZES!! Which included lots of scrambling of goodies and the rewards for the winners of the day. These included prizes from Mindless Longboards, Newton's Shred, Octane Sport and so many others.

All in all it was an amazing weekend for everyone.

A BIG thanks goes out to all those involved with putting the event on and

I hope to see you all again soon.

Stay Rad!"

Below are a few pictures of James in action!