Click here if you want to read about the true story of the invention of skullboard.

 

Hello!

Body-boarding for over ten years while living in the Alps, I naturally tried to ride the roads in the same position. In Chamonix, when the road up to the Mt Blanc tunnel was closed, a new playground was opened up to us. In spring, it was snowboarding in the morning and longboarding or skullboarding in the afternoon, sometimes even by night!

I developped several prototypes, each one getting more and more stable while straight-lining at high speed. The real challenge was to be able to place your arms alongside your body without experiencing the infamous "speed wobble".

Riding the open road pushed me to develop a powerful and safe breaking system. Currently breaking is carried out via a wide rubber pad installed under the deck of the board, directly below my centre of gravity. Similarly to Body-boarding, when you want to slow down (to pull into a barrel for example!), the rider just needs to pull on the nose and camber his body in order for the pad come into contact with the road.

Since "the tunnel", thanks to this braking system many new spots are now possible and have been "opened" e.g. the Montets pass, the Cascade road from Passy to Chedde, the D173 at Annecy, Chamrousse, Les 7 Laux, La Forclaz, be it on the French or on the Swiss sides right down to Martigny!

In Spring 2003, I was invited to demo runs in the three main longboard and street-luge events in Europe: Ältbürhon, Kaünertal and Chamrousse. I met many intersting people, who motivated by passion, reminded me of the madness of Faulkner's "Pylones", Mad Max and also the snowboard scene 15 years ago!

Claude GESTA

90 rue Paul Corbin
74190 Passy
FRANCE

Tel: +33 (0)6 85 51 98 12
Drop me a note at: cgesta@hotmail.com.