Congrats to Calvin Staub for his back to back wins in Boa at the Sqaw Peak Outlaw downhill longboard race! Stay tuned for more pics and video!

Calvin Staub of Golden, Colorado raises the GNAR BAR in this Utah Sqaw Peak Longboard race sequence wearing the Boa Lacing System. He sets up at 40 MPH and throws a sick pendy slide right before the hairpin to check speed. Not many riders at this race had that technique down so it gave him a huge advantage since the majority of them had to drag a foot to slow down. Calvin finished first.

Calvin Staub throwing a risky Pendy slide to check speed going into this tight corner

Click here to see the image sequence

This course was super crazy. Three and 1/2 miles long (about 6 minutes of riding) 100 foot cliffs without guardrails, speeds in the mid 50’s going right into a hairpin. The other rider from Colorado missed his line and went off the side of the road at 30 MPH, got ejected and flew through the air five feet off the ground in a backward seated position over a 30 cliff. His legs hit an aspen tree that put him in a helicopter spin and he landed 25 feet down on the side of the hill. He’s OK!

Occasionally — more often than you’d think, actually — an athlete will contact Boa looking for some tailor made footwear for their sport. Count 17-year-old Calvin Staub as one of them. Calvin, who lives in Golden, Colorado, asked us to install the Boa Lacing System on his long-trusted shoes so he could get a leg up on his longboarding competition.

The results speak for themselves. Calvin turned some heads and put the veterans on notice by reaching the podium at the renowned Maryhill Festival of Speed. His accolades: 2nd place Juniors, 2nd fastest qualifying juniors, 14th fastest qualifying time out of 200 Pro riders and 17th overall in the pros.

We took a few minutes to pepper the prodigal Calvin Staub with some questions:

How long have you been longboarding?
I’ve been longboarding for about three years and racing for a little more then a year.

How did this Mary’s Hill Race compare to others? How did the level of competition compare? Maryhill is a really fun course. It’s really turny and you need your wheels to grip all the way down. The competition here was pretty tight. Sense it was a world cup race, all the big names showed up and the heats were stacked! Racing five other people down for about 3 minutes is intense.

What was your average speed on this descent?
Average speeds were about 40-45 mph

How would you describe the course?
Maryhill is super fun. It has awesome blacktop and is mostly turns for about 2 miles.

Our product developers really want to know … honestly … how did the Boa Lacing System perform for you? The Boa system was great. I can get my shoes perfectly dialed in and if I need to adjust during a run, I can easily do it.

How did you first get involved in the sport?
A neighborhood friend got me into longboarding and then later on I started going fast and wanting to race so I met some people and they showed me how.

What are your long-term goals in the sport?
I’d like to continue to race for as long as I can. Also, travel to races in Australia, Europe, and South America.

How old are you?
I’m 17 and I’ll be 18 in November

Whoa. That puts you in high school. What are your post-graduation plans?
I’d like to go to college somewhere, maybe CSU (Colorado State University).

Where can the millions of people who read this blog find more information on the Maryhill race, including race results?
Check out Igsaworldcup.com. They run the race and do write ups every day.

Not sure what the sport is all about? Check out this clip from the 2009 Maryhill Festival of Speed!