We asked Dave Price, Landyachtz international account manager, the questions you were wondering about.
Could you briefly introduce yourself to us? Where were you born and what are you doing as a profession?
Dave: Hi, my name is Dave Price. I was born in San Francisco, California, USA and have lived in British Columbia, Canada for almost ten years now. For the past 8 years, I have worked at Landyachtz Longboards. For the past 6 years, I have been the International Sales Manager for Landyachtz. This means that I work with our distribution partners and retailers outside of North America. I get to meet people from all over the world and learn about their local skate scene. Before working at Landyachtz, I worked for Predator Helmets for a few years. I helped them launch the DH6 helmet, the first certified downhill skateboard specific helmet and helped establish Predator in the global longboard/skate market.
What other sports do you do besides longboarding?
Dave: These days I don’t skate much and have retired from racing skateboards. I mostly bike and hike in the summer. I enjoy mountain biking mostly, but also like riding gravel and bikepacking. I live near Whistler, BC so in the winter I spent a lot of time skiing the resort and the backcountry terrain around there.
Can you briefly tell us landyachz's background story, how it all started?
Dave: Landyachtzwas started in 1997 by two friends who met in college, Tom Edstrand and Mike Perrington. They could not find any good cruiser boards locally so they decided to start building their own. They started pressing boards in the Whistler ski racing hut shortly after that. Initially the focus of boards was downhill and racing, as both the owners used to compete in DH racing. As the company evolved and grew, we started to cater to more and more styles of riding.
What influenced you to start the longboarding sport?
Dave: I had a friend in high school who had a longboard, I would try it out during breaks from class and loved it. Growing up in San Francisco, there were a lot of hills to ride but you had to learn how to stop in order to skate them somewhat safely. Shortly after that I met some of the guys who started Comet Skateboards, and they got me into racing. Comet was my first sponsor. I started riding with them and learning to skate fast in the Berkely Hills. Watching the original Gravity and X Games on TV around 2000-2003 inspired me to start longboarding more seriously, I entered my first race in 2003.
We strongly follow your longboard rider such as Billy Bones, whom shoot very entertaining videos. Is there any other longboard rider that you would suggest us to follow?
Dave: There are so many these days, it really depends on what style of skating you like to watch. Since I used to race a lot, I enjoy watching Dane Hanna and Dexter Manning. Diego Poncet is also a very talented racer.
Your brand has been selling in Turkiye for quite a long time. Are there any athletes located in Turkiye that you signed a contract for sponsorships, any athlete that are legally sponsored by Landyachtz?
Dave: We don’t sponsor any Turkish riders at this time. Usually we leave it to our local distributor to find and sponsor local riders. Sometimes we decide to partner directly with a rider, but it can be hard to find the right person, there are so many good skaters out there.
What are your favorite longboard spots to longboard?
Dave: I don’t really skateboard much anymore, but when I was travelling I was lucky enough to skate in some pretty amazing places. Top of the list would probably be Mount Ruapehu on the North Island of New Zealand. Racing Mount Panorama in Bathurst, Australia was also a pretty unique experience. When I lived in New Mexico, we would skate down Sandia Crest road a lot, it was an amazing descent that took about 45 minutes non-stop to skate the entire thing and was an absolute leg burner. Racing the Peryagudes Deluxe Cup in 2012 was also a amazing venue, high up in the French Pyrenee mountains. Travelling to Peru and Columbia in 2013 was also an amazing experience, skating with the locals and skating roads in the Andes at very high elevation(4000m+) with no one around was very special.
What advice do you have for newcomers to longboarding?
Dave: Take it slow, learn to footbrake and slide before committing to any big hills! Mostly have fun, as that is what it is all about. Try lots of different boards so you can get an idea of what style you like.
What is your favorite Longboard move?
Dave: A simple heelslide slash on a bank, easy to do, hard to look good doing it. A boneless or method are classic, timeless tricks.
Which Longboard move was the most challenging for you?
Dave: I never really learned to many tricks, mostly freeriding and downhill is what I was into. I remember when people first starting “pre-drifting” instead of footbraking into corners. That was a steep learning curve for me, especially Toeside pre-drifts. It took me a few years to feel comfortable learning them, especially at high speeds in a race situation where your line choice has to be very dialed.
What is the biggest longboard project that you have ever dreamed of?
Dave: I never really had one big project that I dreamed of. I worked hard, sometimes doing two or three different jobs to save money in order to travel during the summer months to all the races I wanted to attend. Some friends and I years ago thought it would be epic to try to travel to the Himalayas and search for skateable roads in the mountain but it never happened.
To sum it up, what would you like to say to Turk Longboard members about Longboarding?
Dave: To me the best part of longboarding was travelling, meeting new people and using skating as a vehicle for exploring new places and cultures.
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David Price
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Dave Price (@deep_rice)
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