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Recorded April 8, 2018
Sam's Throne in the Ozark National Forest near St. Judea, Arkansas (pronounced Saint Judy by the locals)
My brother went back to Plano this morning leaving me to continue wandering solo. My travel route is done by intuition, no planning, just look at a map and head sort of an easterly direction. Google maps shows a free campground on top of a mountain known as Sam's Throne. The campground, located in the Ozark National Forest with some high bluffs along its perimeter, is primitive with no amenities except for some vault toilets. The area has some panoramic viewpoints of the valleys below along its hiking trails that wander along the top of the shear steep sandstone bluffs that are great fun for rock climbers.
That afternoon the campground was filling up with quite a few young people that I assumed were intending to rock climb. They were walking past my campsite heading towards the road that leads up the mountain from the small community of St. Judea, Arkansas with skateboards in tow. I discovered they were longboard skateboarders and were going to do a practice run for a race that was taking place tomorrow morning. They told me spectators were welcome and said to show up at a staging area near the bottom of the run. I'd only heard about the sport and was very excited to he able to witness it in person for the first time.
The next morning I drove down to where the entrants and friends were meeting at the only pull out big enough to barely hold twenty vehicles. Everyone there was either a skateboarder, a friend or a family member, so I felt like I'd crashed a private members only gathering. Everyone was very welcoming though when they found out I was there as a happenstance spectator. By the license plates on the vehicles there were competitors from Florida, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, New York, Colorado and of course the home state of Arkansas. Around 50 skaters were in attendance, but only about 30 were actually entered in the race. The ones not entered in the race were allowed to do the practice runs for a fee. Prize money was awarded to the top 4 finishers. The winner had an appropriate name, Chase Hiller.
The year before the race was held in a different location known as "The Frack," near Clinton, Arkansas. Evidently this year's event was to be held there again and had to be moved to this clandestine location because of some last minute permitting problem. Thankfully the sheriff didn't show up here until the race was completed or the authorities would have prevented it from taking place as well. Seems longboard skateboarding venues are not easy to organize legally and they had already had this place for a back up just in case something went wrong. Interestingly I couldn't find any mention or news about this year's event on the internet except for this preview article about how this would be the second annual Race at the Frack. https://www.fayettevilleflyer.com/2018/02/15/race-at-the-frack-event-to-celebrate-downhill-longboarding-in-arkansas-april-7-8/
This definitely is a dangerous sport that no doubt can result in some serious injuries. I did notice a young man in a wheelchair at the event, that was paralyzed from the waist down, caused by a longboarding accident. He came up with the location and was the organizer for "The Frack." Fortunately no serious injuries occurred at this race except for some road rash on a few behinds.
Peace, love, and vanarchy,
Chris Greyson
The Wandering Voluntaryist
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