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The Sector 9 downhill team invades Calgary, Canada for the IGSA World Cup WinSport and takes 1st and 3rd in qualifying and finishing 2nd, 4th, and 6th out of 150 racers.

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The boys over at Wheelbase Mag caught up with Louis recently and managed to squeak out an interview before they all got eggy and bailed to go skate. 

Check out the interview here.: http://www.wheelbasemag.com/features/louis-pilloni-interview/ 

Photo:  Andy Russell

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Video and pictures can only do so much to capture the experience of a road trip. The journey out to the Kimberly Sullivan Challenge was no exception. Running in its 10th year, the ‘Sully’ is a gathering of the downhill community. Incorporating different disciplines of skateboarding, riders are guaranteed to leave the weekend with sore legs. If you’re not exhausted by the end of the weekend, you’re doing it wrong!

Nestled in the eastern corner of British Columbia, Kimberly is the hometown of skateboard innovator Jody Wilcock. With the race running right through the center of town locals can’t help but take notice, and they come out in force to enjoy the event. The Sully was inspired by Coast’s first sanctioned downhill event, ‘Attack of Danger Bay’.

The pilgrimage from Vancouver to Kimberly is all part of the experience. 13 of us loaded up into Bricin ‘Striker’ Lyons, ‘Crib Bomb RV'. With over 100 km of pothole-riddled highway bombing each way, by the time you get to Kimberly you’re already sore with stories to tell. The story I keep sharing was the pitch black, potholed bomb, in pouring rain at 90 km/h.

To give a quick rundown of the weekend, the festival starts off with the “Clydesdales Push Race”. Participants are required to skate 16km while drinking 10 adult beverages. Some are in it just for the booze cruise, while it seems some actually train for this event. The day ends with a ‘bush party’, backed up by The Bowl Smoker Death Race and Jam the following morning.  Then again followed by another ‘bush party’.  Then the actual race at 2pm... and then another bush party. You get the drift; skate, party, repeat.

You either love or hate Jody’s race but either way it’s always entertaining. With a 8 man, slow, one push start that leads into an adrenaline pumping rough ally ride through the center of town, it’s hard not to come out smiling. Racing was tough but I was stoked to make it to the finals. – Louis Pilloni

Louis battling it out in the Semi-Finals.

Danny Connor holding it down for 'Merica.

Here is a quick run down the course with Louis Pilloni:

Raw Run: Sullivan Challange from SkateHouseMedia.com on Vimeo.

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This is an old video but still a classic. Enjoy!

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Friday afternoon Louis tags me in a post on facebook.

I get online and check it out and its details for some outlaw race in LA that was meant to be only 20 minutes away from the skate house and on the next morning. He said it was meant to be some small low-key thing on a cool little street in the suburbs, we watch thevideo of the track and figure it should be fun and decide to hit it up.

Saturday morning we show up and say g’day to the 20 something stoked kids and locals that had gathered, and not before long it became apparent that word had spread about this little gathering. One by one some familiar faces started to show up, such as Mischo Erban, Zak Maytum (Aka Roger Beaumont), Max Capps, Danny Conner, Tim Del Rosario, and a whole bunch of other So-Cal shredders. It was a pretty solid turn-out for such a low-key gathering.

The hill was pretty fun for a road tucked away in the middle of LA. It wasn’t super fast but offered left-right sweeper combinations before hitting left hand hair-pins, and then repeat. There was a lot of flow on this track and the pavement was nice and smooth.

Frankie Obregon, the young fella who decided to throw the event together got things under control with spotters at the bottom with radios to help control traffic, and the area was nice and quiet with friendly locals so that helped a lot with being able to run a closed road.

The event was pretty laid back, which gave it a pretty sweet vibe. Everyone was chilling out, taking a few practice runs here and there and feeling the style of the hill, and once it was decided there were enough riders present to compete racing got underway. Heats were thrown together in no particular order, whoever decided to jump into a heat just jumped in and away we went.

It was a simple elimination system with no ‘tree’ or race-bracket, everyone kind of figured out if you didn’t come first or second you were out of the race, but still stoked to hang around shredding the hill and sinking some cold refreshments.

There were some pretty solid heats throughout the day, I had some fun riding with Louis and some other LA locals, but once there were only a few of us left it just got nice and rowdy.

Semi finals saw Max Capps, Roger Beaumont (Zak), Peter Eubank,Louis and myself. We all pushed off pretty solid and went into the first corner section as a tight grid. Whoever was on the inside dived in and elbows were out, shoulders bumping super rowdy style. The lead was swapped a few times and eventually Zak and Max crashed themselves out and Louis and I made it onto the finals, which also consisted of Tim Del Rosario and Daniel who was shredding all day in his first ever race!

Once again it was a tight start with us bunched up into the first corner, but Louis and I got a bit further ahead and played tag down the rest of the hill. I snaked the lead at one point but then lost speed in a corner and Louis managed to sneak by, and held it all the way to the finish with me tight on the trail.

Really stoked on such a fun day and a rad little event. Major props to all the supporting companieswho threw down some schwag to be given out to all the groms and newbies!

Frankie did a great job getting everyone together and putting on the show, there were smiles all around and the locals seemed to really be into it. Keep up the good work Frankie!

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Congratulations to Sector 9 riders, Louis Pilloni and George Mackenzie, on their 2nd and 7th place finish at the Whistler Skateboard Festival. With over 100 racers and 2,000 spectators, this first year event hit the ground running and is not looking to slow down. To read more on the event check out the Whistler Question Article

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The Sector 9 Downhill Division is up in Vancouver, British Columbia for the Whistler Downhill Festival this coming weekend. Even though it's raining, they are making the best of it sliding around the wet patches in Deep Cove and riding some motocycles in the Sand Pits. Keep an eye out for the next S9 Look Book to see the whole scoop. Photos by Jeff Budro

From left to right: Scott Smith, Louis Pilloni, George Mackenzie, and Gabe Gwynne.

Ozzie Gabe hanging on around a fun left.

G-Mack hitting some chunder trying to power through.

Overcast but nice out.

Scoot dropping through a waterfall right.

Louis swinging a little wide to get around George.

George turning up some sand in the pits.

North Vancouver Loc and S9er, Steve Lange, throwing a fatty no-footer.

The crew is piled into the van and heading north towards Whistler. While some dry weather would be nice, rain or shine the team is ready to throw down.

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The Maryhill Freeride is what skateboarding is about. Endless skating with friends at a timeless location. It may not be the most intense hill, but when you throw 100 plus skater down at once your heart is sure to start beating fast. Being the stand up guy he is, King Maryhill Rat, Dean Ozuna, took the surplus cash from the event and put it towards helicopter flight time. It’s nice to see an event at Maryhill where the event perks grow with the rising number of skaters. Special thanks to Dean Ozuna, the Maryhill Ratz, and Larson Heli-Ops for making this great event possible. To read more about the Maryhill Freeride but sure to check out Wheelbase’s Whirly Bird Flies article and SkateHouseMedia for the extended video.

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