Catalina Classic returns

The sound of high-speed skateboards cutting across pavement will fill the air in Avalon this weekend.

For the second year in a row since it was first held 36 years ago, the Rivera Catalina Classic Skateboard Races are coming back to Catalina.

With the overall success of last year’s event, the skateboard races will return May 4 and 5 for a weekend long island skate invasion featuring a 1.2 mile, invitation only downhill race event with a cash purse of $7,500.

The sound of high-speed skateboards cutting across pavement will fill the air in Avalon this weekend.

For the second year in a row since it was first held 36 years ago, the Rivera Catalina Classic Skateboard Races are coming back to Catalina.

With the overall success of last year’s event, the skateboard races will return May 4 and 5 for a weekend long island skate invasion featuring a 1.2 mile, invitation only downhill race event with a cash purse of $7,500.

According to Riviera Skateboards, the event’s main sponsor, the race will take place “with a huge nod of respect to the originals of downhill skating.”

In 1977, a small group of elite downhill skaters took over the city Of Avalon to participate in the original “Catalina Classic.” It included a 250-yard downhill race course tucked in the hills of Avalon, just 26 miles offshore, yet a world away from the rat race just across the channel.

The  hills around Avalon seemed perfect to launch a series of world-class skateboard races. And so they did, drawing a small group of elite downhill skaters that took over the Island to participate in the original Catalina Classic.

While the first Catalina Classic was deemed a success by the standards of the day, it did not seem to have the legs necessary to be continued on an annual basis. However, last year, 35 years later the first set of races, the Catalina Classic was back.

The skaters, along with this event have inspired generations of riders and largely contributed to the lifestyle synonymous with our part of the World.

The festivities will include a weekend-long skateboarding extravaganza featuring downhill skateboarding, ramp ripping and live music.

Spectators are welcome and there is no admission fee to watch the races.

Last year’s races brought a little excitement, nostalgia and a bump in the number of visitors to the Island who spend money within the Island’s local tourist economy. The event also gave an unexpected treat to spectators who were already visiting Catalina, putting a shine on their time spent and ensuring some would be back again some time.

For more information, visit www.catalinaislandclassic.com.