Doing good feels good. It’s scientifically proven. They call it the “Helper’s High”—that release of endorphins that comes when you genuinely connect via an act of kindness. It’s easy to forget in an age where the algorithmic popular narrative drives the wrongs of the world down our brainstems every minute.
I was pondering this thought, and feeling tired, the good kind of tired, as I made the last descent on Vancouver Island, BC’s Highway 4. Kennedy Lake riffled under a warm sunset to my right, a half hour south of the fishing town turned touristic surf destination of Tofino. Having spent three days at Mount Washington, digging and snowboarding under the sun, my face was mildly sunburnt, my body in that place of physical calm which allows one’s mind to wander, an almost meditative state.
Dig day visions, top to bottom.
Kids mixing work and play. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Sarka Pancochova starting her weekend off right. Photos: Aga Iwanicka
Finn Finestone dialed in. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Lead digger Ben Bilocq knows about style. Photos: Aga Iwanicka
Marie-France Roy and JF Pelchat on the tools. JF led the banked slalom dig this year. Photo: Colin Wiseman
I’d just driven past a nondescript stream flowing down to the lake. Years ago, with Redd Fish Restoration Society, we’d planted a few trees to spruce up a piece of salmonid spawning and rearing habitat. Word is, it worked. Soon, I’d pass “A Walk in the Woods,” an easy-access trail which allows folks of all ages and physical capabilities to get a taste of coastal rainforest.
It doesn’t take much to make an impact. A few hours with a few hundred folks can build something real. This is true in ecological restoration, and it was true up at Mount Washington, where a mellow piece of groomed terrain transformed into a legit terrain park and banked slalom in less than 48 hours. A two-sided hip, a QP, a couple of tabletop options, a 40-second-ish snake run, all built together. It was about as good as spring snowboarding gets.
Race day visions, top to bottom, left to right.
Craig Grandfield spraying. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Anne-Fred Grenier double exposed with cedar. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Lot life is a good life. Photos: Colin Wiseman (left) and Aga Iwanicka (right)
Families that shred together, shred together. Gillian, Poppy and Rachel Montgomery. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Course designer JF Pelchat tests his hypothesis. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Michael Hoy all smiles. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Mikey Barton samples the freestyle venue after his race run. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Sunset over Kenneday Lake. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Those few hundred other folks were making this drive alongside me, between legs of the eighth WestCoast Triple Plank—Marie-France Roy and Natalie Langmann’s passion project that takes us from snow to surf and skate in a mildly chaotic, three-day celebration of boardriding. We were migrating from the Island’s east side to its west as part of the gathering that’s become an annual pilgrimage for myself and many others.
Surf heats would start in the morning, then a few hours helping Redd Fish prep trees for planting, then skate, then party. All this to remind us that doing good feels good—that community and camaraderie are alive and well in our little subculture. And of course, to raise money for Ucluelet’s Redd Fish Restoration, an apolitical organization dedicated to rebuilding wildlife habitat that’s been altered by decades of resource extraction, and educating the public about how we all can make a difference.
Surf day scenes, top to bottom.
Plover serenade for an early morning heat. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Neve Abraham times a section en route to the surf podium. Photo: Erin Hogue
The mułaa Rising Tide Surf Team aims to reconnect Indigenous youth with their home land. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Lauren Taaffe on the nose. Photo: Erin Hogue
Patagonia offered free wetsuit repair to keep suits in the water and out of the landfill. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Colin Duncan finds a clean one. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Prepping trees for planting with Redd Fish Restoration Society. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Is it weird to feel nostalgia for something less than a decade past? I don’t think so. There’s a familial element to this event, a true sense of community, culture, and shared meaning that can only come from not only boarding and partying together, but also rallying around a righteous cause. We’ve already begun to watch a few folks grow up within this camaraderie. Eight-year-old Poppy Montgomery, for example, was already on her fourth Triple Plank. And she was shredding. So were all the next-gen girls. Their skate heats were my favorite of the event—fearless and dialed in. See Westerly Wyton’s blunt in the deep end for example A.
We were blessed with sunshine—perfect, soft conditions for digging and boarding and riding an old yellow triple chair at Mount Washington. Add decent swell at Cox Bay and a beautiful afternoon at the Tuff City Skate Park, and the rippers were ripping. Young and old, women and men, momentum incarnate, bonding over boarding and raising more than $30,000 to help Redd Fish, mułaa and Surfrider keep doing their impactful work for generations to come.
And it felt good. Really, really good.
Sunday was for skate, then party. Top to bottom, left to right.
Barefoot bandit. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Kevin Sansalone and Maria Thomsen. Photos: Aga Iwanicka
Westerly Wyton and Rick McCrank. Photos: Colin Wiseman (left) and Erin Hogue (right)
This year's youngest competitor, Bowie Bertranc, happy to finish his heat. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Ucluelet's own Halibut Cowboys. Photo: Colin Wiseman
Women's trifecta podium, including champ Sarka Pancochova. Photo: Aga Iwanicka
Michael Hoy, crowd favorite, Men's trifecta champ. Photo: Aga Iwanicka
A huge thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors who make this event happen, and especially to Natalie Langmann who works tirelessly behind the scenes for months on end, as well as Claudia LB.
We would also like to acknowledge that the banked slalom of the WestCoast Triple Plank is held on the traditional territory of the K’ómoks First Nations in the mountains of the Pentl'ach, E'iksan, Sahtloot and Sasitla people. The surfing and skateboarding components are held on the traditional territory of the ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht) First Nation of the Nuučaanuł (Nuu-chah-nulth) Nations.