Lord of the board

When Ultimate Fighting hit the scene in the 1990s, its concept was to answer a long-argued question: Which fighter was not only the best in their respective style (boxing, wrestling, judo, jujitsu, etc.) but the best at incorporating all styles, making them the “ultimate” fighter? At first laughed off as a confusing idea that would cater to an extremely limited fan base, today the Ultimate Fighting Championship is now a multi-million dollar business and considered one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.

It was that basic idea of combined sports and its success that would eventually lead to the creation of a major sports competition whose inaugural tournament is gearing up to take over Ventura.

Now, before you lock up the kids in fear of tribal-tattooed men in boxer briefs pounding each other into bloody submission all week long throughout the city, this event is family-friendly and will focus on the original extreme athletes: surfers, skaters and snowboarders.

Dubbed “Ultimate Boarder,” the competition is essentially an extreme sports triathlon where top stars and promising amateurs of the surfing, skating and snowboarding communities compete to determine who is the best overall boarder.

What sets the Ultimate Boarder apart from, say, the X Games (which is more or less the Olympics of extreme sports) is that never before has anyone attempted to see who is the best overall on all three types of boards in a single contest.

This has long been a debate amongst loyalists of the three sports, and participants are nearly forced by fans and sponsors to claim loyalty to one board. That lack of unity between sports that come from the same culture is one of the motivating reasons for holding the contest, explains Ultimate Boarder founder and CEO, Tim Hoover.

“There’s a real misconception that surfers, skaters and snowboarders are only good at, and should only focus on, one sport,” he says. “We want to help unify the three. Most of the top guys are already involved in another sport but never get to show their talent in it. We want to bring the sports together and create an original event, and in the process a whole new and unique athlete.”

Hoover’s passion for the Ultimate Boarder is unrivaled. The Goleta resident has been working on the concept for the past few years and is ecstatic that it is finally ready to launch.

“Ultimate Boarder is basically a childhood vision,” Hoover says. “I grew up in the Santa Barbara area, and you’d always get into discussions like, who the best surfer is or who the best skater is but the more interesting question was always, who is the best surfer and skater? I also grew up near [Ultimate Fighting Champion] Chuck Liddell, who wrestled at a rival school. I always paid attention to Ultimate Fighting and was intrigued by their blending of the different fighting styles and how popular it was together. My wife and I were talking about it and she wasn’t that interested in Ultimate Fighting, but we were thinking what about other sports that could apply to. What about board sports — a king of the boards?

“I went about doing a lot of research on Iron Man competitions and different triathlons trying to model the concept on that,” he continues. “I trademarked the name three years ago, and at first there was interest in it being a reality show. I spent about a year working on that but it was headed into such a different direction than the original vision I had that I abandoned it and went headfirst into putting this event together exactly how I always saw it: the triathlon of our generation.”

Hoover’s idea became so popular and intriguing to competitors, who can usually only enter one sport, that Ultimate Boarder will feature participants from all over the globe, including South Africa, Norway and Australia.

The competition itself is fairly easy to understand: Fifty different participants will engage in surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding, one sport per day; the point leader after each day will receive a leader jersey a la the Tour de France.

It all starts with a slope-style snowboarding competition April 12 in Lake Tahoe before the athletes travel to Ventura the following day. April 15 is an optional surf practice day, and then, depending on surf conditions (one of the competition’s few drawbacks), the surfing contest will take place on either April 16, 17 or 18 at C Street. The exact date will be announced no later than April 15 on the competition’s Web site, ultimateboarder.com. Lastly, on the afternoon of April 19, the final competition, skateboarding, will take place on a custom-built skate park at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The event is free to attend and will have music, food, vendors and youth activities throughout the day. The award ceremony and crowning of the Ultimate Boarder takes place at 5 p.m.

One exciting aspect of the Ultimate Boarder is its unique mixture of professional and amateur athletes. While fans of the collective sports will recognize names like Winter Olympian and Vans Triple Crown-winning snowboarder Andy Finch, three-time X Games gold medal skateboarder Chris Senn and teenage surf phenomenon John John Florence, Ultimate Boarder also opened slots up to amateurs and locals who, for a fee of $275, can enter and have a chance at a Cinderella win and the instant celebrity that would come with it.

So shouldn’t a major event like Ultimate Boarder, quite frankly, be held somewhere else?

To Hoover’s credit, his commitment to his community outweighed the potential financial gains of holding the event in a larger, more lucrative setting.

“I’m a local.” Hoover says. “There was tremendous amount of interest to hold this contest in places like Orange County, but my goal, beyond the competition, was to support and bring some major finance into the local economy. When I was growing up there was a little less division between Santa Barbara and Ventura, so to me I never saw the towns as separate. The two towns are synonymous when it came to quality surfing and skating, so even though this is an event with international participants and it’s being broadcast all over the world on the Internet, it’s still a grassroots local event put on by a local guy.”

Hoover’s gutsy location decision should bode well for local businesses and the city itself. With Ventura’s fairgrounds located both downtown and on the beach, the city is ripe for an outdoor sports competition. With participants and spectators from around the world expected to attend (organizers are hoping for more than 30,000 throughout the week), hotels, restaurants and bars should be packed, especially with the additional events that Ultimate Boarder is having beyond the competition.

While plans for a free outdoor concert on the final day were scrapped, from there will be a Boarder sponsored nights at several clubs such as Nicholby’s, Jonathan’s, Zoey’s, Hush and Karma Lounge. Performers such as Tyrone Wells, Stacy Clark, Todd Hannigan, Mars Ill, Rey Fresco and local rock legends Raging Arb & the Redheads are slated to appear.

The coinciding event Hoover is most excited about is the Ultimate Boarder Skate Park that is being set up on the 400 block of Main Street on April 18. The event will have a free skating area where kids of all ages can bring their boards and ride alongside pro skaters who will be performing skate demonstrations, along with live music provided by Emilbus, My World and Tripdavon.

If Ultimate Boarder proves anything at all, it’s that the city of Ventura is “on board,” so to speak, when it comes to hosting major events. To close off streets for skate contests and live bands and to help promote a massive skating and surfing competition is pretty impressive.

“We are incredibly excited about this event”, says Kathleen Fitzgerald, director of sales for the Ventura Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We have a great, fabulous, crazy block party set up for Friday night [April 18] on Main Street and there are over 50 businesses that are involved with the promotion who are offering various discounts and services. Our vision for this was we wanted the town to have an Olympic Village or Sundance-type feel to it, where everyone is excited about it and aware it’s happening. We’d love to see the event become an annual happening in Ventura and add more to it every year. We’re not letting Huntington Beach get their hands on this one.”

So while Ventura certainly benefits, what makes contestants from around the world make the trek on their own dime to compete? Honor? Glory? Respect? Perhaps. But undoubtedly the $30,000 first-place prize has to be a big selling point — not to mention the potential celebrity that could come with the big win.

If the event is a runaway success and the Ultimate Boarder becomes in league with the X Games, will Hoover make Ventura the event’s annual home?

“I’d love to see Ultimate Boarder go global with different competitions all over the world,” he says, “but no matter what I hope this is the start of an annual event in Ventura.”   

For updated times, locations and athletes, visit www.ultimateboarder.com. The entire competition will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.reelcomp.com. Admission is free to all events.