By Cintia Pacchiega
Longboarding may be somewhat like snowboarding or wakeboarding but longboarder riders don''t have water or snow under their feet, but hard, unmovable asphalt.
That means serious injuries can result when longboard riders fall.
Longboards are longer versions of skateboards.
'I cracked my ulna, misplaced all the carpal bones, crushed one of them, pinched all of the nerves, and tore all of my ligaments and muscles in my hand,' said Brad Wilkinson, 22, a UVSC student from Sandy. 'My hand was limp and I couldn''t move it.'
Wilkinson, with experience as a snowboarder, lost control of a borrowed longboard while attempting to ride down a steep hill in Las Vegas during a weekend trip with his friends. The board went out form under him, he said, so he rolled off on his right arm onto the blacktop.
A surgeon performed emergency surgery on Wilkinson''s hand in the early hours of the morning after the accident.
'It was really bad,' Wilkinson said. 'I could''ve lost my hand.'
A long board is a very simple thing, according to the International Longboard Skateboard Association.
'Learn your new tricks in secure spots,' according the association''s Web site. 'Start on flatland and try your first down hills only after you have learned to control your longboard.'
The ILSA also recommends knowing how to stop, especially before reaching high speeds.
'I ended up going about 40 miles an hour,' Wilkinson said. 'I hit speed wobbles and couldn''t control them.'
Wilkinson said he longboards for enjoyment. Other students, however, use the longboard for more practical purposes.
'It''s a mode of transportation to and from campus, and to work sometimes,' said Brad Clark, 24, a senior from British Columbia majoring in psychology.
Clark, who makes his own longboards, has surfed while attending BYU Hawaii and has snowboarded since the age of 14.
Many professional snowboarders and surfers, according to the ILSA, find training off-season with longboards a viable form of practice.
Just like Wilkinson, Clark discovered stopping on a longboard could get tricky.
'When you get to a certain speed it''s risky to try to use your feet as brakes because it can rip you off the board,' he said.
Clark said he cruises around the block to relax, but when he wants more of an adventure to his ride he boards down the hills north of the Provo Temple or in Provo Canyon.
While out on a cruise with a friend this past summer, Clark experienced not being able to stop.
'I saw the entrance to a parking lot at the bottom of a hill,' Clark said, 'I was going to turn to get in.'
At the same time he noticed his friend yelling that he wouldn''t make it because the curb was too high, Clark said.
Clark did what most boarders try to do when crashing. He tucked and rolled.
'I got some acupuncture from the rocks and gravel,' Clark said. 'I didn''t break anything, luckily, just got some holes on my hands and back.'
Wilkinson said his crash hasn''t deterred him from continuing to longboard.
'I just had a bad experience,' Wilkinson said. 'I want to tackle the hill again.'