This weekend the Case Western Longboard Club hosted its first ever Tarp Surf. They took over the basketball courts behind Denny’s All Nighter on the north side of campus. A gigantic blue turf spanned the width of the courts, and longboards laid around in every corner. A few of the longboard club’s members were hurriedly setting up and getting ready to have the event of the semester.

Here is how it worked: As each longboarder got primed to go across the tarp, one person would grab a corner and start to run across the court to make the blue fabric simulate the appearance of a wave. Riders would occasionally stick their hands out into the wave as they glided across its surface. The wind would flow through the tarp, making it seem even more like an actual wave. Occasionally the wind would add some humor into the longboarders skate since the wind would force the wave to collapse in on the rider. All in all, this idea is a fairly ingenious way of adding another layer of fun to the already entertaining sport of longboarding.

Non-club members even had a good amount of fun. Throughout the time of the event, most of the people who walked by on their way to SI sessions, lunch and other events would peer over at the basketball courts with piqued interest. A fair amount of people decided to give the tarp surf a try and enjoyed their experience incredibly thoroughly. Shouts of “That was awesome!” and “Woah that was cool!” were heard almost every time.

The Longboard Club purchased the tarp to consistently host the Tarp Surf every year during the fall semester. This pairs with their Hangout event in the spring semester.