About

History

Eastside was started in 2003 on the Eastside of Portland, Oregon. A group of local skaters in their early 20’s sought a board that could do it all. Skating downhill in a city park called Mt.Tabor we discovered the joys of rolling smooth on soft wheels to gain speed and grip. As our local hill, this has always been the place for testing out and refining each new model. Back then most boards available on the market were too short to control speeds over 25-30 mph or too long to make sharp inner city turns. Having the feel of a short board combined with the stability of a longboard – the perfect sized board was born with a strong focus on efficient transportation.  Portland native and creator Robin McGuirk headed the company and introduced a line of shorter Eastside longboards made to be more responsive to maneuver quickly through the city. The most famous model from that line was The Tabor. It featured Eastside’s signature board handle and is still around and available today after a dozen plus revisions. In 2005 came the need for speed as the Racing Scene exploded with major events happening like the Maryhill Loops annual summer race and the Canadian circuit of races like the Attack of Danger Bay. We then introduced the Eastside DropBoard made for high speed downhill that suited low angle downhill trucks and large racing wheels. Since then various other downhill and freeride models have been released like the versatile DropKick in 2006 which has evolved into the recent DK DropKick. Also the Blazer in 2013 with and V2 version in 2017 – Blazer V2. And our featured top-mount downhill racing board which is also a freeriding machine the Relic.

We are very proud to have partnered with Daddies Board Shop in 2005 as the first retail shop to carry our boards.  Daddies Board Shop started in 1995 and was the first shop in Portland to carry and introduce longboard skateboards to Portland. Now they are the biggest on-line retail shop for longboards in the world and have been for many years! In addition Muir Skate has been a fan of small skater owned longboard brands and have been supporting them for many years including Eastside since 2013. Check them out online or if you are San Diego, CA.

As a huge supporter of longboarding in the NW, we have sponsored most every event in Oregon and Washington over the years.  We also support many others around the country like the Muir Skate Downhill Disco in San Diego, California and the Ditch Slap event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We also show our love to various Eastside Ambassadors around the globe as far as Australia and here in the states on the East Coast as well.  Our Portland riding team has been formed by some of the most talented and dedicated riders from the Northwest.  Some of them have used us as a stepping stone to become pro and move onto bigger companies such as Billy Meiners, Alex Tongue, and Casey Morrow.

Being around for so long now, we really enjoy continuing to progress the sport, coach and support many riders, and see longboarding steadily growing everywhere!  We encourage anyone who lives or visits Portland to take one of our longboarding Lessons or classes.  We are up at Mt.Tabor most every Wednesday afternoon year round riding with locals and setting up cone courses, special events, and all around good times longboarding!

We host an annual charity event for Oregon Food Bank called the P-Town Throwdown on the last Sunday of May. As the longest running skateboard race that started in 2004, it also celebrates our city’s special city ordinance 20.12.205 allowing skateboarding as a legal form of transportation established in 2000. During this event we ride from Mt.Tabor to Sellwood park in a group of up to 100 riders on a bike route through the Eastside of Portland!

Media Coverage Archive

AMNW-Grab