Video Summary - Adam Colton | 21 Years of Loaded Boards

Summary (Lifestyle, Travel, Health, and Key Moments)

Loaded Boards anniversary / origin-story focus
- The episode celebrates 21 years of Loaded Boards and revisits how the brand and its community-driven culture began.
- Guest Adam Colton shares memories from the early days—especially around skateboarding/longboarding videos, trips, and board design.

Adam lives in Loveland, Colorado (Northern Colorado), near the mountains.
- Ski resorts are roughly ~1.5 hours away (traffic-dependent for farther I-70 areas).
He currently prefers outdoor activities over frequent snow sports:
- Pickleball during weekdays
- Mountain biking on weekends
Health routine mentioned:
- Consistent stretching to stay mobile and strong (pickleball is described as intense for legs/hips/back).
Snow sports:
- They haven’t been snowboarding regularly for ~6–7 years, though it may return in the future.

Powder/Utah snowboarding memories
- A Powder Mountain story includes a brutal effort getting up after a fall, then skating “off piste” with friends.
- Later, they shifted away from snow sports.
Peru + Bolivia as the toughest longboard travel
- Adam calls the hardest trip Peru and Bolivia, mainly due to terrain and rainy-season conditions:
  - wet, difficult mountain passes
  - long bouts of diarrhea (“for like a month straight”)
  - pushing up hills while dealing with the conditions
Uruguay/Argentina “grand reveal” prank
- Someone planned to appear at an event in Uruguay “as if from skating the full route,” but only a few people knew the truth.
- Adam says the crowd believed he truly arrived point-to-point because he showed up in the same “destroyed” clothes.
Many international culture + stoke trips
- Repeated mentions include China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.
- Philippines, including:
  - Siquijor island
  - downhill races
  - dancing
  - hammock sleeping (Adam found it too hot/uncomfortable)
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: a large gathering (hundreds of people) with fans/attendees focused on Adam.
- Mexico, including Sayulita / San Pancho sessions and a Punta Mita-style luxury stay with a private beach.

The group recalls how early longboard/trick-tip videos helped grow the scene.
They discuss key milestones:
- Being among the first skate companies to post videos to YouTube around 2005–2006
- Video turnaround schedules of about 4–6 weeks per release (in that era)
Production upgrades and setbacks:
- Adam got a Canon 7D DSLR and produced fast, high-quality follow-up videos (e.g., “Let Go”).
- A camera theft in Venice Beach is also mentioned.

Adam previously paraglided/speed-flew (“flew”) and took an SIV course:
- training focused on recovering from mistakes by intentionally simulating wing problems
After an accident, he kept flying for another ~2 years, then stopped partly due to:
- inconsistent local flying conditions (hard to fly reliably)
- preferring mountain biking as a more convenient routine

Adam traces the origin chain of “dancing” to earlier influence:
- Inspiration from Chris Chapple doing cross-steps on a longboard (an early catalyst for modern dancing)
Early product development details:
- Adam helped build early boards, including “dancer” and “bhangra” styles.
- A major design challenge was preventing unwanted twisting:
  - they initially tried building boards flat
  - boards still twisted, so they used tiny micro-convex adjustments
  - materials included Baltic birch, and later experimenting with linen off-cuts for certain builds
Dancer board:
- Initially expensive/hard to produce (super heavy and long), so it didn’t sell immediately.
- Despite that, Adam and others believed in the direction because it felt like the start of something bigger.
Bhangra board:
- Described as an early, more contemporary dancing board.
- Adam was given a blank Bhangra and encouraged to try it because it would work better.

A recurring theme is that Loaded’s success came from organic stoke, not forced marketing.
Their approach emphasized:
- experimentation (“what if we do this?” / “freaking do it”)
- giving back through community challenges/prizes (a challenge series is mentioned)
- building a culture where skateboarding is treated seriously as a skill—without being socially heavy or ego-driven

Loveland, Colorado
Powder Mountain (Utah); Steamboat (Colorado); Bishop, CA (and Highway 395)
Santa Monica / Beverly Hills / LA River area (various shooting memories)
Lost Coast / remote Oregon region (as a destination context)
Peru + Bolivia
Uruguay (Montevideo); Buenos Aires (Argentina)
China, Korea, Taiwan (including the Great Wall of China)
Philippines (including Siquijor and Cebu/Cebu province references)
Mexico (Sayulita, San Pancho, Punta Mita / Punta Monterrey-type stay)
Venice Beach, California (camera theft)

Loaded Boards (and video series like Fly Loaded, Together Loaded, Let Go)
Push Industries (Adam now works for mountain bike suspension; USA-made, Loveland, custom shocks)
Board models/styles: Vanguard, Dancer, Bhangra
Cameras: Canon 7D (also Canon 5D)
Wheels/old board references: Flash and a “durian” naming story

Adam Colton (guest)
Ari Chmiel (host)
Don Tashman, Pablo Castro
Chris Chapple (cross-stepping inspiration)
Longboard Larry
Darren, Travis Pard, Kyle Chin, James Kelly, Louie, Kevin Reimer, Paul, Aaron
Session/community mentions: Doc, Loftfi/Lotfi, Stikowski, and other “Loaded community” contributors