I’m going to be honest, I hadn’t left the greater Los Angeles area for quite some time. I guess when you get wrapped up in all the happenings of your day to day, it’s easy to forget about stepping out of the proverbial pool for a minute. Your mind begins to prune like your finger tips after forty-five minutes in a hot tub. So when I was asked to be apart of this project, I jumped at the opportunity. I mean who in the right mind would turn down a skate adventure into a region known as “The Lost Coast”? One of the most remote and  heavily wooded regions in Northern California. A mystical place of epic proportions where the cold, dark waters of the Pacific meet the towering giants of the forest. The collision of two mighty forces of nature. The location alone sounded like it had all the makings of a blockbuster movie. Massive trees the size of ten story buildings, lush forests teaming with wildlife, rolling green alpine meadows, jagged ocean outcroppings, violent thundering surf, and an adventure of which the likes I’ll never forget.

I could go on and on about the breathe taking beauty of the place. The majesty of it all. I could make mention of the mind bending skating. The skill and abilities of both Adam Colton and Adam Stokowski in regards to capturing and presenting it all. The trip dialogue, the thousand and one little instances of stoke. The vibes, the equipment, the dead car, the attractive female park ranger, the birds, the bees, and everything in between. Take this video for what you will. Some will inevitably see it merely as advertisement for a skate company, a new product, a new board. But what I’m hoping is that the majority will see past the promotion and really appreciate the symbiotic relationship that is formed when you take a sport as natural and as graceful as longboarding, and place it within an environment that is much of the same. A perfect ying and yang of nature complimenting natural, earth complimenting expression. This is the tale, of the Swirling Samas.

Stokowski, mucking about.

Trevor gets low while balancing on this old fence.

The elk population in the town of Orick is healthy.

Max Watson crushes souls.

We stop to capture some B-roll footage.

A singular truck passes by on its way into town.

Each is about the width / length of a semi truck. Real.

Fog in the forest.

Stokowski left the house with only flip flops for the trip. Bold.

Stokowski was born in a nose manual.

Trevor Baird nails the hippy jump over the barrier.

This is where we stayed.

Adam gets funky on a cable strung between posts.

Adam's prepare to roll focus on Trevor.

A single dirt road was all that connected reservation land to civilization.

The sun sets on the horizon, illuminating the hills before darkness falls.

This is where the forests met the Pacific.

Houses on Big Lagoon's shores.

Sunset on Big Lagoon.

The sun sets on the Redwoods of California.

Trevor Baird works quickly to nail the shot before we lose the light.

Get the sea food sampler, you won't be disappointed.

Fancy dinners in the town of Trinidad.

A very special thanks to all the people at Loaded for making this whole experience a reality, to Adam Colton and Adam Stokowski for being the best damn duo of a film crew one can hope to have, and to my fellow video mates, Max Watson and Trevor Baird. This was a very special experience for me, and I am humbled that I have had the opportunity to have shared it with such amazing people. Now go outside, and be happy.

Arian Chamasmany

Ari, a skater of 8 great years and counting, was born and raised in Los Angeles California to two loving artist parents. When he reached the 3rd grade his folks moved him out to Malibu and he’s been riding some kind of board ever since. Ari currently lives in downtown Los Angeles, and produces photography, music, and design related content under the alias “Shark”.

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