Been around for 15 years. Supports some of the best skaters and snowboarders in Canada. Ground zero for the Ottawa skate and snow scene. 

Who is "Top of the World"? Let's check in with retail don and 10-year Top vet Eric Dionne to see what's been going on in the nation's capital over at Top of the World.

What's up, Eric? You've been the face behind Top of the World for some time now. What's your role over there, and can you give a real brief history of Top?
I currently run the skate and snow stuff at the store. I also do all the marketing, website and Facebook stuff, and all the special events. This is my tenth year of working at Top... I guess I'm one of the old timers now!

The shop was started in 1993 by two brothers, Tom and Glenn Goodwin. They were big into the hippie stuff, like following The Dead around, selling used jeans by the pound, and everything else that came along with that kind of lifestyle.  They then decided to go back to their skate and snow roots by bringing in a few decks and shoes from brands like Simple and Etnies. The rest is history. The brother's smart business sense, and great ability to set trends in the skate and snow market, brought Top to where it is today. I learned everything I know from those guys, and I'm stoked to help keep the shop growing every year.

Top recently celebrated its 15 year anniversary. How'd that all work out?
Rockin' for 15 years! We celebrated our anniversary with a rock/metal party at Barrymore's. We invited 500 of our closest friends and customers to party with us, and have a chance to win a ton of great prizes that we collected from our suppliers. Volcom also helped us out by making 700 pairs of Top/Volcom sunglasses. All of our guests we're stoked!  Everyone proceeded to knock the lens out of them and rock the nerd-style all night. It was epic!

Your skate and snow teams are among the most stacked in Canada. What is some of the criteria for getting on the team? Do riders have to be based out of Ottawa to rep the shop?
Over 90% of our riders lived or we're born in Ottawa. We've been pretty blessed with all the talent that has come through the shop. Something in the water I guess... I've always found that it was really important to support your local market. That's why we like to have guys on the team that are sticking around Ottawa for most of the year. Kids can see these guys skating around at the park or shreddin' at the local hill and really look up to them. We want kids to be part of the Top Family and be a part of the shop... not just another customer!

In terms of picking team guys, we usually do like everyone else: Send in video, pics, contest results... but the most important thing to us is attitude. You can't have shop riders who think they're all that and go around giving' a bad rep to the shop. We want guys that push themselves and represent the shop by having fun everywhere they go.

The skate videos Top puts out are some of the strongest, and many of Canada's big names got their start in them. Can you name some of the Top alumni over the years?
We've made four videos over the last 10 years and have had great success in getting guys to that next level. On the skate side: Richard Sarrazin, Joe Buffalo, Wade Desarmo, Gailea Momolu, Dave Nolan, Trent Matley, Paul Trep, Mike Fyfe and Spencer Hamilton all had their start with us at the shop. Most of them still ride for us today and we're stoked to have them.

On the snow side: Andrew Burns, Matt Bellzile, Craig Beaulieu, Brian McClatchey, Max Honegger, Nat Gough and Jesse Delgros also all started off with us and are all over the shred mags today. We've been really happy to help all these guys out over the years, and we will continue to do so for the next 15 year years to come.

You guys have been offering a skate camp for kids for almost 10 years now. How is that going? Are there any other ways you guys give back to the skate and snow communities?
Skate camp had been really successful for us over that last couple of years. We started a program, in conjunction with the city of Ottawa, which caters to approximately 400 kids every summer. The camps run for a week at a time and we offer three different skill levels. Unlike any other skate camp I've seen, our kids get on a bus every day and travel to all the different skateparks around the city and surrounding area. Our advanced camp even takes day trips to South Parc in Montreal and to the new Brockville park.

The program is also non-profit, so all the money made goes back into our local community centre, creates summer jobs and permits the camp to improve every year. Local special events and programs like this are what we are all about. Top doesn't really spend any money on advertising. We would rather create fun skate and snow events in our community and put more funds into helping our sponsored athletes out.

What is it about Ottawa that creates and holds onto such a tight scene of skateboarders and snowboarders?
Having a crew of people that work so well together has been a blessing over the last 15 years. We've been pushing so hard to support our community and athletes that it's really paid off. Our family grows every year and we hope to keep it that way. All the shops get along in Ottawa too, which makes it really fun. Not too many haters around... That's the way it should be! We've got that small town feel to our big city.

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Related:
www.topoftheworld.com
Wade Desarmo Interview
Nat Gough (South America Powder) Interview