For as long as I can remember, there has always been some sort undisclosed division in Canada between skateboarding in the east and skateboarding in the west.  The most obvious reasons for this division are the differences in climate and the amount of skateable spots within each city. I decided to take two top skateboarders who have spent more than enough time on both sides of the country and ask them a few questions about why they chose to settle down on their favorite coast. 

First up we have one of Canada's up and coming, Mitch Barette. Residing in the east in his hometown of Ottawa, Mitch can be found slaying ledges and handrails during the day, and drinking beers with his homies at night. Next up we have Dustin Montie, a staple in the Canadian skateboarding scene. Whether its long ledges in the streets, or man-made skateparks inside BC townships, being born on the west coast allowed Dustin to develop the skills necessary to progress as a skateboarder and travel across North America filming video parts for some of Canada's top videos.  Although both of these rider's are sponsored by the same board company (DGK) and shoe company (Osiris), they each have valid points when it comes to defining the elements in their province. Let's find out what they have to say about the good parts about living where they chose to settle down.

Dustin Montie.

TERRAIN - Rails, Ledges, Etc.
Mitch - Rails out here are dope. Here the rails are mostly big for some reason and it's hard to find nice tech rails. The only tech rails in Ottawa are the Nortel 6 stair, and the Sparks 8 stair rail. Both of ‘em need wood for the run up due to the harsh winter which causes all the cement to crack up. The big rails in Ottawa are the Lansdown 14, the Guertin 12, the Sportplex 10, and the Archives 18-19 set. We also have a lot of cool ledges. In Ottawa there is Hingtonberg ledge (a 6 stair out ledge) and there is also dirt ledge in portage: it's long and over dirt to drop, and at that spot there is sometimes a bike rack off a drop people skate a lot.

In Toronto, The Monarc 8 stair rail is still kinda sketch cause of the rough ground and cracks in the run up.  For big rails there is a lot of them in Toronto; the Millwood 10, the Mel 12, the Skydome 13. As far as ledges, there's the Molson ledge. It's a long ledge that goes over grass and you have pop out of it because there is no end to it. Right where here you pop out of the ledge, you land in this down hill, so no matter what you always land going fast. The only legit hubba I can actually think of is the one Ryan Decenzo back-smithed in Toronto. That one is perfect height and is pretty long on both sides. In London, Ontario, they probably have the best one in all of the east coast. They are frontside for goofy footed skaters and are about a 8-9 stair size.

In Montreal there is La Bourse rail and a lot more.  In terms of hubbas inside Montreal there is this really cool one called St-Henrie where both sides are good and although the ground is kinda sketchy, it still works. For ledges there isn't really a lot of hubbas other then sum random ones that are too high, too short, too low, or too long.

Dustin - In Vancouver, decent rails are hard to come by nowadays. All the decent mellow sized rails that I would regularly like to skate are capped, and /or destroyed. The shit that's available to skate, is usually Machnau sized and even those ones have been getting capped. Some of the kids have been going around the city and de-capping the odd good rail here and there, so that has been cool, but in general it's a tough one for out here.

These days, the ledges are getting damn near as hard to come by as handrails. A lot of the new buildings being built out here are being planned and designed with nobs and grooves cut out of them. There is still some spots that are around, but you've usually gotta venture out of the downtown core. The easiest thing to come by nowadays are gaps and stairs; those things are everywhere and definitely a lot harder for the architects to get away from. So go get your jump on!

Mitch Barette, frontside bluntslide to fakie. Odam sequence.

BEHIND THE LENS - Filmers
Mitch - Cameramen aren't hard to hard to find if you are rolling with the right crew that's motivated to get things done. For most of the people out here that film, it's not really about just calling them to film a trick and then leave. It's about chilling with your real good homeys. It's like this: your homey happens to have a camera, you go chill, film a couple clips, go eat at Mc Dicks, then go skate and film some more, then go get wasted at night.

Dustin - Filmers aren't super tough to come by out here, I mean I live with one (Jarvis Nigelsky), so I've been pretty lucky to have him backing me for all these years, but it also seems like a lot of kids these days have been bucking up and buying cameras for themselves. That always makes for ample footage lying around for videos to be created.

Dustin Montie, frontside half cab flip. Odam photo.

BEHIND THE LENS - Photographers
Mitch - For photographers it's hard to get them to come out and skate all day because most of them have have one of the following; a serious job, serious girlfriend/wife, serious partying problems, or they simply don't like the crew your with. Owen and Andrew from SBC are the only ones that I know personally that come out for the whole day and that's probably because it's their job.

Dustin - No matter where you go, photographers have always been a bit tougher to come by than filmers. Over the years I've noticed a few more guys coming around alongside the guys that have been here for years, so I think things are starting to open up, but it's still a bit of a tough task since everyone's fighting out there to get shit accomplished and published.

Mitch Barette.

SPOTS
Mitch - The spots out here are the same as anywhere else in Canada, just random. Most spots are in the city's downtown core and surrounding area, but there are spots that you have to drive too, which is also probably the same everywhere.

Dustin - If you stick in and around downtown and Vancouver in general, getting around to spots isn't too bad. It's when you venture out to the suburbs that it gets more difficult. You just have to be a bit more motivated. There's nothing better than getting out of your car downtown, getting on the skytrain and just cruising through all the old classic spots downtown which are all within skateable distances.

Dustin Montie.

THE MAN - Security Guards/Police/Bust factor
Mitch - Downtown Toronto is a bust. It's the worst for getting hassled and it seems that security guards there get hired just to kick out skateboarders and nothing else. At every spot inside downtown Toronto, you just get kicked out right away. In Ottawa and Montreal it isn't usually as bad. 

Dustin - Of course being in a major city you are gonna have to deal with all of this. Security is definitely a difficult deal out here, especially in the downtown core, but it's just part of the game, and you find a way around it. Cops on the other hand don't really care at all, unless they are actually called, which they usually don't care too much in general anyways. They've got better things to do a lot of times.

Mitch Barette, kickflip to backtail. Odam sequence.

CLIMATE
Mitch - The east coast has a lot of snow during the winter, and especially in Ottawa. We have the indoor EQ park, but it gets very depressing. Most people out here just head out to Florida during the winter so we don't loose our minds.  During the summer its perfect blue skies and sunny

Dustin - The west coast is probably the best for temperature. Winter doesn't get to -40C and summer doesn't get up to +40C either.  Obviously there're days where it is definitely really hot, but all in all we got it fairly good out here. The worst thing is the rain.

WHO WINS?
Mitch - 
I find the west coast to be better because people over there are friendly and very motivated. There are always homeys that are down to go skate everyday...there are very amazing skate spots, and most importantly, there isn't such gnarly winters that make you depressed. I don't know why I decided to live here all my life, but I think it's cause my moms is here. I was supposed to move to Vancouver with a homey of mine, but he bunted on me at the last minute and told me I couldn't move in with him. I also broke my ankle at the same time, so I decided to just chill until I healed up. I still plan one day to move up there I still have time.

Dustin - It's hard to say what side of Canada is better for what. I mean there's great spots and great scenes on both sides and I've had a ton of fun on both sides, but for me the west is definitely and always will be home!

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Related:
Seb Labbe and Mitch Barrette in Miami (video)
Five Things: Dustin Montie
Dustin Montie, filmed by Jarvis Nigelsky (video)