Starting my trip to Montreal was a journey on its own. Upon arrival at the Belleville VIA rail station I figured it'd be a good idea to call TPR and see if they had made it through airport security in Regina without any problems.
He and Corbin missed their flight to Toronto due to a ridiculous policy. An agreement was made and I was to change my path to Montreal direct, and go to the Toronto airport to meet both of them at the arrival gate.
Once we had gathered all of our belongings, we were off, on an overpriced taxi ride into the heart of Toronto to find a bus to Montreal.
We had booked in for the red eye bus route to Montreal, stopping in the country's capital city for a changeover at the glorious hour of 7:30 in the morning. After a mostly uneventful and hazy bus ride to Montreal we were free to ride our boards. After finding a few cool looking places on our adventure to find a hotel we realized that there was going to be a bit of a language barrier. I speak very little French, and TPR and Corbin didn't know any at all.
Myself, and Corbin, running on minimal rest trying to figure out the hotel situation. Photo creds Tyrrell LeGrand
After a crazy day of travel we decided to check into an overpriced hotel and skate from downtown all the way to Olympic Stadium to find the Big O. It was a must see for all of us, and it was a surreal experience.
Tyrrell LeGrand // Backside Smith, Montreal, 2014
After scoping out some spots around Olympic stadium we bought our first metro tickets to get back to our hotel.
Day two of skating began, and we set out to skate Peace Park. A few crackheads and crazies around, but it wasn't too much to deal with in the end. In all honesty they left us to our own devices. We didn't even get asked for change.
TPR had the brilliant idea of bringing along two disposable cameras. Tyrrell LeGrand // Frontside Lipslide, Montreal, 2014
Day three, we set out rather hungover after a night of festivities. We munched down a Montreal must have, the poutine. All filled up with grease we set off through Old Montreal to see the touristy sights and see what was skateable. TPR was told about a spot where people had seen skaters at before, and he knew it so we checked it out.
Tyrrell LeGrand // Backside Flip, Montreal, 2014
It's always nice to get a helping hand..... Montreal, 2014
One last try.... Corbin Schmidt // Nollie Inward Heelflip, Montreal, 2014
Our final day in Montreal consisted of trying to find a the last few spots we could hit before we had to catch an evening bus back to Toronto. After some discussion we decided to go back to the Olympic Stadium, as we had all noticed and commented on the well known half pipe formation that occurs on the roof of the building.
After jumping on the Metro with all of our luggage we made it back only to find out construction workers had resumed work... Right where we wanted to ride. Corbin had separated from myself and TPR, so he hadn't seen the big construction dude at work. He didn't take too kindly to Corbin being up there so we took off disappointed in not coming away with a photo.
Gettin' the boot... Keep your scaffolds more secure homie.
After a bus ride back to Toronto we met up with Blair Starks, who would be our guide / host / driver throughout the majority of the Toronto portion of our trip.
Blair Starks // Backside Crook up, Stouffville, 2014
After touring around spots in some obscure cities around Toronto we eventually made our way back into Toronto to check out Ashbridges. It was a really neat experience, coming from a city like Regina to see what a small portion of Toronto skaters are like.
Tyrrell LeGrand // Hardflip to Manny, Ashbridges, Toronto, 2014
We hadn't made any plans where to stay yet. After some frantic google searching we settled on the second or third cheapest option for a hotel, who was happy to take us in for the night, We were given a room key, and we set off to the top floor to find our room. We had walked halfway down the hallway only to realize we weren't going to find our room. We turned to the end of the hall and made the glorious discovery we had been given the presidential suite. Hype!
Gives us a nice view of Jarvis... And the notorious Hooker Harvey's is on the end of the block there. Toronto, 2014
Our second day in Toronto, we played tourist to the maximum. It was a good day for recovery. We scoped out the Toronto Fan Expo, which was a pretty ridiculous experience. None of us had been to anything like that before, so we didn't really know what to expect.
Got the snap before he drove off with his fare... All the cabs in the city and we ran across this one!
After a night of going hard, and minimal sleep for myself and Corbin, we set off on the second last day of the adventure in sluggish fashion. We had some dominoes in mind, and some dominoes we found.
Corbin Schmidt // Backside Smith, Toronto, 2014
"I picked up the cashflow, then we playing chicken bones, and I'm yellin dominoes"
Tyrrell LeGrand // Backside Crook, Toronto, 2014
After cruising through some of the raw heat of the day, we took a drive over to Ashbridges to relax a little
. I thought so anyways, Corbin went pretty hard in the bowl.
Corbin Schmidt // Fakie Ollie, Ashbridges, 2014
Our final day of skating through Toronto wrapped up at a spot that TPR coined "Little Roschdale by the Sea" and we all had a blast. A really low rail allowed the creativity to flow, and we got some tourists and drunken boaters excited about skateboarding!
Tyrrell LeGrand // Backside Feeble, Toronto, 2014
These are the drunk boaters. They went wild after Blair landed this! Blair Starks // Frontside Bluntslide, Toronto, 2014
We made one final stop on the way back to the van to make the last trip to Newmarket. Just out front of the Rogers Centre, Blair showed us this little gem.
Blair Starks // Gap to Backside Crook, Toronto, 2014
The final day of the tour was a bittersweet one. It happened to be August 30, which is my birthday. I got asked for ID for cigarettes (this hasn't happened in ages) and buddy almost wouldn't sell them to me... it's not like I just turned 19 either...
Anyways, we took a look at a church in Newmarket before being told to leave. We made a stop at a restaurant / bar in King City and raised some eyebrows by ordering two pitchers of beer at around 2:30 in the afternoon. After some decent food and a round of shots we made our way to the skate park.
Corbin Schmidt /// Frontside Slash, King City, 2014
We made our last journey together to the Toronto airport. Chatting a little bit about the experience we had just wrapped up we arrived at the departures terminal. We took our final snaps together, and said our final goodbyes in person. My first ever skate tour wrapped up in almost the exact same position it began.
Blair Starks // Tyrrell LeGrand // Corbin Schmidt, Toronto, 2014.... Thanks for an amazing tour. Rad skateboarding, rad times chillin.
