Watch as longboarders race down Knox Mountain

Not long ago, cars were blazing up Knox Mountain, but this weekend, the hill was taken over by longboarders, carving down the twisting curves of the track.

As riders ripped past, organizer Jason Chan was snapping action shots, ecstatic the event had moved up in scope in just it’s second year.

“This year we are a qualification for both Team Canada and Team USA,” Chan told Kelowna10. “So, this is really special because we get international riders this year coming from four continents to compete for our race.”

The Knox Mountain track features two tight corners that riders must drift around skillfully to maintain their speed, which can accelerate them up to 110 kilometres per hour on straightaways.

These breakneck speeds sound daunting to the average person, but for an experienced rider like William Chung, it’s quite the opposite.

“For me, it's meditative. As you get going faster and faster, you must really calm your mind and just focus on the here and now,” Chung explained. “You get into a meditative state to hit those corners right, just slide perfectly to make sure that, there’s nothing else on your mind to distract you.”

Riders who qualify under Team Canada or Team USA will go on to compete in the World Skate Games circuit, and Chan hopes eventually the exhilarating event will become an Olympic sport.

“Longboarding is not an Olympic sport yet, but they’re considering it for the future,” Chan said. “So right now, we're trying to develop the grassroots program here in Kelowna so that hopefully one day, if it becomes an Olympic sport, then we have riders ready for them.