Checking for cars is much easier when you can see through the trees. This is Dex Manning, Austin Pedroni, and Stephan Vaast.

Letters of Recommendation is a new series of articles about people, places, and things we’re stoked on. This installment was written and photographed by Max Dubler.

Most of us think of summer as peak skate season, which makes perfect sense: the young’uns are out of school, the pavement is warm and slides nicely, the winter salt and sand are washed away, and the skateboard industry lives in SoCal’s perpetual summer.

Philip Skaar skidding at last light.

Every skater who has suffered through a New England winter knows that riding in the cold, like skating in the rain, kind of sucks and should only be done when you’re truly fiending for a rip.

Miles Cordier at Surf Spot.

Personally, I prefer skating in early spring and late fall. It’s the perfect time of year.

Marshall Parrish hitting the one-slide line into the fast right at Fortress.

It’s cooler, so you can wear long pants and a sweatshirt or light jacket, which comes in handy for airbraking and preventing road rash. Being in leathers isn’t miserable.

Views are unobscured by leaves.

Wheels grip better on cool pavement.

Garrett Gourley dodged the motorcycle and hit that YEET on this freshly paved backwoods gem.

The leaves are off the trees in deciduous forests, dramatically improving visibility and making it easier to spot corners. Bare trees cast beautiful shadows across the road, articulating the banking and helping to show speed in footage.

Garrett Gourley, Madison Crum, and Dexter Manning.

While I love going to events and seeing everyone over the summer, I have the most fun on late-season skate trips with the boys.

I watched Tyler eat shit super hard trying this stand up slide. The next run he charged just as fast and nailed it for this photo. Dude is a beast.

phil skaar

Letter of Recommendation: Early Spring and Late Fall Skating

S1 Helmets / Will and Phil in Asheville