HOME: VANCOUVER B.C. WITH JAKE KUZYK

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Vancouver, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Jake Kuzyk
Vancouver is a no-brainer for any shredder who follows snowboarding or skateboarding wherever it takes them. In this particular pocket of Vancouver, you’ll find Jake living in one of the best work / live / life-balanced scenes in the city. Just southeast of downtown, it boasts an abundance of: restaurants, coffee shops, street shopping, craft beer breweries and park space. These commodities work in unison to keep a melting pot of people roaming happily amongst each other.

Location: I live in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver, BC. My place is a small one-bedroom apartment in a three-story building. I’m on the top floor and got a pretty good deal considering the state of the Vancouver rental market. There are lots of new condos going up around me, and rent prices are rising, so maybe this place won’t be the same for much longer. I’d call my place "modest," or just kinda shitty. It’s an older building, but the neighbourhood is great and I’m close to all my friends; it’s cheap, and really central. I have everything I need right now. Around the corner there’s a mural of pro skater Rick McCrank pumping to a one-foot to fakie on a quarter pipe of asparagus that I find pretty funny.

Ride Here: I always ride at Mount Seymour (1700 Mount Seymour Road, North Vancouver) during the winter while I’m home. If I can find time, I’ll drive up to Whistler, but it’s pretty rare. I really enjoy Mount Seymour’s terrain and community vibe. I wouldn’t even call it a resort. There’s just something special about that place. It’s got something, that none of the other local mountains have.

Drink Here: The Lido (518 E Broadway, Vancouver) is a nice bar. The location is a little off the hustle at Main on Broadway so it makes for less crowds. They have good drinks, music, and a lot of space to sit and relax.

Eat Here: I like this Mexican place called Sal Y Limon (701 Kingsway Street #5), it’s fairly cheap and quick. You pay when you order. Foundation (2301 Main St) is a vegetarian classic. Always lots of people and good food. If you want to ball a little in Mt Pleasant, there’s Toshi Sushi (181 E 16th Ave). It’s really quality Japanese. Very worth it.

Hang Here: I spend lots of my time at Antisocial (2337 Main St) skateshop. Michelle (one of the owners) is always throwing fun events almost year round. My friends and I often have beers at Jonathan Rogers Park (110 W 7th Ave) down the street from there.

Mount Pleasant Park (3161 Ontario St) is great, too. There’s a small skatepark, basketball court and lots of green space. Casual beer friendly, I’d say. There’re always young families sharing the space, so there’s a nice mix of people.

Off-season: The last few summers I’ve spent most of my down time filming a skateboard video for Antisocial skateshop. The team is made up of all my close buds. Some of our friends live in Montreal, so I have been going there a lot as well. None of those dudes snowboard, but they like to ask me lots of questions about it. Otherwise, Vancouver has a ton of nice places to swim, cliff jump, camp and all that. So I’ll always get up to some of that, too.

Photos

Action photo by Cole Martin, Trick: Backside Lipslide, Kamloops, BC.

Portrait photo: Antosh Cimoszko