The mission was simple: ride, skate, enjoy.

This summer the UK Vans Snowboard team – Will Smith, Gareth Andrews, Rowan Coultas and Sparrow Knox – headed out with a dishevelled media crew to Mt Hood for the road trip of a lifetime.

Armed only with a dodgy moniker (‘If the Vans a Rockin’ Don’t Come a Knockin” sounds cool untill you realise said vehicle was populated solely by seven smelly dudes) and assorted goodies from Vans, sleeping space was a luxury worth sacrificing for the beautiful scenery and freedom of Oregon.

The Brits stood out strong, drawing hollers of appreciation and more-than-jealous glances from the assembled riders and press packs – they did us proud.

Part one of this video series shows just how rad these kids are – this humble journalist went along for the ride and can vouch that in amongst the hectic shredding in the HCSC and Windells parks the Brits stood out strong, drawing hollers of appreciation and more-than-jealous glances from the assembled riders and press packs.

Whether it was Will’s tech wizardry, Gaz’s lanky steeze, Rowan in full kicker beast mode or Sparrow’s loose, Gonz inspired sideways sliding mayhem: the Brits were done proud.

Check it out in it’s warts and all glory above and stay tuned for the next instalment. And if you want to get the inside scoop of the behind the scenes madness make sure you pick up a copy of our latest mag, it’s one of the stories we’re most proud of in recent years.

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