Eric Parsons / Star staff Aaron Astorga skateboards in the final Ultimate Boarder event on Saturday. Astorga took first place in the challenge.

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Fans gather to watch the final event in the Ultimate Boarder competition.
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Eric Parsons / Star staff Jonathan Warren shows off his skateboarding moves on the half pipe during the Ultimate Boarder competition at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon.

So how did Mike Kresky do in the skating leg of the Ultimate Boarder contest?

"I killed it," the graying, dreadlocked 46-year-old Santa Barbara resident proclaimed after his ride at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on Saturday. "I caught air, I grinded, I rocked the lip, I did some cool laybacks and slides."

Unfortunately for Kresky, there were plenty of other skaters who pulled off those spinning aerial moves and more on the half pipe as hundreds of aspiring kids cheered on the pros.

In the two events leading up to Saturday's finale of the Ultimate Boarder competition — snowboarding in Lake Tahoe last week and surfing in Ventura on Wednesday — there were a fair number of competitors who were good at either but not necessarily both.

But for most, skating was the first "board sport" they ever tried. And so most of the nearly 50 competitors in what is dubbed "the triathlon of a new generation" had the skills to show off as they battled to see who would be the first-ever Ultimate Boarder, the best at all three sports.

A skateboard was the first step in a journey of riding boards for most of the competitors' lives. They grew up practicing ollies and kickflips and soon were wearing duct-taped shoes as they skated on plywood ramps in friends' backyards. Then it was on to the waves or the mountains, where the same aesthetics and principles of style and balance ruled supreme.

Just look at who took home the $30,000 first-prize check on Saturday. Aaron Astorga, 37, of San Diego is a professional skateboarder who can surf and snowboard, but his strong background in skateboarding was what catapulted him to first place overall, where he was doused with champagne.

And second-place winner Todd Richards, 38, of Encinitas wanted to be a professional skateboarder before he found snowboarding, which eventually became his career and won him medals at the X Games.

"A half pipe is like a wave," explained Jay Swain, 13, of Ventura who was one of hundreds of teenagers riding their own boards through the parking lot of the Ventura County Fairgrounds. "And a snowboard is a skateboard without wheels."

It's apparently also a vehicle to be a kid, no matter what your age. Competitors ranged from a nearly 50-year-old man to 13-year-old Sky Siljeg. Never mind that Sky broke his wrist doing a 720 maneuver in the snowboarding competition; the Seattle resident still took 10th place in the skating competition on Saturday, cast and all. From a distance, with their baggy shorts, logo-laden T-shirts and skate shoes, it was hard to tell apart those who hit puberty 20 years ago and those who still had a few years to go. Which is the beauty of board sports, Kresky said.

"It's a state of mind," he said. "It's like being a samurai, as you get older you get better."

It also worked as an inspiration to know that no matter your age, you can still drop in on a 6-foot ramp.

"When you see old guys charge it, it makes you go bigger," said Walter "Wally" Winters, 29, of Ventura who came to watch his roommate, Guy Quezada, compete.

Indeed, some of the parents chaperoning in the audience were the same age as the athletes who were at the top of their game.

Tawny Long took her 9-year-old skateboarding son, Dillon, to the event so he could see what it takes to be a pro and the years of discipline it takes to reach that level.

Tracy Carlton also took her son down so he and fellow 11-year-olds could watch the pros and skate themselves.

"We need to have something like this in Ventura," she said.

And it looks like the competition will be back next year, said Ultimate Boarder founder Tim Hoover.

"I'm hoping to make this a yearly event in Ventura," said Hoover, who grew up in Goleta.

The city would like to do the same, said Kathleen Fitzgerald, director of sales with the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau. Though it's too early to tell how much of a financial effect the competition had — there were events downtown every night since Wednesday — she said it helps to drive the image of Ventura being a great destination for outdoor sports like surfing and skating.

"This is very cool for us," she said.