It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about Montreal’s scene (and the whole universe Dime has built around it) that makes the skateboarding that comes from it feel so accessible. Of course, we’re not talking the tricks themselves here, as the general level in their videos is always pretty bonkers (this one included), but more so, everything that surrounds the actual skating. From the way they make you feel like you know all the main protagonists intimately, despite never having met them, to the fully formed mental image of a summer evening session at Peace Park that lives rent-free in your brain, to how their inside jokes somehow now make the whole world laugh: they’re experts at making the MTL skateboarding experience palpable. If these guys birthed the biggest skateboarding event on earth, and managed the impossible task of having it appeal to both civilians and die-hard skate nerds in equal measure, it’s because they excel at letting you, the viewer, in, without it ever feeling corny or like you’re being sold something.
It’s in this context that Ben Lachance’s “Doux” feels extra special, because on top of being filled to the brim with banging skating from one of our favourite scenes, it serves as an ode to MTL skate culture and humour it exports. The French Canadian experience may be singular, but the message it champions applies to all: the key to keeping skateboarding exciting is to not take yourself too seriously (even if your Zander Mitchell footage shits on 90% of what else is out there).
Filmed and edited by Ben Lachance.
Featuring Zander Mitchell, Jake Johnson, Étienne Gagné, Max Wasungu, Alexis Lacroix, Frankie Decker, Leon Chapdelaine, Fred Lanteigne, Una Farrar, Mathieu Leblanc, William Phelan, Oki Kimoto, BTR Tony, Shawn Hale, Cédric Vigneault, Chris St-Cyr, Lux, Samuel Boyer, J-S Tremblay, Zachary Wilkins, Hugo Papillon, Sam Deschênes, Leo Hamel, Kalen DC, Marc Tison, Barry Walsh, Morgan DT, Alex Côté, Ben St-Aubin, Lebicar, Felipe Rodriguez, Matisse Dalphond and Charles Deschamps.