BCIT grad Patrick Switzer was the king of the hill in downhill skateboarding in 2011.
After a second-place finish on the World Cup circuit last year, the 23year-old local longboarder topped the points ladder in 2011, garnering 2,216.85 points from his five best races, beating runner-up Douglas Silva of Brazil by almost 200 points.
Switzer made International Gravity Sports Association history in August, becoming the first skateboarder to ever win three consecutive open downhill World Cup races following a first-place finish at the Padova Grand Prix in Italy.
In September, Switzer won an unprecedented fourth World Cup sanctioned race in a row, taking top spot at the Canada Cup in Calgary.
Switzer went on to win six consecutive IGSA sanctioned races in 2011 with a championship run in the Prince Edward County 1.2kilometre race in Ontario later in the month.
"Not only are we doing something exciting, fun and amazing, we're getting those vibes out to the rest of the world to see some of what we do," said Switzer in an interview with the Burnaby NOW. "I'm happy with how the sport is right now. We're taking it in the right way. Respect is a huge thing."
