Vancouver campout.

The City of Vancouver has always played a prominent part in the history of Plan B, and now with Plan B being back, we wanted to make sure that the history continues. As a change of pace, we decided to head north for a bit this summer and introduce the new guys to the culture and customs of British Columbia. We set up shop in Colin's apartment, eight guys packed in a small condo. The plan was to skate for a week or so, and then finish off with a trip to our favorite camping destination. With Danny minding the fort back home, Ryan Gallant, PJ Ladd, Paul Rodfiguez, and Colin McKay set their sights on the lower mainland of Vancouver. Even Pat Duffy, who had been on a three week Euro tour, jumped on a plane the moment he got home and made it in time for the island trip.

For people who spend every waking moment in the city, getting away to an island barely bigger than an acre lot--totally isolated from other people--is always nice. No one lives on this island, and there's no way to get there except by boat. You must bring what you need, because after the sun goes down you're not going anywhere until the boat comes back. In fact, if you put something down, you better remember where it was. If you're lucky you'll find your way back to where you put your sleeping bag. If not, dirt will be your bed and a rock your pillow. To see more photos from the trip, visit www.planbskateboarding.com.

One of the island's escape hatches patiently waiting to be called to service. Swimming back to the shore we left fro, would take a few hours; swim in any other direction and they're sending in search planes. Know your exits.

Here's the main difference between skating in Vancouver versus most places in the US. In Canada, schoolyards are considered community playgrounds. There are no fences, the people are encouraged to use them when school is not in. More often than not, when a cop kicks you out of a spot, they'll tell you to go play at a schoolyard. Ryan Gallant makes the most of the extracurricular opportunities this Vancouver school has to offer with a 360 flip.

Colin McKay whips a wicked nollie 360 flip to backwards at the RDS indoor park in Richmond. Colin was supposed to help write this story. He didn't, so as payment his caption sucks.

If you've seen the old Plan B videos, you might recognize the bridge above Ronson Lambert as he propels himself through this half-Cab boardslide 270. Long before there was anything to skate here, the Cambie bridge still managed to get itself coverage by throwing Colin McKay off of it.

As you can see in the photo, this block was made with very large cracks. These cracks also make up the runway. The truly amazing thing about this spot was the ingenious way the locals had fixed the problem. Due to the high cost of resin-based products in Canada, the price for hondo is astronomical--so they used a mixture of scotch pine tree needles and dry grass, to which they added the sap from mature cedar trees. Paul tests the repairs with a switch heel.

The aftermath of anything is never a pleasant sight. Paul surveys the scene while Colin and Sam debate the finer things in life, namely how to get off the island without a boat. A poor anchoring job the night before had sent our main transportation floating away with the morning tide. It was eventually found six hours after we woke up, about four miles away.

Colin's apartment in Vancouver overlooks a park where everyone brings their dogs to run free. It was from this view that PJ saw a large Lhasa Apso overtake an elderly woman. PJ's reaction time that day probably saved her life; definitely the most inspiring thing any of us saw on the trip. PJ Ladd, switch flip shifty.

The main bonus of Vancouver has to be the abundance of skateparks to hit for a warm-up session before exploring the streets. Ryan Gallant loosens up for the day with a varial heel 5-0 at the Tsawwassen park.