A Noble Cause and an Auction for a Rare Spidey De Montrond Personal Rider

A rare opportunity to own the personal rider of one of the great Santa Cruz skate legends of the 80's has come up -- and also a concurrent opportunity to support a noble cause in the process.

Spidey De Montrond -- who needs no introduction here -- is auctioning off his personal rider from 1987 in the early and very rare yellow dip. Accordingly, not only is the lucky bidder going to get the personal rider of a skateboarding legend, he or she is also going to have a version of this famed board that few if any other collectors have. (I have yet to see a yellow dip version of this board ever come up for sale.)

Here is the board in question:

In addition to the board itself, the winner will also receive a mint condition O.G. "Skate Buck" sticker and a Spidey signed and framed copy of the original Santa Cruz ad in which this deck originally appeared. Pretty fantastic, "one off" kind of stuff here.

So why is Spidey auctioning off his personal rider you ask? Good question. It must be a great personal sacrifice to let such a thing go. However, Spidey explains the situation that has prompted this action on his part:

My name is Spidey De Montrond and my goal is to raise $20,000 to buy a wheelchair-accessible van for my friend and fellow musician, Josh Schwartz. You might know Josh from his years with bands such as Further, Beechwood Sparks, The Hub Caps, Northern Lights and Painted Hills. It's my hope that this fund-raising campaign will enable those who have been touched by Josh's music to give back in his time of need.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a debilitating and progressive degenerative disease resulting in difficulty speaking, swallowing, and eventually breathing. There is rarely an identifiable cause for the disease and no known cure, although there are some treatments known to help ease the pain and discomfort of those afflicted. The van that I am raising money for will allow Josh to access these therapies and treatments in the most dignified and comfortable way possible.

Josh is 43 and has been living with ALS for several years. Signs of Josh's ALS first began in 2009. After seeing doctors in 2010 to address some vocal issues, he was diagnosed with ALS in early 2011. He is currently being treated at the ALS Clinic at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles and is under the home care of his girlfriend Allison. Josh's daily commute from Monrovia to the hospital is very difficult and challenging due to his immobility and necessary medical equipment; having a wheelchair-accessible van would greatly improve his quality of care and overall quality of life.

This campaign is just getting off the ground, but there is a limited amount of time to participate so act now.

There are a couple of way you can support Spidey's initiative:

First, if you're not able to participate in the auction for the board itself but would still like to donate toward this cause, you can head on over to the campaign page Spidey has set up and make a donation, however large or small.

Second, if you have some means at your disposal and would like to take a crack at the auction for Spidey's personal board, the auction for that board can be found here: eBay Auction. (Do note that the auction is intended to serve as a fundraiser with all proceeds going toward Spidey's campaign, so the idea here is not to give away this board to the cheapest bidder, nor to get a steal of a deal. The intent is to raise funds for this particular cause -- and, after all, let's consider too that this is a pretty unique piece of skateboarding history.)

Of course there is also a third option, which is to spread news of this initiative amongst your friends and family. I would encourage you to at very least support Spidey and Josh in this way if no other.

Kudos to Spidey for making this personal sacrifice of his own personal skateboarding history to help a friend. This action, to me, speaks once again to the great integrity that exists within the skateboarding community and family.