In the summer of 2001, Element Skateboards founder Johnny Schillereff stumbled on a new addition to a YMCA skate camp in Northern California: a nature survival-skills program. Over the course of one week on remote Sequoia Lake, instructors Todd Larson and Mike Kershnar brought confidence-building survival strategies to the urban attitudes of the kids.
Moved by this experience, Schillereff snagged Larson as soon as he graduated from UC Santa Cruz. "Before we met Johnny and Element," a grateful Larson explains, "we were just a couple of guys doing this program on our own. But Johnny saw the reaction of the kids—how they were really learning about nature—and that’s Element’s whole vibe."
Join Dwell+ to Continue
Subscribe to Dwell+ to get everything you already love about Dwell, plus exclusive home tours, video features, how-to guides, access to the Dwell archive, and more.
Try Dwell+ for FREE
You can cancel at any time.
Save