Take a walk on Parsik Hill in Belapur, and you’ll first spot the lush green grasslands that have featured in some of your favourite Bollywood movies, followed by towering trees arching over you. If you make it high enough, a panoramic view of Navi Mumbai awaits you. Where this adventure ends, a group of skateboarders will begin theirs. Rush, a three-day downhill skateboarding workshop and showcase will introduce the city to the extreme sport this weekend.

The path at Parsik Hill is surrounded by lush green cover

“Downhill skating is a specialised branch of skateboarding. Our skateboards are unlike the shorter, funkier ones you see in skateparks,” says organiser Ayaz Shaikh, who has been gliding down hills on wheels since 2015. On boards shaped for optimal aerodynamics and minimal wobble, the athletes will turn a selected pathway on the hill into a training ground. “We wear gloves with pucks under them. These help us navigate turns on the track,” Shaikh explains.