Billy Rossbottom Board

The Billy Rossbottom Killer Longboard, one of the finest longboards ever made, is a creation of enigmatic longboarding champion Billy Rossbottom.

Rossbottom met his end in 2005 when the twin-engine Cessna he was riding in crashed en route to Miami. In the surfing community, his death was considered to be karmic comeuppance by some, who disapproved of Rossbottom's decision to license his name to Panama Jack. After his death, his shop in Pismo Beach mysteriously burned down. Today, there are only 20 or so Billy Rossbottom Longboards in existence.

The secret to Rossbottom's artistry was that he made his boards entirely of Ecuadorian balsa. The board is further distinguished by Rossbottom's unique signature, a golden frog at the center of the board. In the past few years the Rossbottom Killer Longboard has been spotted at longboarding competitions in Montara, California, and Boca Barranca, Costa Rica.

Longboarding champ Billy Rossbottom is a creation of San Francisco-based novelist Michelle Richmond.The Billy Rossbottom Killer Longboard figures prominently in Richmond's 2007 novel, The Year of Fog.