A friend of Tristan Hunter wrote in an online tribute: "My idol, my best friend, and my brother I can't believe you're not here any more. Thank you for a lifetime of the best memories, though they make it so much harder. I'll love you forever man."
A man who spoke with Mr Hunter before he was killed on a Kapiti Coast road, told him skating down the steep, narrow and winding road was "a crazy idea."
A Wellington Free Ambulance spokeswoman said an ambulance was called to the scene at 5.45pm, but the man died at the scene.