Skateboarders' weekend adventure on South Island's quake-ravaged roads

Street skaters who took to freshly buckled South Island roads have captured their escapades on film - and almost lost a board when it disappeared down a large crevasse.

Troy Tapara and Billy Mclachlan were part of a group on a weekend adventure that cycled and hiked along State Highway 1 to pit their skateboard skills on the quake-scarred landscape.

The group of friends had seen footage from a truck cam that showed scores of potential jumps and ramps that had formed on Monday's giant quake. In a hastily arranged trip the skate-mad friends headed north from Parnassus search of sections of road they knew would make for great skateboarding after seeing video footage from a truck that had passed through earlier.

A Facebook post showing Tapara's skills on the devastated highway has garnered more than 16,000 views in a matter of hours.

The experienced skateboarder is shown executing a kick flip as he jumps from a sunken ramp onto a bridge which has ended up 1.2m higher than the road.

Another feat shows Tapara clearing the air as he launches from a smooth but bulging section of the state highway.

"It was definitely the most unique experience of my life," said Tapara.

"Even to see that state of destruction in person was just surreal but exciting at the same time."

Mclachlan said he was left overwhelmed by the wide-scale destruction with some points of the road fractured with deeply it was impossible to see the bottom even with torches.

And it was one of these cracks that posed one of the most dangerous moments of the adventure.

"The only close call was when one of the boards fell into the cracks. We had to lie down and hang on to Troy's legs. Half of his body was in the earth and his arms were fully extended to pull the board out."

Mclachlan said the group were surprised at how difficult the damaged tarmac was to ride on using their small hard wheels.

"In terms of skating the spots it was extremely hard. We didn't take into consideration how rough the ground would be."

He said anyone thinking of skateboarding the closed roads should use larger, softer wheels.

Mclachlan rated the spontaneous weekend as one he would not forget in a hurry.

"The overall adventure was one of the best ones we have done on a skateboard."