Tag: elissa steamer

The sequel to the legendary BAKER HAS A DEATHWISH is now live and boy it is a doozy! From Baker OG’s to fresh crop and a lot of Hijinx to boot, Beagle & Andrew Reynolds did it again! BAKER HAS A DEATHWISH PART 2! truly has all the feels of a contemporary classic… now it is up to the people to decide if it will be.

Leo Baker just dropped a signature shoe on Nike SB and celebrates this milestone with a brand new video part by Cooper Winterson.

Finally, we know what the one and only Beagle is smoking. The “Shrimp Blunt” is his new smoking delight, and it seems to hit just right. Beagle and Shane Heyl brought together the whole(!) Shake Junt family and put out another masterpiece full of hijinx, good times, movie skits(!), and some amazing skating. The perfectly fitting soundtrack makes it even better. Eat that shrimp!

Get some Shake Junt HERE.

Vans Presents a new short film about Cher Strauberry, providing an inside look into her role in shaping and growing the queer skate community. She is taking us back to the early days, shedding light on the experiences leading her to become an influentiual figure in the queer skate community.

“Now that we’ve put this hole in the wall, there will be trans girls and boys who will skate better than us, be more confident in themselves, be more outspoken, who will just know more than we knew..”

A film by Patrick O’Dell.

By now you will remember Lea Isabell as the host of our wonderful PLACE TELEVISION series. This time she is not in front of the camera but on the phone with a wonderful skater. In a sense, though nothing has changed she is still the one asking all the questions. Rowan seemed happy to oblige and answer all that she wanted to know.

Hey Rowan, how are you?

Hey Lea, I am pretty fine. I just made some coffee between the last interview and this one. And you?

All good, I also have my coffee next to me. But let us not talk about our coffee-drinking behavior. We should start with some new stuff, like your shoe?

Yeah for sure, why not!

Okay nice, so maybe you can tell us: What was the inspiration for the design of your shoe?

When they first told me that I was going to get a shoe I just wanted to make sure that we offer something that is skateable but also something that looks kind of like a classy shoe. I wanted it the same way as the other shoes which came out at any time in the past of Vans, like the originals, so they shouldn’t look too crazy or look like something I wouldn’t skate if they were not mine. I kind of took inspiration from all the shoes I liked in the past. For example the half cab, the Tnt-5 and probably also an old one, which they resell in department stores only, the Bearcat. It was only 30 $ instead of the normal price of a Skateshoe.

The Vans Bearcat.

What was the process from the first sample and your first idea to the final product?

R: Well, we made a lot of different sketches, I also tried a few by myself but it’s hard to draw a shoe that doesn’t exist, especially when you don’t have any experience in that field. But yeah, we sketched like three different options and then we made sample shoes out of them. The one that came out the best was actually not my first pick but when it actually went from a sketch to the form of a shoe I liked that one the best and then we just moved on from there.

I don’t think anything really changed except for like heights of certain kinds of parts or like different stitching ends, but from the first samples, we didn’t change that much.

Were you also hands-on in deciding what kind of colorways will be put out there?

Yeah, We’ve done 12 colorways for 2020 and then I’ve done a few for 2021 already.

And which one is your favorite one so far?

My favorite one that is out right now is a skate shop exclusive one. It’s dark blue/ navy all the way to the floor, The sole is also navy. But there are a lot of other good ones that haven’t come out yet.

The ones on the left are Rowan’s favorites.

Wow, that’s really nice. I am looking forward to seeing your designs. Let me ask you some tech questions. What do you think about the new Pop-Crush-Insole?

Yeah, I mean I like it a lot. It’s really similar to the last one but it might last a little longer. With every shoe, they want to push some sort of technology or some advancement and since I wanted my shoe to look more old school, more classy, they made the advancement through stuff you can’t see. Like a new insole, something you obviously can’t see because it’s the inside of the shoe or something like the new Rubber Sole, which looks the same as the old one but is a little bit more grippy. Those advancements are there, but they do not always have to be that visible.

But we could definitely guess those advancements when we look at the commercial! How long did you film for that mini part?

Actually it was really cool because Vans let me put all my energy and time towards the Baker video, which was cool because I was wearing samples of the shoes the whole time, anyway. So, when Baker 4 came out everyone was wondering what shoe I was wearing and then two months later the shoe dropped. So, they kind of used all the extras and some stuff they didn’t use for the Baker video. So it was more leftover footage (laughs).

I didn’t expect that. Did you decide that Matt Sweeney would be the one producing the music for the commercial of your shoe?

R: Well the original plan for me was to pick a few bands that I like and then to see if they could get any of them to do the same thing he did, but maybe the bands that we picked were either busy at the time or too expensive for this type of project. so, I told them about my friend Matt. And a few people at Vans are also friends with him so it kind of worked out perfectly. And Matt then picked John Theodore to work with him.

Matt Sweeney shot by Imeh Akpanudosen.

So you are friends with Matt?

Yes, I’ve probably known him for five years.

So is there the connection to your Part in the Supreme Video with the Song, “Neighborhood Threat” by Iggy Pop? Because what people might not know is that Matt Sweeney was on Tour with Iggy Pop in 2016!

Actually Matt helped us to get the rights for the song. I don’t know if it would have worked out otherwise. He was the connection that made it possible. I mean obviously Supreme also paid for the song (laughs).

That is so cool, you seem surrounded by Rockstars. But In general, to me, it seems that you’re really interested in music. Is that why you wanted something special for your very own shoe commercial?

When they told me that I will get a pro shoe, I knew, it needed to be this type of music for the commercial. So I was for one-thousand percent behind it, I thought the idea fit perfectly for the commercial.

What other kinds of music influence you?

I have to say I am always bad at on-the-spot type of stuff. It’s hard to pin-point. I mean I can try but it changes day-to-day. First Iggy Pop, Roxy Music, Wutang, right know I like Pop Caan and one more, (laughs)… I don’t know. WITCH, it’s a Zambian psychedelic-rock band, the letters stand for: ,,We Intend To Cause Havoc”, which is pretty sick and they are from the 70s. They also played at my shoe party, so I am now going through loving them all over since I am a little kid.

I will definitely listen to them straight after this interview, thanks for sharing Rowan (laughs)! You already told us that you combined filming for the Baker Video and the commercial. But can you find any differences between working on a part and working on a commercial?

Well, I mean for the commercial we filmed 16 mm, which is obviously different to go out with that stuff. But I don’t know if I go out and I am trying to get some new footage It is sort of always the same. I am just trying to get something that I am proud of for other people to see, I guess.

And how is it when you are just having a normal session with your friends?

Ahh, when I am with my friends I am just fucking around, maybe trying to learn a new trick, maybe not, I might not even Ollie the whole session (laughs). Just trying to have fun.

And what about the SHEP DAWGS? What can you tell us about them?

They are my group of friends from the beginning. At that time none of us was really sponsored, maybe some got some free stuff, but weren’t on teams. So, we just spend our time together and filming. And everyone is still friends, but most of us have become sponsored skaters and have other trips and responsibilities in skating, so we have less time together to make those videos.

I can totally get this point, would you rather go on a trip with the SHEP DAWGS or with one of your sponsors?

I would love to go on a trip with those boys. I think not long ago they did a trip but I was on a company trip. I was a bit sad but maybe we can do another one soon. It would be great to get to travel with those guys. I mean at the same time I like that I get to go on trips with Vans and stuff, it’s great.

And what was your favorite Skatetrip so far?

Man… it’s been so many. I think we went on a, what was called,, SkateRock”, where a few bands came with a ton of skaters, but we also did one a few years ago throughout Mexico, and that was the last trip where Jake Phelps, Mark Hubbard, and P-Stone went on and since they passed away that was the last one that all of them were on. I think that was one of my favorite tours I’ve been on. But also one of my favorite Vans trips I’ve been on was my very first one on a double-decker bus throughout Europe. That was one of my first trips, yeah.

So you were in Europe! Did you also visit Berlin?

Yes, but I was there for only two times, two days each, so I did not really have the time to see what was going on that much. But I’d enjoyed myself for sure.

So maybe you should come back and get to know the city (laughs), it is pretty cool here, I promise!

When you look back to all your trips, do you think a great Skatetrip depends more on the crew or more on the place?

Definitely the people! I mean a place can definitely help but when you’re with the right people you can be at the worst spot in the world and you will still have fun.

Portrait by Anthony Acosta.

I agree with you, I mean, people make places. Can you tell us how you met Andrew Reynolds?

A lot of my older friends were already involved with Baker at this time, like Riley Hawk. At this time I had never met Andrew, but he asked Riley if I wanted to start skating Baker boards. I got free foundation boards at the time and I was like, hell yes! Every kid wants to skate Baker boards. I am not sure how long it took me to meet him but I met him in L.A. and after that, we started skating and hanging around more and more. So we became friends way before I got on the team.

That’s pretty sick. And what is your opinion on the new generation on Baker?

Like myself and everyone my age or younger (laughs)?

Yes (laughs too)!

I love those kids. Tristan and Zach, also Kader. He is going to be one of the best skaters ever! I mean he already is but he is still getting better and better as he grows. I am pretty stoked on Baker right now. I think these kids are the right kids to carry on the traditions that Baker has.

You are also on Supreme. How is that working out with you other sponsors?

So I skate for Vans and Vans apparel, but when supreme told me they wanted me to skate for them I couldn’t really do it because I was under contract with Vans apparel. But when I talked to Vans and they were cool with working something out. The first period Supreme was my shop Sponsor, instead of being my clothing sponsor. But now they worked it out and now it’s both. Supreme accepts that Vans is my primary sponsor and Vans accepts that Supreme is my sponsor as well. It is also like a partnership, cause Vans and Supreme do like a collaboration twice a year so it’s kind of good for them to have someone on both sides.

And are you getting more influenced now in what you want to wear?

I don’t know, but I guess… I mean both companies are producing stuff that I really like. It just gives me more options in what clothing I can wear.

Connecting to your shoe you also had your own Vans clothing collection right?

Well, all the Art on the clothing is done by one of my good friends Mike Gigliotti. He owns and runs the Lotties Skateshop and made all the art, yeah. But there is also one shirt, it’s a blue and white pinstripe shirt, it’s the same shirt I had for years and years actually I still wear it all the time. So it was cool to make that one into a vans shirt.
For the pants, I just wanted to make some double knee jeans… I don’t know (laughs). There was not too much inspiration, I just wanted to make some cool shit that I would enjoy wearing.

View this post on Instagram

Come on down! This will be a shirt soon too

A post shared by Lotties Skateshop (@lottiesskateshop) on

And at the same time make some nice clothing for the homies!

(laughs) Yeah right!

We already know via Transworld Skateboarding that Ali Boulala is your favorite male Skater. The question I want to ask you is: who is your favorite female skater?

At the moment it’s probably Breana Geering, but obviously also Elissa Steamer and Marisa Dal Santo belong to my favorites. Especially because I am friends with them and now since Elissa is on Baker we’re also going on trips together, she is the best!

Is there any difference for you between going on a skate trip with female or male Skater?

I haven’t really been on many trips with Elissa but I mean she is cooler than most of the dudes, she is so fun to skate with and to be around. I met Marisa when I was 14 she was hanging around the Zero offices which where really close to where I grew up. I saw her skating with my older friends all the time. She has known me since I was so small (laughs).

So you were in contact with female skateboarding while you were growing up.

Yeah.

Is the general view on Female skateboarding changing?

Yeah, I think girls are definitely getting the recognition they deserve now. It’s sick to see way more companies hooking up girls and that they have a Pro Contest for Women at Tampa Pro, that’s really sick!

Yeah I think so too. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on that! I think it’s always important to be happy for each other and to see things progressing in the right way.

Now you told me a lot, and I am just wondering, how do you manage all these things? How much does the fact, that skateboarding is not only a hobby for you anymore, affect your perception of skateboarding?

I mean skating has always been fun. For sure things come along with it that can be stressful… But that is also the case with other things I always dreamed of when I was a kid. It’s more a feeling of being overwhelmed in a positive way. It is more like a dream come true, you know. Even though there is stress the actual act of skating is and was always fun and always will remain fun. I do not think any of this other stuff will ever change how I feel about skateboarding.

Oh wow, I think that those words were the right words to end this lovely interview. Thank you so much for answering all of my questions. It was really nice talking with you.

Thank you too, Lea!

Thanks to Vans for the support & Antony Acosta for the photos.

More Rowan? Click Here!

We had the pleasure to combine the launch of our all-new “Stefan Marx Issue” with the Berlin premiere of Nike SB’s all-women video “GIZMO”. Now you might think, “What do those two things have to do with this article I am about to read?”, well, our trip had Lea Schairer on it and she skates for Nike so when we got the call to ask if we wanted to talk to any of the girls we had a plan.

The plan was this: Lea would integrate and spend some time with her team-mates while they would go through their media rounds, a Pappelplatz skate sesh and finally the premiere of the video. She would then take a moment, regain her thoughts and note them down for us all to read.

I mean what is better than having a woman evaluate a major moment in all of skateboarding but women’s skating in particular. Nothing right?

Well, you better start reading now!

Drawings by Stefan Marx
Intro by Roland Hoogwater
Text by Lea Schairer

Finally, there is a queue

Right before the video started I already tried to fight my way to the toilet but failed, because after three beers I definitely was ready to pee! But I was too busy talking to people and was too excited for GIZMO to start that when I was finally able to go in, the projector was already switched on. Since I didn’t want to miss anything I told my body to hold it back. I actually forgot about it watching the video, also because there were two guys standing next to me who couldn’t stop saying: “Dude! What?!”, literally every trick they saw. I was wondering where they had been in the past five years. It’s not like you wouldn’t expect those girls to blow your mind. Because their level of skating just went through the roof during those years. These people are – with a handful of others – currently the best female skaters out there! Thinking of a new skate video being released featuring any pro there is, you would already expect a certain level of tricks… I think we should definitely be in a time where you should expect the same from female pros.

I was fortunate enough to spend the afternoon with the crew of the GIZMO video, which means Sarah Meurle, Elissa Steamer, Nicole Hause and Ashley Rehfeld, who is a co-producer and athlete coordinate at Nike SB. We met at Civilist, we went skating and we talked a lot. It’s great to see that with skateboarding we had a connection right away – I knew I’d get along with these women, even though I had never met them. All of our experiences and impressions about skateboarding coincided.
It was also great to feel the vibe that gets shown in the video when skating with them in person. It was impressive how the skate park sort of shifted their attention towards these women.
We talked about gender equality, equal or at least adequate prize money at contests, how well women are integrated in the skateboard scene now, that, even though all of us have been skateboarding for 11-17 years (Elissa more like 30 years), it’s just now that some of us have the possibility to live from it – despite the already existing high level in women’s skating many years ago. Having trouble finding a sponsor in earlier ages and now asking yourself: well, is it really the skating that drives the companies to support us or is it just because girls who skate are so marketable?!

Fuck! That is definitely a major downside of female skateboarding becoming more popular.

It’s important to know that GIZMO is NOT the first all-women skate video – there have been a few, all privately financed and produced. It’s the first one a big company has produced and put its name behind; which is amazing and is a big step in the right direction. It probably means that more will follow… already shown by the premier Vans had in London with their Bali skate trip video.
Unfortunately, we didn’t speak much about the video itself and how everything came about. And then again, there is actually no need for that. When you see the video, you see the same things that you see in any other skate video. There are struggles, there is the pressure everyone puts upon themselves because they want to deliver the best part possible. There are the super fun times, going on tour with your friends and just hanging out, there is the hype after landing a tough trick and there are the times of doubt.

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With my bladder still filled, a few drops went into my pants when I saw the tricks, where those two guys behind me yelled the loudest. There are nose grinds on handrails, bs tailslides flip out, tre-flips over motorcycles, super high grab less alley-oop bs airs in deep-ends, and much much more you will be impressed with.
Even though it can be a little annoying having guys scream into your ear for 10 minutes straight, I was obviously also flattered by the guys’ comments, because it means they have now realized on what kind of level female skating is. It also shows that men are starting to dig the different styles of those women skating, mentioning things like: ”Damn, I wish I could do this trick like that!”. It’s just that the implicitness is still missing!

There were also several other people who came up to me with different perspectives to the video. For example, two super shy girls saying how much they enjoyed seeing me (and the other girls) skate. This has never happened to me and I found it more than flattering. I can’t imagine how many times this must have happened to the GIZMO team over the past days… the motivation for those who are starting to skate has probably risen to a maximum watching this video. It’s just so cool that now there are female role models (several) in skateboarding and that these are all over the world and not just in some far away place. I think this is a big push for skating in general!
All in all, it was an overwhelming vibe. It was so great to see everyone being hyped about the video. There was a lot of cheering and yelling, clapping and laughing. An honest: “Ouhhhhhhhh” when seeing a bail and the same honest: “Whaaaat?!?! Yeahhh!” when seeing a banger. The place was packed, the drinks were cold and people even started bouncing to the tunes of the video.

When the video was over I remembered what my bladder was telling me, also realizing that it should move right now to let it out! I hurried, in the expectation that at video premiers it’s not a problem for girls to just walk straight into an empty booth. After finally fighting my way to the toilets, I found myself waiting in a super long queue… Fuck! That is definitely a major downside of female skateboarding becoming more popular.

Watch GIZMO again here.

Every now and then I think back to a very quiet moment in my life, a moment just after I listened to John Cleese’s high informative & entertaining speech about creativity a moment similar to this moment now.

In this speech, he talks about the two modes of creativity #1 the open mode, #2 the closed mode. In the latter you do, you have decided on an idea and you execute your plan. A plan you created in the “open” mode, a state in which you allow all your thoughts to be there is no wrong and there is no idea too big to be realized.

The point that I am getting at is that we spent a whole lot of time in the open mode conjuring up potential magazines but that with the launch of our issue #65 we have officially with the help of other executed an idea that might have sounded Ludacris when it first came to mind.

Now, we didn’t do all this alone, we had a special trump card in Stefan Marx and so when it came to launching the issue we had to play the Marx card for you to get something out of the ordinary. So without further ado, scroll through one of our most creative recaps and afterwards go to your local shop to pick up Issue #65 “The Stefan Marx Issue”.

Drawings by Stefan Marx.

Intro by Roland Hoogwater.

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Our sincere gratitude goes out to Nike Sb for the support, Sondre & Tereza for their musical efforts and of course all who attended both to see the new issue and the ones that came to show love to the women that skated their asses of in “GIZMO” you are the best!

https://youtu.be/xrUFrr3NGhI

Nike and the NBA did it again and this time the squad seemed to know the plays and did some joint destruction on most spots.

Featuring:

Antonio Durao, Yuto Horigome, Cyrus Bennett, Jacopo Carozzi, Elissa Steamer, Mason Silva, Bobby Worrest, Karsten Kleppan and special guests Max Palmer and Stu Kirst.

Place Magazine asked me if I would like to write an article about some of the things I have been thinking and posting about lately. I noticed from early on in skateboarding that anything which people deemed to be feminine seemed to get a pretty negative response from both Men and Women. This has led me to a lot of thinking about how society views femininity and masculinity and how this relates to my experiences in skateboarding. It led me to realise that I had a lot in common with the LGBT community and also made me think about other people who may feel excluded from things like skateboarding because of the way they are presented to us.

Gender is socially constructed.

Sex is biological as in Male and Female. However, gender is something describes cultural meanings about sex and how people relate to their own identity in relation to social norms in society about attitudes and activities relating to their sex.

The Skateboarding industry has for a very long time upheld socially constructed ideas about what male behaviour and attitudes should look like. Strong, aggressive and bold.

The skateboard media has for a very long time reflected these ideas and has mostly excluded females from its marketing. Femininity has not previously been welcome in skateboarding because it conflicts with those ideas.

All of the ideas about what skateboarding is and have been presented to us through advertising. These ads mostly consist of behaviour that is intended to conform to classic male gender stereotypes.

An example of the inclusion of females but a rejection of femininity in skateboarding is this early image of Elissa Steamer.
To me, the smearing of the lipstick is the rejection or mockery of the feminine.

I feel that because of their exclusion in the communication of skateboarding and not being able to identify with the behaviour/ideas associated with it coupled with low confidence a lot of women have felt unwelcome in their local skate park/scene.

Overcoming gender roles.

One way that we have managed to overcome this problem and get a lot more women feeling like they can be involved in skateboarding is through the creation of local ‘Girls Nights’. My previous opinion of girls night, having always felt confident enough to skate in a male environment was that I didn’t understand the need for them. Having spoken to a lot of people in the industry and attending a lot of the nights and seeing the women who attend them. I can now see the obvious benefit of these nights. I think it is fantastic that someone who otherwise may not feel comfortable trying to skate in a crowded male environment would start skateboarding and be able to build their confidence in what they think is a safe space.

Having seen the benefit these nights have done for the female skateboard scene, it has often led me to think about other people who may not feel comfortable in that environment also and how we can generally be more inclusive to everyone.

I spoke to Marie Dabbadie who runs XEM skaters a genderqueer skateboard zine who had this to say;

“It would be awesome and necessary for people that organise girls sessions and contests to include queer and trans people consistently. And if people decide to take this step, they should also think about their vocabulary and their ways of assuming one’s gender and pronouns.”

Leading the way in this movement is Tösabidarna in Malmo and Skate Like a girl from Seattle and it would be great to see these ideas filter up into the mainstream skate media.

A feature on Skate Like a Girl by a US television channel.

I feel that the popularity and growth of female skateboarders can be attributed mainly to the female only nights. Thanks to the people making an effort to run these nights we have taken great steps, and it is impressive to see so many women visible and enjoying skateboarding at every level. We have come a very long way.

I do feel however that representation is essential and that it would be very good for the more prominent and popular websites and brands to give a lot of thought to how they present skateboarding in the media and the type of language they use.

I feel like at present that women who skate are quite often shown as quite segregated from their male peers and often hear it referred to as ‘women’s skateboarding’. Not always but a lot.

I decided to get a male perspective on this thinking from a friend who I feel has been very open-minded to new ideas and who has always welcomed and supported me in the skateboard world.

Photo by Nils Svensson.
Photo by Nils Svensson.

Pontus Alv is running Polar Skateboards out of Malmö/Sweden:

Pontus: “I think the bottom line is that the industry guys, brands etc. are very hyped on female skaters and support it.”

Stefani: Do you think that the industry can be quite exclusionary to queer and trans people?

I mean I don’t know that many queer or trans skaters that are out in the open with it so it’s hard to say. It’s not just in skateboarding it’s everywhere. I think society is changing and people are more open to it in the more modern parts of the world.”

There has been a focus lately on developing countries and on young female participation, while this is great I think that it is worrying that at this very young age and especially where there is little preconception of what Skateboarding is that there is any focus on gender. It would be a perfect opportunity at this young age to teach the children they are equals and to mix together, and perhaps include some education, which could serve to educate them about mutual respect and could aid improve some of the more problematic issues in some of those countries.

I understand that these campaigns are not with malicious intention and I aim to open a discussion so that we can communicate more responsibly to youths and avoid creating more of a divide.
Further to this, I think that in a time when things are still so difficult for women and queer people in the developing world. It would be nice to see, women, queer and trans people standing alongside their male counterparts presented together. It would be nice if skateboarders were referred to as just skateboarders as opposed to female or male.

In skateboarding as in the world, I hear gender being referred to all of the time. And I think these ideas can be frustrating because of old fashion notions and even new ideas about what behaviour or style people may expect of an individual representing their gender. I can further imagine that this notion is even more frustrating for really young people who haven’t quite found themselves yet.

Remember those Vogue skateboard magazine t-shirts, the one with the Thrasher font? Well, there might be more truth to that shirt than we thought because they just released a really good article about the rise of women in skateboarding. Here is a part of the article

“In 2005, the Action Sports Alliance staged a women’s boycott of the X Games until pay and media coverage were improved. A year later, they landed a meeting with John Skipper, then president of ESPN, who agreed he would bring the women’s prize winnings up every year until it was equal to the men’s earnings. “He was true to his word,” says Knoop. In 2008, the women and men’s champions both took home $40,000. “And it’s been equal ever since.””


Written by Mackenzie Wagoner

If that sparks your interest please click this link to read the full thing.

Photo by Arto Saari.

“We boys need to talk.” We are not really sure where this is coming from but it is a very crucial wake up call for all the casanovas in our world. Although we (as in the Boys) are definitely in superior numbers, there is no world without female effects. Shout out to Lacey Baker, Elissa Steamer, Leticia Bufoni, Steffi Wolter, Sarah Meurle and all the other girls out there.

In 2013 ist wieder einiges los auf den Bühnen Skateboardings und damit ihr in diesem Jahr keinen Event verpasst, findet ihr hier sämtliche Contests, Happenings und Come Togethers auf einen Blick!

April
02.-05.04: Skateboard Camp in Köln
12.-14.04.: Red Bull Skate Generation Brazil in Florianopolis, Brasilien
12.-14.04.: Damn Am Atlanta Presented by DVS in Atlanta, Georgia
12.-13.04: 2nd Annual WUB Open in Innsbruck, Österreich
18.-20.04.: Summer X Games in Foz do Iguacu, Brasilien
21.04.: Greenskate in Hamburg
27.-28.04.: Eröffnungscontest Neuer Skatepark Würzburg, Zellerau

Mai
08.-12.05.: 6th Surf & Skate Festival in Hamburg
10.-11.05.: Vans Pool Party in Orange, Kalifornien
16.-19.05.: Summer X Games in Barcelona, Spanien
23.-26.05.: Far’n High in Villers-sur-Orge, Frankreich
31.05.-02.06.: Ceara World Cup in Fortaleza, Brasilien
31.05.-02.06.: Playstation Vita COS Cup in Berlin
31.05.-02.06.: Damn Am Los Angeles Presented by Nike Skateboarding in Los Angeles, Kalifornien

Juni
13.-16.06.: Surf & Skate Festival in Köln
21.-23.06.: Sosh Freestyle Cup in Marseille, Frankreich
21.-23.06.: Dew Tour Ocean City in Ocean City, Maryland
21.-23.06.: Playstation Vita COS Cup in Hemer, Deutschland
21.-23.06.: Damn Am New York City Presented by Nike Skateboarding in New York
27.-30.06.: Summer X Games in München
27.-30.06.: Mystic Sk8 Cup in Prag

Juli
03.07.: Red Bull Bomb the Line Contest in Berlin
06.-07.07.: Playstation Vita COS Cup in Münster und Emsdetten
11.-14.07.: NASS in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, Großbritannien
12.-14.07.: AmsterDamn Am Presented by Volcom Stone in Amsterdam
20.07.: Team Kap Contest in Köln
24.-28.07.: Surf & Skate Festival in München

August
01.-04.08.: Summer X Games in Los Angeles, Kalifornien
08.-11.08.: Rocky Mountain Rampage in Colorado Springs, Colorado
17.-18.08.: Ultra Bowl V in Malmö, Schweden
23.-25.08.: Playstation Vita COS Cup in Köln

Oktober
04.-06.10.: Damn Am Woodward West Presented by The Skateboard Mag in Tehachapi, Kalifornien
19.-20.10.: IGSA NorAm Finals in San Dimas, Kalifornien
25.-27.10.: Finale des Playstation Vita COS Cup in Rust
25.-27.10.: Finale der TITUS Locals Only Competition in Rust

November
15.-17.11.: 12th IGSA World Championship for Downhill Skateboarding in Teutonia, Brasilien

Die wichtigsten Skateboardevents der Welt

Da sich Skateboarden nicht als herkömmliche Sportart versteht und tief mit den Subkulturen verschiedener Länder verwurzelt ist, gibt es keine Ligen und Verbände. Nichtsdestotrotz kümmern sich auch beim Skateboarden verschiedene Organisationen seit einigen Jahren um regelmäßig wiederkehrende Wettbewerbe. Zu den international bedeutsamsten Contests gehören die Summer X Games. Diese finden 2013 im brasilianischen Foz do Iguacu, im spanischen Barcelona und im sonnigen Los Angeles statt und erstmalig im Juni auch in München.

Die diesjährigen Favoriten bei den Summer X Games

Die Summer X Games werden im Bereich Skateboarding in sechs verschiedenen Disziplinen unterteilt: Vert, Park, Street, Big Air, Best Trick und Game of SKATE. Die Favoriten für die diesjährigen Summer X Games sind natürlich die Gewinner des letzten Jahres. Bei den Männern waren dies Paul Rodriguez beim Skateboard Street, Pedro Barros beim Skateboard Park und Pierre-Luc Gagnon beim Skateboard Vert. P-Rod gewann als einziger Skateboarder mehrmals die Street-Disziplin bei den X Games. Bevor er letztes Jahr erneut siegte, gewann er den Titel bereits 2004,2005 und 2009. Barros hingegen stammt aus Brasilien. Er ist erst 18 Jahre alt, stand aber bereits 2011 und 2010 bei den X Games im Bereich Skateboard Park auf dem Siegertreppchen. Auch in den Disziplinen Vert und Bowl hat er sich bereits einen Namen gemacht. Gagnon ist Kanadier und gilt als einer der Skateboarder, die ihr Board am besten unter Kontrolle haben und technisch am besten sind. Bereits 17 Medaillen brachten ihm die X Games in seiner Profikarriere ein. Der Brasilianer Bob Burnquist gewann die letzten X Games im Bereich Big Air. Der 36jährige ist einer von nur vier Personen, die bisher bei allen X Games dabei waren. Dementsprechend gewann er bereits 21 Medaillen. Außerdem war er der erste Skateboarder, dem ein 900er in einer Big Air Quarterpipe gelang. Das Game of SKATE konnte im letzten Jahr der Kanadier Ryan Decenzo für sich entscheiden. Decenzo ist 25 Jahre alt und seit 3 Jahren ein bekanntes Gesicht im Profisport. 2011 gewann er schon einmal das Game of SKATE der X Games.

Die besten weiblichen Skaterinnen der X Games

Bei den Frauen haben besonders die Amerikanerinnen Lacey Baker, Alexis Sablone und Elissa Steamer alle Aufmerksamkeit auf sich gezogen und werden dieses Jahr als Favoritinnen gehandelt. Steamer ist bereits 37 Jahre alt, tritt immer noch bei den X Games an und gilt als eine der besten weiblichen Skaterinnen der Geschichte. Baker gilt als eine der Skaterinnen mit den konstantesten Leistungen und ist seit einigen Jahren an der Rankingspitze der Disziplin Street vertreten. Sablone gewann jedes Jahr eine Medaille, seit sie das erste Mal bei den X Games antrat. Konkurrenz bekommen die Amerikanerinnen von der 19jährigen Brasilianerin Leticia Bufoni, die ebenfalls als Favoritin bei den nächsten X Games gehandelt wird.

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung von blue-tomato.com

Im vierten Teil der Epicly Later´d Serie von Elissa Steamer geht es um ihren Abschied vom professionellen Skateboarding. Wir hoffen, dass sie nach dieser Folge vielleicht doch wieder einen Boardpsonsor bekommt. Die junge Dame hat jedenfalls für alle weiblichen Skater heutzutage den Weg geebnet. Jetzt geniesst sie den Starnd und das Surfen. Auch nice.