Where is slalom growing the quickest? Then and Now.

[John Gilmour]

Skateboarding started in California and bled westward. Slalom skateboarding was embraced by many skaters in the 1970's that we not in California because many of the skaters in the Midwest and East Coast did not get the skateparks that California got so early. Skating remained a neighborhood sport for many kids and slalom was a natural offshoot. At one time in the 1970's almost all boards were "slalom decks" that had no kicktails and were best for going downhill and turning-not specialized for flatland freestyle tricks. With most skateboarding at that time being adaptable and accessible to nearly every young "car less" skater skateboarding grew quickly and skaters only needed to decide between buying s small 24-25 inch flatland freestyle deck or a slightly longer 26 - 28 inch slalom deck.

At that time there was definite growth in slalom- though freestyle was quickly overshadowing it. As skating went to Vertical, flatland freestyle became abandoned for park boards which were longer and wider. Now slalom for many became 3rd choice. And with the advent of vert skating and skate and destroy style skating ...skater's budgets were stretched thin as they were constantly trying to replace their park/street deck.

I watched as the old slalom equipment from the mid 70's got consolidated and sent to liquidators. Once I went into The Ski Market in Boston which had 35 stores in 1981. In the basement they had hundreds of unsold Fibreflexes, Tracker full tracks, midtracks, Bennetts, Road Rider 4's, Park Riders, Powerflex 3,5,7's and many other wheels of traditional slalom shapes. (Had this inventory been donated to schools for racing programs today it might have spurred some growth).

This unsold inventory was sold to liquidators that then shiped it to Europe and South America. I moved to South America in 1978-1979 and saw all of the old slalom gear popping up in Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and other cities. Slalom was alive and well there. In the late 1980's and early 1990's Slalom was strong in Latvia, Russia, France, parts of Switzerland, and there was a large racing circuit which had racers traveling all throughout Europe to compete. Many contests seemed to be about as large in total numbers of competitors as the recent La Costa 2001-2002 contests. There were numerous corporate sponsors at the Swiss contests..... and then the equipment vanished. First few decks were available, then no trucks/bushings and finally no wheels. Slalom went underground with only the riders who stockpiled wheels and decks continuing to ride.

Now for the first time in nearly 20 years specialized slalom gear is now available BRAND New for the public thanks to Deb Gordon (Fibreflex), Howard Gordon (Turner), The Turner Family, Gareth Roe / Steven King (Roe Racing), Rick Howell (Ick Sticks), Barrett Deck (Pocket Pistol), Chris and Mary Lou Chaput (ABEC 11), Dan Gesmer (Seismic) (actually Dan was the first "rebirth" manufacturer to support slalom as far back as 1991), Buddy Carr (Tracker), Don Bostick (continued to sponsor slalom skaters in the 1990's slalom drought, Marc From Poolskater.com, Rene (Longskate.com), Comet, Peter Verdone (Ground Effects Truck), and others that helped keep slalom in the public eye- Sector Nine, Beau Brown at Etnies, Supraflex, Flex decks and others slalom gear is now available. GEAR is NOW Available for the first time in 20 years!

So where is the gear going?


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: John Gilmour on 2002-10-07 22:18 ]</font>

[Leonardo Ojeda]

John, thanx for writing about my country (venezuela) i know that we were a strong competitor back in those days (altough i was too young to know it then). i have friends who have told me that there was this international competitions and that even alva, vicki viers, gelfand, chaput, and many others i dont know came to race against us and were impressed on our performance.

i really want this to happen again, the probem is that the $ its waaaay more high value than those years (4,30 back then against 1480 now) and the products and infromation its not flowing very well in here these days.

i have that goal, but i could use some help of anyone. i have seen that when somebody needs anything (i.e. helmets for hughr skate off!) there are tons of persons that want to help.

imagine us as a poor country (we are kind of) that need some help to grow the sport.

i am open for any suggestions or questions or complaints.

thanks

Leo

[Matthew Wilson]

GREAT post, John and Leo.
Gosh, I grew up in a Bridgeport, CT and I don't recall EVER seeing a skateboard in my youth--though they must have been around somewhere.
I am actually saddened by the fact that I never learned about slalom earlier, it would have suited my childhood personality.
Exposure seems to be the big question. How does slalom gain exposure, and how can it be rejuvinated in places where it once thrived?
Leo makes a great point about cost. Unfortunately cost cannot be controlled on new equipment because the production to sales ratio is still just so low. The average slalom racer today doesn't buy NEW equipment all the time. Rather, they recycle used stuff. There is nothing wrong with this, but it does keep the cost of new equipment up becasue companies must charge more in order to ensure that they make money to keep producing.
I think that a first step for companies would be to make their Web sites more internationally friendly. Turner should have their Website in at least three different languages. If you want to be international....ACT international. I think that most of the companies making slalom stuff right now are too exclusive in that they target an already existing population of racers, and many, if not most, of those racers are from the USA.

[Leonardo Ojeda]

Matthew: my hat is off to you.

great great post.

One of the problems that u mention about recyling is that with the high cost of the products(and of course the durabilty) make them difficult to buy at more than 1 deck at once.

also there are companies that have slow production processes and the backorders het higher.

thanx for understanding a bit

leo

[John Gilmour]

My thoughts are that slalom has to be presented correctly to the public.

I started a "night skate" to help fund my races to Europe in the 1990's. I had heard about one in DC and decided to start my own version of a "Niteskate". I charged Inline skater women $10 for light sticks (Most were from my Inline classes) and I took them on a set 16 mile route throughout Boston- pumping most of the way on my slalom board.

The Night skates got popular in other cities (Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta, etc.) as well. Paris has a particularly large one.

Anyhow- there was a semi- though unintentional, coordinated effort to start similar Night skates at the same time.

My hope is this- that we get together the Regional coordinators of our sport- be they Grass Roots people or USSSF members and try to devise a similar course set up that is affordable and easy to use.

Such a thing would include

1. PDA interfaced with a wired timing system (Like Tways). Cones or hopefully a smaller lighter less intrusive type of marker. (Less offensive to Police)

2. A banner mentioning slalomskateboarder.com and stickers for the cones so that people would know where to go for information.

3. A section on the banner for rules/ course ettiquette

4. A section on the banner with a place for writing the time to beat with a dry erase marker and who set the time and when.

5. A series of "canned courses". A few would be chosen to run on any particular day. Identical layouts would in someways let us come closer to virtual racing- there might have to be a handicap assigned to a particular hill.

6. A section on the banner announcing that the same thing was going on...listing teh various cities.

7. A section saying that the course was open to the public.

8. A section listing the upcoming races and likely prizes.

9. A section listing the results of some of the regular racers from that course.

10. A section mentioning the charity the proceeds were going towards. (Promoting charities helps to establish ourselves as "good citizens" not destructive, and makes Police think twice before telling you to take down the course- besides- it's a nice thing to do. Local charities should be a focus most of the time- with focus on larger charities during larger events - 4th of July etc. )

Ideally the PDA would be able to scan a bar code sticker (ideally placed on the helmet or wrist guards to ensure protective gear is worn) that someone could purchase from the course promoter. In the worst case scenario a person could type in a password- but I would rather see a wand moved than a PDA being constantly handed about or people giving away passwords.

There would be two courses set. A beginner level "free timed course" set at the beginning and end of the day (or perhaps at the same time if space allowed)- and a more difficult advanced level course (set during prime time of the day) where you could run the course for free or "pay for a time" at a cost of 20 cents per run. Obviously you would pay to race in a dual.

Proceeeds from this would divide as follows.

20% to a charity that would change from time to time (First one up is the Policemans Benevolent Association).

80% to buying two larger displays with numerals at least 24 inches high, one for the top and one for the bottom.

Later the 80% would break down like this.

40% would go towards appetizers/pizza/food at a local restaurant for after race party. But the course setter has the option to take 10% or the first $40 (whichever is larger)for himself for the hassle of bringing and setting up / breaking down all the gear (helps to foster consistentcy each week).

10% would go towards course maintenance/batteries and buying/selling addittional cones to hopefully help start another course.

20% would go towards a fund to send your 4 best racers to a large "away" event.

Paying runs should have some preceedence over non paying runs.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: John Gilmour on 2002-12-01 16:32 ]</font>

[Gary Holl]

Here is how the NorCal riders are trying to promote slalom:
We created a "slalom class" and pitched the idea to Yahoo's Athletic Director...next thing you know the class is offered to the 2000+ employees at Yahoo. Within minutes the class is full and has a waiting list. Most of the "students" have never been on a skateboard. We are teaching this class every Tuesday and Thursday at Yahoo during lunch. We have several students that have learned to ride rather quickly. I think this class can be duplicated at local YMCA's or perhaps through local Parks and Rec.