Current slalom Hotbeds
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John Gilmour
- Team Roe Racing
- Posts: 1207
- Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2002 2:00 am
- Location: USA
-
John Gilmour
- Team Roe Racing
- Posts: 1207
- Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2002 2:00 am
- Location: USA
In California we are seeing many "old school skaters" from the early 1970's buying up the new gear- and to some extent hoarding new gear in fear of a scarcity...particularly after EBAY showed used Turner decks going for over $500 and Hyper Stradas going for over $100 for a set of 4. It seems there are "old schoolers" being ripped out of retirement at nearly every contest making an instant overnight Masters/Legends class that is still highly competitive today.
In the Midwest we see some growth (Chicago, Mississippi, Kentucky)...and one skater Mr. Mollica making his central location maximized by attending many contests on both coasts.
On the East coast we see growth coming from Washington DC, Arlington VA, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey and Boston...but it is small- yet very interesting is that in communities with small surf there is interest (Sandy , Terence, Stevie, Brian Parsons, Wes E. , Noah Heinle, UR13, Troy Smart)and also in communities where Alpine Snowboarding is popular (major Cross over sport Vlad, CMC, myself, Eric Brammer, Chris, Tod Drescher, Mac Cloyes, Marley Cloyes, Steven Cloyes...)
I'm not sure how many people I influenced to start slalom skating or get people into it- but it is viable.... provided that people always have new people to race. So far as I know all the racers on the East Coast are new to slalom in the last 2 years save for a few close friends of mine and Bobby Mandarino/Wesley Tucker.
So we hope to see growth in Europe at some point and hopefully to wake up some of the older yet still highly skilled pros from the 1990's (Morro Bay might not see any except for Jani Soderhall this year. Now in Europe things seem to be focused on longboard GS which is OKAY... as those participants would be drawn to faster shortboard slalom eventually...much like longboard surfers learn to ride shorter more manueverable surfboards to add to their quivers.
Anyone know of any other new slalom growth locales Of course we have Huntington Beach, Palo Alto, Morro Bay, San Deigo. Any other new spots?
In the Midwest we see some growth (Chicago, Mississippi, Kentucky)...and one skater Mr. Mollica making his central location maximized by attending many contests on both coasts.
On the East coast we see growth coming from Washington DC, Arlington VA, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey and Boston...but it is small- yet very interesting is that in communities with small surf there is interest (Sandy , Terence, Stevie, Brian Parsons, Wes E. , Noah Heinle, UR13, Troy Smart)and also in communities where Alpine Snowboarding is popular (major Cross over sport Vlad, CMC, myself, Eric Brammer, Chris, Tod Drescher, Mac Cloyes, Marley Cloyes, Steven Cloyes...)
I'm not sure how many people I influenced to start slalom skating or get people into it- but it is viable.... provided that people always have new people to race. So far as I know all the racers on the East Coast are new to slalom in the last 2 years save for a few close friends of mine and Bobby Mandarino/Wesley Tucker.
So we hope to see growth in Europe at some point and hopefully to wake up some of the older yet still highly skilled pros from the 1990's (Morro Bay might not see any except for Jani Soderhall this year. Now in Europe things seem to be focused on longboard GS which is OKAY... as those participants would be drawn to faster shortboard slalom eventually...much like longboard surfers learn to ride shorter more manueverable surfboards to add to their quivers.
Anyone know of any other new slalom growth locales Of course we have Huntington Beach, Palo Alto, Morro Bay, San Deigo. Any other new spots?