Slalom Skaters - Introduce Yourselves!

[Guimello]

Slalom Beginner !
I skated a little when I was in my twenties and last year ( now I am 36 ) got back skating. Met some really cool people who can slalom pretty well and decided to learn and I am having lots of fun.


Name: Guilherme Mello
Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Equipment for slalom: Seba High Light 10th, Gyro Martin Sloboda wheels, Twincam IQL-9 Slalom Pro bearings.
Favourite slalom trick: Just beggining some crosses
Events?: We don't have events in the city, but it's happening in the country.
How long skating & slaloming: A lot in youth, 2 years skating, just started Slalom
Other info: Love to chat about equipment and gear!

[carlosesantos]

Name: Carlos Santos
Location: Belo Horizonte-MG/Brazil
Equipment for slalom: Powerslide Hardcore Evo. Labeda Asphalt wheels.
Favourite slalom trick: Mexican (so easy so fluid lol).
I went back to skating after a 12 year break lol. It's been free years skating now, 18 months in freestyle slalom. I just love the sport. It's a never ending challenge.

[Quadster]

I am most definitely not a slalom skater, but I do mess around on the cones from time to time, so I thought I'd contribute to this thread.


Name: Quadster

Location: Sussex, UK (south coast)

Equipment: Quads (obviously). Supreme Turbo boots, Playmaker or Bont Ignite NTS plates, Sabre longboard cushions (F-Type, 90a), Aussie Scott (~ 86a) or RB DOTD (80a) wheels.

Favourite slalom tricks I can do: Circle Screw, Heel Toe Screw, Fan Volte, Cobra (forwards & backwards)

Favourite Slalom tricks I can sometimes do: Toe Christie, Toe Sevens

Favourite Slalom tricks I wish I could do: Butterfly, Inverted Z-Eagle, Toe Shifts (no wiper)

Events: I've never competed, and I have absolutely no desire to.

How long skating: It just turned 5 years as of last month

Other info: I'm more of a rhythm skater and dancer, but I like the look of certain slalom moves, so I taught myself some of the ones that I liked the most and then transferred them to the 'dance floor' (i.e. centre of the rink). I do sometimes do my slalom tricks on the cones, but mainly just for accuracy training.

[Kristof]

Name: Kristof de Lint-Wouters
Location: Belgium
Equipment for slalom: Seba Igor 2014 with blue/yellow color kit, Seba Rockered Deluxe Frame, Seba Street Invader 80mm 84A Wheels, Twincam IQL-9 Slalom Pro Bearings
Favourite slalom trick: Crazy and Volte combination
Events?: There are no competitions in my country, so no.
How long skating & slaloming: Started skating when I was about 8. Played competition inline hockey for 4 years. Didn't skate for 10 years in between. I started slalom skating about 3 years ago. I'm 30 now.
Other info: I think of myself as a very good inline skater! But when I was introduced to freestyle/slalom a couple of years ago, I saw the bar rising way above my head, it gave me a renewed challenge. In my opinion freestyle skating is technically the most difficult inline skate discipline there is (much more difficult then hockey and aggressive), which is very attractive to me. I like that, unlike hockey and aggressive, freestyle can be done anytime, anywhere!

[Joey]

Name: Joey Brooks

Location: New Orleans, USA. Spent lots of time in the Los Angeles area of SoCal.

Equipment for slalom: 2015 Powerslide Hardcore EVO 2.0 just like they came out of the box. I have about 25 hours on them so far.

Favourite slalom trick: Just decided to try this out. I can slalom on one foot, either one, forward. That's as far as I got. So I guess this is my favorite!

Events?: Nope.

How long skating & slaloming: 50+ years skating. Quads - city skating, rinks, dance. Inline starting early 1990s - speed, city, hockey (outdoors), recreational. Slaloming - about 2 hours so far. With so much skating experience I am burning through the "easy beginner" stuff.

Other info: I picked the EVOs as recreational/city skates with no intention of trying slalom. I wanted something highly maneuverable, but at the same time not a total dunce at some reasonable speeds i.e., 15mph+ because the local bike paths can be ridiculously crowded at times. I used to just avoid those places on my bicycle or longboard and certainly my speed skates. Hockey skates are too much work skating any distance in a straight line. So...I got the EVOs. Almost immediately a new park opened up a couple of blocks from work with a huge warehouse (no walls, just a roof) on the river with silky smooth cement. I also have a parking lot a few blocks near my house that is empty before noon any weekday. After watching many videos of slalom skaters using EVO skates and cones I got a little interested. Then the locations became available so I started just practicing some of the moves for fun and to help get accustomed to the new skates.

I really like just doing things by myself or with my wife. Slalom looks like a nice way to pass the time and stay active while learning something new.

I ordered some cones from Amazon last night. I guess that makes it official. I'm going to try slalom.

[Nina]

Name: Nina

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California, US, originally from Russia

Equipment for slalom: Used to have cheap noname inlines, recently got Seba FR1s

Favourite slalom trick: Crazy — the best I could do so far. Training for more :)

Events?: A local competition about 8 years ago, would love to take part in something in the future

How long skating & slaloming: About two years initially, and about a month recently

Other info: I got to inline skating close to ten years ago with help from my husband. He was doing street/aggro style, with jumping and such. I didn't have any background skating at that time, just some skiing and horrible coordination. Initially tried freestyle/jumping/etc and after some scenic falls finally liked it (yay protective gear!).

One day I met some slalom people doing awesome moves and turns with cones and got converted instantly. Loved the sport and even participated in a local competition having just learned a backwards snake the day before.

Was skating for a few years as a hobby (and sometimes as a commute), then moved to USA and couldn't bring my skates with me — they were beaten to nothing anyways. After few years trying to convince myself that I am 'too old' for the sport I should 'grow up' already (since I am not skating professionally and so it is just a hobby), I finally said I don't care and got Seba FR1's. Haven't got all my skills back yet, but been enjoying every day I could skate.

Have been sick with flu in the past week, so all I can do right now is talk about skating and watch youtube, but going back out there as soon I feel good again.

[Joey]

Originally Posted by Nina

...trying to convince myself that I am 'too old' for the sport I should 'grow up'...

Glad you came to your senses!

Welcome! The slalom board is pretty slow. Please get in the habit of posting any progress or thoughts. It's lonely in here.

[Nina]

Originally Posted by Joey

Glad you came to your senses!

Oh, and how I am glad! The only regret I didn't do it sooner.

[Jords]

Name: Jordan Nash
Location: Queensland, Australia
Equipment for Slalom: Seba FRX Skates, Indetity Theft Wheels 78a, Seba wheels 85a, Twincam ILq-5 bearings.
Favourite slalom trick: For now the Toe wheeling.
Events?: None yet. Wanna get out there when possible.
How long skating & slaloming: 3 months Slalom. 3 years artistic.
Other info: I'm a pure newb. Have to train by myself. Only coach who comes up is James O'Connor and he's all the way down in Syndey. Just going over the basics for now. Trying to work out if I need a Spinner Rotation Tool or not.

[k3igu]

Name: K
Location: Bronx, NY
Equipment: Rollerblade Fusion X3
Favorite Trick: Still too novice to do much, but my favorite to watch is between Crazy and Sun
Events: Hah...no. Not even remotely ready for events
How long skating and slalom?: Skating on and off for about 4 years. Slalom I am only now trying to learn.
Other info: I've been trying to motivate myself to do more with my skating, but it was only recently that I found myself actually doing it. I've been mostly doing rink skating for a while, though what (re)sparked my interest in skating a few years ago was watching competitions on professional levels. I don't expect to be on their level any time soon, but I will try to reach for it.

[Oicusk82huh]

This is not an introduction, but a welcome. Hi k3igu, you are SOOO lucky to be in NY and close to Manhattan (closer than me). Do you go to the Central Park on the weekends? That is the best for learning to slalom better. You probably already go, but if not, then go to the bandshell almost any day of the week at about 5pm and all the slalom skaters are SOOO good and they'll help. You're in a great place. Welcome

[k3igu]

Thanks for the welcome. I only recently started going to central park and I met some slalom skaters there (figured they might also be on this forum, but I wanted to join here regardless). I just bought a new pair of skates to help me ease into slalom better, but hopefully I will learn from the best. Hopefully you get to go back there soon as well.

[QuietOC]

Name: Matthew
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Equipment for slalom: Seba FR1 80, 76-80-80-76 otherwise stock.
Favorite slalom trick: None yet
Events?: No. I just started a Facebook group to find other interested people and organize local events.
How long skating & slaloming: 35 years skating, 21 years inline skating, very interested in slalom from watching YouTube
Other info: Just purchased The Art of Falling on April Fools' Day this year. I bought a pair of used Seba FR1s later that week on eBay--I'd been without skates for about a year. I rented ice skates a couple of times this winter and found I could ice skate somewhat well, but I didn't appreciate the lack of grip. My other big hobbies are autocross (speed slalom with cars) and photography.

[HMFIC]

Hello, my name is Gordon and I am a skate addict.

Location: Ft. Lauderdale FL

Equipment for slalom: Seba High Light 243 frame 80mm wheels

Favorite slalom trick: None. Just got cones in recently and have not try them outside yet, tho I did try it inside after watching... Joey I think, skate inside.

Events?: None

How long skating & slaloming: I skated for transport around 15 years ago for about a year. I got back into skating mid January of this year purely for cardio. But now I just love to skate and went 240 miles last month.

Other info: Started out with some K2 Vo2 90mm for the 1st two months and then, after watching Bill Stoppard(Pinto Pony Productions), decided that I want to jump things, roll down stair and stop like he does. My 1st move was removing the brake on my K2s. After getting used to the T stop I knew I needed better skates and got the Seba High Lights.

I just turned 40 March 31 and I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of people telling me I am to old to do tricks on skates. They are just jealous of the poop eating grin on my face every time they see me go skate and return from skating. I live in a condo.



Recently I have noticed that I maneuver around people and obstacles differently now. For instance... it was quite crowded in my family's store the other day and as I maneuvered around the crowd I found myself rolling left (arms out and sideways so I could fit through the gap) around the first set of people to a backwards walk and then rolled right around the next set of people and continued walking forward again. This all happened without me thinking about it. I thought to myself.. did I just do that?

[Trixton]

Originally Posted by HMFIC

Recently I have noticed that I maneuver around people and obstacles differently now. For instance... it was quite crowded in my family's store the other day and as I maneuvered around the crowd I found myself rolling left (arms out and sideways so I could fit through the gap) around the first set of people to a backwards walk and then rolled right around the next set of people and continued walking forward again. This all happened without me thinking about it. I thought to myself.. did I just do that?

LOL this ^

Also I've found that I quickly identify those immobile or stubborn folks who can't or won't go with the flow. Sometimes I will stop and wait for them to make the move just to see how awkward they make it. I know, I'm a terrible person for performing my little experiments on random strangers... Gotta get your kicks somehow

Originally Posted by HMFIC

I just turned 40 March 31 and I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of people telling me I am to old to do tricks on skates. They are just jealous of the poop eating grin on my face every time they see me go skate and return from skating. I live in a condo

Yeah don't let the American public fool you, there are many people out there that simply cease to live a colorful life somewhere between 25 and 35 and then proceed to drag others down with them... Effective age not equal to numerical age... Props for not falling into the same trap...

P.S. Also a fan of Bill Stoppard