downhill skateboarder – architect – feminist – mountain lover
Happy Canada Day everyone!
…earlier this skatecation, my other me was put to work on one of my favorite roads in the Wild West.
Huge thanks to Alberto PerroPro Alepuz for being an amazing one man show camera man/ producer/ editor & driver!
To co- pilot and mental supporter Patrick Switzer.
And muchisimas thanks to Orangatang Wheels & Loaded Boards !
Happy sqrl in action.
Film: PerroPro
For as much as I have an issue with the NorAm attitude. They have California. The place where the sun shines, when Zurich is grey and wet and cold… the place where burgers taste like a real sin.
Photos by @Patrick Switzer
What a year!
My updates here get rare with a remarkable increase of my CO2 foot print… my gipsy feet took me to the Greener Pastures film trip, Japan, to North America twice and all around Europe again.
New people became friends, old friends were visited.
The mountains and the ocean filled my heart with impressions. Never was the mood between the ladies racing so positive and motivating as this year.
Life goes away from the rhythm of the gipsy for a little bit now.
Sleeping on wonderful memories, preparing the next adventure.
Photos by tamara prader & patrick switzer
Maryhill! How long was I waiting to skate this hill! …and it turns out, I’ll wait a little longer.
I tried to take a run on the first day of the 5 day event, following Patricks lines down, slower than I ever skated. I figured I wouldn’t be able to go for it with my cast on and decided to sell my ticket.
But it was a five day event… I had to keep myself busy somehow?!
So I started a little „Inlaw“ race during the freerides after the first round of qualifying.
5$ entry fee, the winner takes all!
…and my list of riders was GOLDEN!
James, Budro, Dalua, Switzer… hell yeah.
My afternoon flew by!
There were some unexpected early drop outs and some rather going for a swim not even show ups. But other than that, it seemed to be quite a success. The riders were happy with some race practice and in the finals I had Dustin Hampton, Jose Guzman, Dalua and James Kelly.
The winner who took the 100$ had as well just broken the track- record:
DALUA!
Thanks for participating guys!
On the way here down from Kelowna, we crossed the border in Osoyoos where the Americans took our garden! We had expanded and had a pineapple sage and a thai basil next to the peppermint. Gone.
We slept at a lake and drove through the land of „cowboys and indians“ in the morning. Passed by Maryhill and ended up in front of Jon’s and Billy’s.
… no need to support that. This place would have a hard time trying not to be weird anymore.
One of the highlights of this week was the Mount Tabor race! Enjoy.
Spending a week in Portland, I learned some – more or less – important lessons about the survival in a group of skateboarders.
1 The dynamics of a group of skaters
The easiest way to make a group of skaters move is, to point out a place with cheap beer and food! Success rate: 95%
Coffee can work, sometimes.
Skating will most likely not work. It is too specific and depends on too many factors that you can never guess. The circumstances under which skateboarding happens are not the most obvious ones.
2 Drinking habits
You can’t keep up with the drinking pace of all the different teams! Some might simply have more practice than you do. Goal is, to realize early enough and when you do, stop drinking at their pace. Your liver might be happy about that. And you can avoid many headaches.
3 Spandex makes you win races!
4 Helmet safety
When we were kids, our moms told us to protect our heads. For all the sports we did, we had a different helmet, protecting specific regions of our heads, depending on the activity. Then, downhill skateboarding happened! The aero helmet is a self-made shell with some recycled helmet foam inner shell. It’s not about how protective this helmet is, it is about how cool it looks! It tells how much the rider cares about his style of riding. F* your brain. Who needs it anyways?!
So, get a very aero and expensive outer shell. If it looks ridiculous, the better!
Invest a lot of money in a rad paint job!
Don’t forget to find a fabric with a print that matches your individual style.
Consider that if you can still see because your self- tinted visor doesn’t fog up, you lose a decent amount of style points.
Quite important for this protection plan is not to crash!
5 Injuries
You hurt yourself? In the United States?
First and most important rule: DON’T GO TO A HOSPITAL!
You can buy painkillers. And if you want to rather spend your money on drugs, they most likely do the job too. If you’re not into drugs, go get the painkillers and mix them with alcohol, preferably stronger than beer.
Never get something stitched up! It’s a waste of money. You are a downhill skater so you’d typically carry around superglue.
Sit down, take a deep breathe, and superglue the sh* out of the gaping wound! Don’t forget that superglue tends to spill and superglue things together while you’re waiting for the pain to go away.
6 Strip clubs
Strip clubs in Switzerland are not worth going to because the lowest bill is worth more than 10$.
Oh, we had to leave California way too early! I collected a few impressions for you…
LA Freeways, Photos by Tamara Prader
Definitely one of the highlights was my win in Avalon at the Catalina Island Classic!
An unforgettable treat! Adam Colton tried to sabotage us… opening up a little plastic box with the words: „this will change you life!“, I expected the most incredible goody I’ve ever had… it definitely changed my life for the rest of the day.
These balls were made of dates, honey, nuts & the hottest chili in the world, the Bhut Jolokia chili pepper, also known as Ghost Chili.
… I didn’t know food could do something like this to a human body. As I was down sweating with numb arms and feet, feeling nauseous, Adam talked me through a wet and cold forest.
Adam’s treats, Photo by Tamara Prader
My stomach was mad at me for eating the cili balls so I skipped Surfing with the O-tang crew and played with Pat’s long lens while they gave their best to catch a wave in Malibu!
Surfing in Malibu, Photos by Tamara Prader
I had an open bill with this canyon road that cost me my PCL last year… time for a pay back! Skateboarding in the Malibu hills with some of the most scenic views and most challenging roads.
Dane & Patrick had a NOS day!, Photo by Tamara Prader
We flew out of LAX on Tuesday, May 15th. This is a small world as I ran into Corina Parpan, a friend from back home in Klosters at the Vancouver airport.
After the public transportation mission with two HUGE bags and way too much and too heavy carry on luggage… it was time for Sushi!
We could finally pick up our RV in Chilliwack, BC! And it works! We have a home on four wheels and start to get comfortable in our ‚Slumber Queen‘. Now, all we need is a name… Ideas anyone? We figured she’s a little bit like an Italian Donna…
Happy owners!
Oh, I have a feeling this could be the time of my life!
I landed in Los Angeles last night, got picked up from the airport and driven straight to the Newport Filmfestival where I was just a little too late for Drop, My Life Downhill… all skate style, being late for things…
My NJK leathers are just being finished right now! Too stoked on that one! And in a little bit, we’ll take off to Avalon where the Catalina Island Classic is happening this weekend. We are 6 ladies at the startline! The road looks like a lot of fun and I am sure, my jetlag will kick in just in time.
being bored in the air, by Tamara Prader
Catalina Island – the view from the startline, Photo Tamara Prader
I got to Los Angeles, straight to the Newport Beach Film Festival, picking up my brand new NJK leather suit and then heading out to Catalina Island!
What a start!
Fitting at NKJ, Photo Pat Switzer
We were convinced, the race action would start with some freeriding on saturday. After we had found out that we’d only get one day on the hill, the party became a lot better.
And the Mexican guy behind the bar made some very generous Margheritas! …guess I should have gone for one more Dollar Taco.
The Catalina Island Classic was held back in 1977 the last time. It was a great pleasure to meet one of the ladies competing in the race back than! She and her sister both did race and they still enjoy the island life, getting Sophia, Karens daughter, ready for some downhill action.
Flying away with Graham, Photo Pat Switzer
Rider meeting! Photo Tamara Prader
It is about an hour from Los Angeles to Avalon, the tiny capital of Catalina. Avalon is a very pretty place where skaters usually wouldn’t spend too much time. Only one funny story about this place, they have buffalos there because a film crew simply left them on the Island after they were done filming.
The race day started early and on time. Three runs, that was it for practice on a pretty technical hill. The heats were set. No qualifying.
There were six ladies at the start line! We got to do an awesome amount of runs thanks to the point system we ran the race on. Thank you Dubes!
The guys had some gnarly heats down the narrow race track! James Kelly won the race, Patrick Switzer came in 2nd and Alex Tongue took 3rd. Pam Diaz took 3rd in the womens division, Christine was in 2nd and I won my first race! Whoopwhoop!
…for some more skating!
We had to leave this extraordinary place on monday to go back to Los Angeles and a different scale of city again. Seeking for some more and different adventures!