When the stoke finds you

Yes, yes. I absolutely agree that the „spreading the stoke“ thing becomes old.

Yet, have we looked at the exponential growth of stoke theory yet? This one goes back to a friend in Vancouver named Mischa, thank you for sharing this with me. Like no other he had explained to me quite a long while ago what it was all about. I am not sure I can get this down 100% as it was brought to me but certainly it was along this line:

„The exponential growth of stoke happens when you are able to gather individuals that are able to get stoked on some else’s stoke. This will provide a never ending/ exponential growth of stoke.“

It takes no more than someone being happy for someone else having the best time. Sounds easy, right?

At the Pumpkingchallenge, a little bugger kicked my ass & in return I get to show him the fun of longboarding now.

Much love to parents who give a sh* about growing old & coming out to shred and have fun with the juniors!

This little guy is also called Mischa. His mom shreds, his dad also shreds & his younger brother will soon be there too.

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Souvenirs 2014

Usually, I consider it a good year when I don’t find the time to take care of my page. It can be blamed on the well known issue of „I am about to redesign the whole thing“ (but also don’t find the time to do it right, so in the end it doesn’t happen at all but also and even worse, I am not updating my page anymore).
Of the 8 races in 2014 I podiumed 5 times and finished the year on the 3rd place in the IDF ranking.

Off to the Philippines again tomorrow!
More stories to be made!
Happy skating.

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All Photos by @tamaraprader

Philippines, VLT 2014

End of March, Pat and I took off to be a part of the 5th Visayan Longboarding Trilogy. Three events in three different locations. A freeride, the Super Mango Skate Clinic hosted by Pat & myself with the help of countless hands & an IDF World Qualifying race at the end.
Patrick and I finally managed to double win an IDF race!
The Philippines were a whole new adventure! Traveling, the food, the people, the nature… literally everything was a new and exciting!
Morning wake up ritual: grab a mango & sit in the ocean to eat it! One gets used to that way to quickly!
Check out the rest of the photos and the full write up on the Loaded site!

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Mango mornings!

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Finally we won a race together! Photo by Colin Beck

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Siquijor Island

Gipsy feet

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.

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Photos by tamara prader & patrick switzer

 

Chixxs Get Together

Oh, oh, it’s been way too exciting this year! … I never even got to update this here. Sometimes, focussing on living makes more sense than letting the world know what you do 😉
More to come about an awesome trip to Japan & cowboys on the West Coast.

I’ll get ready for the first Chixxs Get Together in Zürich now! A longboard workshop on our city spot, initiated by Tanja at Chixxs On Board, a platform for ladies in board sports based in Zürich.

Embrace the sun!

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Travel Update

Oh, we had to leave California way too early! I collected a few impressions for you…

That City

LA Freeways, Photos by Tamara Prader

Definitely one of the highlights was my win in Avalon at the Catalina Island Classic!

Catalina Money Shot

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.

Adams Chili Ball

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!

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Surfing hard

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.

The Canyon Road

They have a NOS day

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!

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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…

Proud Owner

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Happy owners!

Catalina Island Classic 2012

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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!

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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.

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Flying away with Graham, Photo Pat Switzer

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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!

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…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!