Tag: vert
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Franzi Stolz
Franziska “Franzi” Stolz of Switzerland was introduced to skateboarding in 1995 and a few years later she gained access to a mini-ramp before becoming a competitive vert skater in the early 2000s, while also enjoying bowl and street. At this time, Franzi was a novelty since there were so few vert skaters in Switzerland, let…
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Kim Petersen
Kim Petersen’s name is among the legendary women who skated vert, bowl and pool competitively in the early 2000s, helping to validate women in this arena and establish a community. Kim grew up in a small town called Dewitt, Iowa, west of the Mississippi River, and had an athletic background in competitive gymnastics. In an…
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Monica Polistchuk
Monica Polistchuk is a legendary Brazilian skater from São Bernardo do Campo, who began skating in the early 1980s. Her website Oopskate.com is a treasure trove of skateboard history, featuring the likes of Renata Paschini, Karen Jonz, Christie Aleixo, Melissa Brogni, Déborah Badel, Yndiara Asp, and Tati Marques. Monica was motivated to create the site…
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Irene Ching
In a recent visit to New York, I was encouraged by skateboarder C’naan Omer (Hamburger), who won Vancouver’s Slam City Jam women’s street in 2000, to reach out to Irene Ching. Irene is a vert roller-skater with a long legacy going back to the 1970s, and I trusted C’naan’s recommendation. In this archival project, I…
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Arisa Trew 900
As you may be aware, Arisa Trew from Australia, at age 14 became the first female skater to perform a 900 in vert last week! Moments after her feat was accomplished, I received an invitation from WithIt Girl, which is a long-standing skateboard-oriented website since the early 2000s. They had received Arisa’s photos and video…
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Jean Rusen
Jean Rusen Keyser (aka Calamity Jean) is someone who has successfully challenged the myth that skateboarding is purely a youthful pursuit, best taken up as a pre-teen before you have a chance to be deterred by pain and distracted by adult responsibilities. Jean is a skater, surfer, musician, and mother of two girls, Jada and…
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Jodi McDonald
Jodi McDonald from West Palm Beach, Florida began skateboarding in 1986 when she was 14 years old, and according to fellow vert skater Heidi Fitzgerald, “Jodi brought speed, aggression – it was like, beautiful chaos when she skated.” [October 24th Update: Jodi’s battle with breast cancer continues, so please enjoy this post but consider donating…
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Leigh Parkin
Leigh Parkin (Blake) was a Del Mar Skate Ranch local who began skateboarding in the 1970s and competed strongly in the early 1980s. In an email, Leigh shared that, “I was first introduced to skateboarding from an older brother, we would skate at the middle school and the curbs by our house, I was probably…
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Stephanie Person
Stephanie Person is the first Black female professional skateboarder and her contributions throughout the 1980s are legendary. Skateboarding has always appealed to youth regardless of race or gender (see: Cheryl Thornton) but the barriers facing women & non-binary skaters of color to embrace sport and subculture are incomparable (see: Ramdasha Bikceem). Photo: Stepanie’s board says…
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Michelle Ticktin
Michelle Ticktin of Glasgow, Scotland was a ripping vert skater in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In October 2024, I was fortunate to connect with Michelle on Instagram, and was forwarded an update on her story by email, resulting in a major edit to this post. When asked about what or who first inspired…
Womxn Skateboard History 