do you think the sport will go on for many years to come even though it's one of the first forms of competitive skating? will it grow in popularity? become even more underground?
The majority of participants are over 40 years old. It's doomed in the long run unless they can convince younger skaters that it's an interesting thing to do on a skateboard. That's a hard sell because young people have many options and can do things on skateboards that are a lot more exciting than going around cones. Make it more like an obstacle course, on boards with kicktails where participants have to ollie things or launch off ramps or whatever, and maybe the younger generations would be into it. And get rid of the damn spandex and rash guard shirts and all that other girly crap. aerodynamic or not, it's not a good look...
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Pacifica, CA
"the pen is weak. skateboarding is as deadly as all hell" - gonz
The majority of participants are over 40 years old. It's doomed in the long run unless they can convince younger skaters that it's an interesting thing to do on a skateboard. That's a hard sell because young people have many options and can do things on skateboards that are a lot more exciting than going around cones. Make it more like an obstacle course, on boards with kicktails where participants have to ollie things or launch off ramps or whatever, and maybe the younger generations would be into it. And get rid of the damn spandex and rash guard shirts and all that other girly crap. aerodynamic or not, it's not a good look...
i was afraid of that... i'm young and i want to get into it, but i'm worried it's dying already...
Look how far it's come in 7 years. My opinion is that as longboarding becomes more and more popular because people want a skateboard that you can actually travel on. As longboarding grows people will see slalom as the competitive side of longboarding.
There are big changes in the sport, the average age of fast slalomers is comming down as the sport is being handed down from the original skaters of the 70s to a new generation of slalomers.
I think we need to appreciate where it is now. Unlike any other World sport I can think of it's all run off a big tank of Stoke. People doing it just for the love.
What's next? Well eventually I suppose we might get corporate sponsors for events. It's going to be a tough road to try to get the money in the sport so at least Professional racers don't have to pay out of pocket to compete with out losing the amazing vibe we have now.
park slalom and GS/SGS are a couple areas I think young guys can get into this the fastest. it's getting them to attend slalom events in the first place that's hard -- but have them start in the GS courses where its about speed and wider carves. TS can be discouraging because it takes a lot more practice and patience to run clean.
after getting beat by the old farts too often, some will naturally decide to step up and get competitive about it.
also we always bring extra setups that newbies can use. and keep the sessions going like clockwork, so the kids can fall in almost any weekend. this will grow long term long as we keep it alive.
If you look at the numbers doing it over the past 5 years, it's obviously flourishing. Yes, the participants tend to be older than average, but there are younger people getting involved.
I think it's gotten to the stage where it's strong enough that it won't die (as it died during the 80s and 90s). The question is whether it will continue as a fringe/underground aspect of skating, or instead become part of mainstream skateboarding (albeit just one part of a diversified whole).
I see kids come along to a race, and they like what they see, but they don't have the equipment to do it, there are no shops where they can buy the equipment, and even if they were confident/knowledgable enough to buy equipment from an overseas webstore they probably couldn't afford it, especially after international shipping is included (I'm in Australia).
And so they leave the race and go back to their normal skateboarding world. But the seed has been planted in their heads, and slalom is the sort of thing they might come back to in 5 or 10 years.
That's the kids. For older guys, the downhill/longboarders and old-school vert-riders are the ones doing slalom, and those two types of riding are also growing and flourishing at the moment, so the trend is good.
Old people? there are 15 or more college students involved in slalom at University of Northern Colorado...
I know more than 10 kids under 15yrs old that race here in ColoRADo
Slim has a few points and they are echoed by many other people.
A couple of the problems beyond the pretty clothes surrounding organized slalom are the time and expense. Outlaw makes slalom more available and other challenges beyond the humble cone may be incorporated.
Go run any kind of course you can with what you have and share your board. It doesn't have to cost a bundle to do well enough to light up a kid. In fact, the cheaper the better. When they run it into something, you can smile and tell them to get back on instead of sitting down to cry in your carbon. And by all means, have a kick.
Slalom is only fun if it's fast. I'm young and I know I'll be racing for years to come, but to be quite honest... more races I go to need to have FAST courses on big hills or I'll be discouraged.
The majority of participants are over 40 years old. It's doomed in the long run unless they can convince younger skaters that it's an interesting thing to do on a skateboard. That's a hard sell because young people have many options and can do things on skateboards that are a lot more exciting than going around cones. Make it more like an obstacle course, on boards with kicktails where participants have to ollie things or launch off ramps or whatever, and maybe the younger generations would be into it. And get rid of the damn spandex and rash guard shirts and all that other girly crap. aerodynamic or not, it's not a good look...
>the age of the "majority" is getting younger every day.
>not all courses are built on "fast" hills. this promotes learning to pump
and not just coasting the hill.
>it is flourishing, just look at the number of people racing
>you dont need alot of money to do this either. not everyone needs to dump money
on expensive trucks. it takes skill more than it takes parts.
>if you want to start doing boardercross [obstacles, etc.] go ahead and do it;
sounds fun ... people will show up.
>why are people worrying about "where it's going" anyway? get a board, any board,
and go run some cones. host a race, start a session, go skate.
>i'm new to it myself, but i dont see it dying out any time soon. there are alot of people
getting into it. it is a niche within a niche.
>why are people worrying about "where it's going" anyway? get a board, any board,
and go run some cones. host a race, start a session, go skate.
i'm trying to decide whether to start speedboarding or slalom-ing. speedboarding's pretty grounded with myriad races and whatnot. and look how active the forum is. although, hurtling down a hill may be a little too intense for me at times. but the idea of slalom really intrigues me, plus who doesn't like minis? but the sport seems a lot less active, or at least i'm not seeing the same amount of slalom events as i do speedboards. it's just really hard to tell if the hobby is going to last.
there are many more slalom races around me than dh. infact the closest dh race to me was in NY while there were a lot of slalom races/events in my state (MA) one being 15 minutes from me and had people from all over there.
I won't say anything bad about speed boarding, I got a lot of respect, although I have never entered a DH race before, other than the one at Dixie.
I can tell you this slalom racing is fun no matter how fast your are. It's very community based. Your guarenteed to have a blast even if your not on a podium.
Everytime I see a group of 'main stream' skaters walking down the street I laugh, because they are walking with their boards in their hands, who wants a board you can't ride?
I have to get some trucks and then I'm going to try to learn slalom. I have a lot of races, and a lot of good slalomers around here to learn from, so I hope I can get it.
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Soda Factory
I BEAT MAX (Wells) AT SKATE.
[Wells] 12:10 am: dude this rancid album is way better high.
What does? The obstacle course type slalom? I think it's the only way to get the best young skaters interested in slalom. Sure, there will be some kids that are interested in traditional slalom, but maybe because it is less dangerous and requires less courage than what their friends are doing out in the streets and in the bowls these days. This is not the demographic you want if you want to grow the sport: you need the gnarly crew since they will progress the sport and have the best overall skills on skateboards.
That's why Hackett has the park slalom series and whatnot - he and Olson are also good role models because they are all-around skate legends, and, well, black leather is a bit more attractive than Dong's motorcross chest/shoulder pad thing worn over his t-shirt.
In fact, if it wasn't for Hackett and Olson and DP and the other pool skaters doing slalom, there would be many fewer people getting in to it over the last 7 years. But those guys make it acceptable to do slalom.
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Pacifica, CA
"the pen is weak. skateboarding is as deadly as all hell" - gonz
Old people? there are 15 or more college students involved in slalom at University of Northern Colorado...
I know more than 10 kids under 15yrs old that race here in ColoRADo
That's great to hear!
But on the "pro" level, the guys still seem to be plenty old. At least the Americans. The site below shows the current world rankings and it's clearly not dominated by 20-somethings like it would be if the best skaters in the world were into slalom.
Sure, there will be some kids that are interested in traditional slalom, but maybe because it is less dangerous and requires less courage than what their friends are doing out in the streets and in the bowls these days.
For some reason, I'd feel much more secure olliing off of stairs rather than going through offset cones. Maybe it's because the kids who like traditional slalom just like traditional slalom, not because they're cowards.
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Soda Factory
I BEAT MAX (Wells) AT SKATE.
[Wells] 12:10 am: dude this rancid album is way better high.
SLIM
Just watch..there are 2 under 16 boys joining the pro ranks...1 could blow you away on a snowboard, and the other...Little 13yr old Joe McLaren and his 10 yer old brother Kyle could out skate you on any terrain...
and as for the fear/gnar factor...at a race I put on on UNC campus one of the local shops had their team do a demo...all ripping skaters...THEY ALL WERE AFRAID OF THE SPEED OF THE HILL...and it was just a tight course...mabye where you live people slalom on flatland?
I don't give a fvck what people think of slalom, can't get more punk rock then that right? Seriously... at this point I've heard so much #### from pool skaters, downhillers, etc etc etc. And its all bullsh!t. If you love it, do it and do it with a passion.
I got into slalom cause it was different from the other #### I saw around. It was NEW and that got me interested, whats kept me around is the party atmosphere at races. These past few years I wouldn't change for the world, I've met friends all over. We didn't know eachother for any other reason then skating cones, now we're best buds. Can't beat that.
When you practice it, you walk away with a skill that is applicable to almost anything outside of specific slalom competition. I skate with some Downhill racers that swear by it as training. For whatever reason they do it. Good on em. Its no better or worse then anything. Don't give me this challenge or skill bullsh!t, skating is skating.
The real reason to go to a race is to get crazy once the racing's over. There are tons of jocks in it who care only about winning, as there are in any competitive skating niche. But who gives a sh!t? The "sport" lived in essential suspended animation till about 2002 or something, and now everyones worried about keeping it alive... I guess I can understand that. But obviously its a pretty hard thing to keep down.
In the two and a half years I've been going to races, I've only seen the talent pool get younger and faster. This #### isn't growing, its EXPLODING!!!! We have kids in Toronto who are getting faster then old guys everyday and turning their friends on to it. If its fun, people will do it. If you're trying to make it "radical" and "cool" and accessible and ####, no one will do it. It can't be minor league or T-ball, its gotta come from the heart!
I'll agree with slim, park and pool slalom is some of the raddest #### I've done on a skateboard and its easy for the tech minded to get into, I'd like to see more of it and I look forward to doing more in '07. But I skate pool to skate pool, not whip through cones. I have hills for that. You wanna get more "long"boarders into it, start showcasing more sweeping fast GS, that stuff is as much fun to watch as it is to do.
But beyond that I honestly don't care who's interested in the sport, I know its fun, I know the people are rad. So I'll see you all on the fvcking hill, unless you dont dig it in which case walk on!
Where do you think Slalom is going?
Linear Mode
