Although I realize it's not entirely accurate or necessarily completely indicative, Slalomskateboarder.com is for the most part composed of skaters and enthusiasts who slalom.
In the past month (June 3 - July 3) TWENTY new registrants have logged on to SS.com with now over 1200 total. I always get a little concerned if registration slows down to a halt but this summer it looks as though skating around cones is getting considerable attention. Also, the new registrants are from all over: Canada, the continental US, Brazil, Eastern Europe, Australia and Hawaii and Alaska.
Also, before anyone observes the obvious, I know Silverfish probably registers that many new users a day. This isn't about comparing two websites. I also know new user are occassionally just there to try and sell some trucks or an old FibreFlex and they'll be gone and never come back. I also know a recognizable percentage of those 1200 are "old" users who have gone and away and we may never see again.
Still, though, on the whole it's a good thing to see the number of users who are on a slalom-only site wanting to ask questions and get involved. I've always said SS.com represents about a third of those actively slalom racing and it's not a stretch to say the sport has grown from a couple of hundred participants 8 years ago to well over 3,000 worldwide.
Donald Campbell recently announced he's produced his 600th Pavel foam core. That's a lot of high-end slalom boards. It would be interesting to find out Roe, PPS, Sk8Kings and other manufacturer's production numbers. (I know Icks and it's not many.) Couple that with CHIxILL, Airflow, EttSexEtt, Fatboy, Fullbag, Skaterbuilt and the new Gecko and it becomes obvious there are a LOT of slalom-only boards out there.
Keep up the good work.
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Last edited by Parallel Man; 07-03-2008 at 10:17 PM.
I'm really excited about the growth. We had a buncha newbs come to the Wiggle War a couple weeks ago and borrow boards to give it a try. And once ya try it, how can ya not love it?
One kid in particular is a success story. Brice B. has come to all three Wiggle Wars. At the first one, even the small size t-shirt fit him like a knee-length dress. He could get on his short board and ride in a straight line. Oles and Larson and the rest of the crew spent some time with him. They put him on a proper slalom board and taught him to turn. He came back the 2nd year a little taller and another year older. You could tell he had been practicing. He wiggled through the cones much better. This year he came back even taller and older, and this year he knew how to pump. He won the junior division TS race. It was awesome.
Besides Brice though, many others have taken their 1st shot at slalom at a Wiggle War and it looks like it's beginning to become a "thing" here in South Central Wisconsin. Right now Madison has Freedom Skates on State St. Maybe some day ALL the skate shops in Madison will carry slalom gear.
I has a dream!
I think the ISSA plays a big part in it. I know there are those out there that eschew formalizing and organizing, but it has its place. It's good to get everyone's thoughts together and shared. You hear a lot of good ideas on the ISSA forums. There are people that are really looking at moving the discipline into the future. They cuss and discuss new bracketing methods and ranking systems and so on. You know what they say about 2 heads being better than one, right? At the ISSA there are many heads all working together.
Although I realize it's not entirely accurate or necessarily completely indicative, Slalomskateboarding.com is for the most part composed of skaters and enthusiasts who slalom.
I have been bitten by the slalom bug and cant get enough. However when I type your url in my browser it redirects me to the Atrium Chamber of Commerce?
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v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v www.fullbagskates.com
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Scroll through the products.
Click them for different views.
You can now buy online!!!
Here in Australia, in 4 years slalom has gone from nothing to sustaining an annual race series, The Conehead Cup. Last year was the first of the series, and there were over 50 people competing.
And those competitors are all buying slalom guy, so new retailers are coming into the market to service them.
Obviously it's still a small niche in the skateboarding world, but I think it will grow in lockstep with the growing longboard market.
a couple of years ago my area was the heart of the german scene...and nothing happened really the last few years.the berlin guys had a small and overseeable crew,probably 5 guys all in all.
this year we have about 50 new guys entering the scene.fun races encourage people to pick up slalom too.we did a good job there too.munich has a decent scne now too with about 25 people.
the british racing scene seems to be growing like crazy too with lots of decent races the last few months.
somethings happening for sure,even though its a niche market
A "State Of Slalom Skating" Update
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