Retirement, wow! It has been a very hard thing for me to do, not race that is. I got hurt at a Red Bull race and messed up my neck and broke my leg. Then a few years later, I went down hard again twisting my neck. I had it xrayed and the doc told me my neck could not take many more hard hits or blows. He went on to say that I needed to stop racing skateboards, and it’s kind of funny, he told me I was already too old to ride skateboards… so I retired then for the first time. I was feeling great and riding again within 3 weeks. I raced again the next year and had a ball but the crashes where again taking their toll on my body. I had real pain to contend with. I started a new job that couldn’t give me time off to go to races, and hell… I just turn 42 so I figured it’s time to stop for sure.

But it goes beyond just increasing the number of female skaters. We’d like to see to see increased prize purses and coverage. Currently, the gap between male and female prize purses is absolutely enormous. Take the X Games for example. Cara-Beth Burnside took first place in vert and was awarded $2,000. Pierre Luc Gagnon also took first but wound up with $50,000. In fact, if you look at the overall prize purse for the X Games, male skaters had a total prize purse that was twenty times that of females. ($343,350 for the men vs. $17,000 for the women.). Thankfully, things are changing. Thanks to Burnside’s dedication, she has been able to get prize purses increased (most recently at the Slam City Jam).

Full-Size cover from the Winter '08 issue, featuring the art of Jim Philips.

Welcome to 2007…it’s gonna be a great year for skateboarders!
The renaissance for skateboards that turn & burn continues on with
a boom in design and materials, not to mention opportunities for
great skating! This winter, if it’s rainy or snowing, hit your local parking
garage for speed, slalom or freestyle. Check out some of what’s
coming this year: