
Why Nora Vasconcellos is the future of skateboarding - kikitee
http://www.huckmagazine.com/ride/skate/nora-vasconcellos-interview-future-skateboarding/
======
williamstein
Surprised to see this here -- For what it's worth, I read Hacker News all the
time, have posted a few articles here, and I _also_ have skated a vert ramp
(at Rye Airfield) with Nora Vasconcellos and hung out with her. She's really
cool, and an amazing skateboarder. She also ducked out of the session to
organize a kids contest later that day.

------
Theodores
I sold a lot of bicycles during my teenage years and we had a sideline in
skateboards.

Sometimes teenagers would buy their own bicycles with their own money earned
through doing actual work. However when it came to BMX and skateboard sales it
would always be a parent that would be paying, with the child being one of
those that has to walk three metres behind their mummy in a very teenage way.
None of the skate/BMX crew had any money themselves and most were not that
employable even in sales assistant roles (such as mine).

I also found it funny how important it was for BMX/skater types to get
'sponsored'. Someone might give them a T-shirt once and they then think they
are 'ambassador to the brand' or some such nonsense. In their quest for
validation on small wheels they ended up just trundling up and down the same
ramps in the officially mandated skatepark and that was about it.

So this is the problem with the 'future of skateboarding' \- the people that
skateboard are skint and there just is not going to be a time when every town
has a skateboarding shop. It is a sport where the boards/wheels bearings and
T-shirts can be sold entirely online.

~~~
watwut
Skaboarding is not cheap sport. Skateboards break often if you do tricks on
them and shoes get destroyed often. You need parent to pay, because you are
unlikely to earn that much.

The other thing is, as much as people make fun of those seeking validation,
the fact is, everyone needs validation and attention. The big difference is
that some people are getting it easily, for example because they are good in
more popular sport or can be funny or something. So you know, if they can get
that need filled by going up and down ramp, then good for them. It is actually
healthy way to deal with that need (the us vs them culture that tends to arise
is other issue).

~~~
lloeki
> The other thing is, as much as people make fun of those seeking validation,
> the fact is, everyone needs validation and attention

The irony is that one of the most valuable lessons that skateboarding teaches
you is:

    
    
        You learn to not give a shit, and that's where all
        the power, like, really lies.
        - Nora Vasconcellos
    

You will fail, you will slam, you will look ridiculous. Get over it, deal with
it. What other people think of you doesn't matter.

~~~
watwut
That does not mean you dont need validation etc. It means that your need to be
validate does not interfer anymore with trying to learn new tricks in public.

Which I fully agree is a good thing.

------
laxd
Props to Nora! But she is the present of female skating. Sky Brown is the
future and the boys have some catching up to do.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acCzt-8LoRo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acCzt-8LoRo)

~~~
lloeki
> But she is the present of female skating

Why? This feels like ageism. It's not like skateboarders start to fade away as
soon as they hit 20-25 anymore (especially street). The culture evolves with
better emphasis into physical training[0], warming up, stretching, healthy
food, and less binging/smoking/whatever, and from Rodney Mullen[3] to Andrew
Reynolds and especially Neen Williams[4] they promote healthier lifestyles and
keep pushing at it well past their "prime". Relevancy doesn't stop when
someone younger lands a better trick than the previous guy/gal.

Also, Nora's the future because she's a beacon that people can look up to, and
the community's reaction and actions† also help set the tone for a more
inclusive culture.

Anecdata: at our local spot the number of girls that show some interest in
skateboarding seems to be increasing lately, and when we show them role models
like Nora, but also Lacey Baker[1] and Leticia Bufoni[2], they're like "wow, I
can do this, I can fit in this community".

> and the boys have some catching up to do

Personal pet peeve: I don't like that, as discrimination only stops when we
stop talking about it, and this just fosters an "us vs them" attitude, even if
jokingly so.

† that Adidas video is spot on

[0]: [https://www.thedailypush.com](https://www.thedailypush.com)

[1]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17s7o2yBXrE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17s7o2yBXrE)

[2]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fZWCxPevHU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fZWCxPevHU)

[3]: (this guy is 50, can you believe that?)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3tDvMG87Ro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3tDvMG87Ro)

[4]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OngZCOKyiqg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OngZCOKyiqg)

~~~
laxd
> It's not like skateboarders start to fade away as soon as they hit 20-25
> anymore (especially street)

As an ageing skateboarder I whish that would be the case. But it's not just
about keeping physically fit and keep doing your tricks. Skating is an ever
evolving art and the young folks are the ones providing fresh ideas and new
styles.

~~~
hobofan
> Skating is an ever evolving art and the young folks are the ones providing
> fresh ideas and new styles.

Yes, the young generation definitely dictates the mainstream evolution of the
skateboard culture. On the other side skating is probably one of the sports
where if you get to a pro level, you can stay there for a long time (barring
significant injuries and knee/ankle degradation). It is also an inspiration to
see people like Daewon Song, who has been advancing and refining his style for
~25 years to still be active and also still up there with the best.

~~~
lloeki
Definitely argee with you both, as I don't think the two aspects are
unreconcilable at all.

> Daewon Song

He and Mullen definitely still have a great influence on skateboarding, maybe
some people feel like they're "stuck in their own styles", or releasing to a
trickle, I'd rather see them chiseling and chipping to perfection, and pushing
boundaries. Then Killian Martin takes a hint or three from their latest parts
and mix it with his creativity, creating a style of his own.

------
holografix
Most interesting but of this article is the thought process behind her career
choices: I don’t want a huge education debt, I don’t want to compete with the
herd, I’m ok with getting lots of attention and recording videos of myself.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
It's not really sound though. You have to count the failures. And there are
options within the "system" that don't straddle you with debt. Very few of us
will make names for ourselves doing something.

I'm not sure what the dig at skaters in it just for the Olympics is about. If
the sport makes it in the Olympics, the best skateboarders may well be the
ones that treat it like a sport. Is there such a thing as living the "gymnast"
or "swimmers" lifestyle?

------
slow_donkey
There's always been this odd fascination with keeping out the posers in
skateboarding. Sure there are gatekeepers everywhere but it's so ingrained in
skate culture that it's puzzling.

~~~
gnodar
It's not a fascination, it's a defense mechanism that's been built up over
time. Skateboarding has a strong culture, and various brands throughout the
decades have tried to use skateboarding in their marketing without bothering
to research that culture. Look at Nike and Adidas. They tried to break into
skateboarding many times in the past and always failed, until recently. The
difference is this time they ingrained the cultural aspects into the brand.

As for posers, skateboarding historically has gone through waves of
popularity. It's cool, then it's not, then it is again. The people that skated
during the time where it was uncool are obviously going to be defensive when
all of a sudden it's cool again and there's a large influx of people who have
no regard for the culture.

I'm personally for inclusion, but I also think that if there wasn't some
degree of "gatekeeping" then the cultural side of skating would have been
diluted long ago. And perhaps as a result of that the sport wouldn't have
survived the periods where it was seen as something that only freaks and geeks
did.

~~~
lloeki
> As for posers, skateboarding historically has gone through waves of
> popularity. It's cool, then it's not, then it is again.

> I'm personally for inclusion, but I also think that if there wasn't some
> degree of "gatekeeping" then the cultural side of skating would have been
> diluted long ago.

As a skateboarder I feel it's more than that, and doesn't relate to the
"coolness" much. I don't really care that people that never set a foot on a
board wear Thrasher or Vans shirts. What really binds us skateboarders
together is some core _value_ , because to practice this sport, you _have_ to
be dedicated to such a level, or else you just give up because it's so
incredibly punishing. That we have to have this passion burning inside of us,
that our sole adversary is ourselves[0], is what binds us and makes it so that
I can walk into anyone I see with a board on the street and tag him/her in for
a game of skate.

That's also what acts as a sort of natural "gatekeeper" of sorts. Compare with
football: anyone can hit a ball basically instantly wooohooo just like that
you're having fun with friends, but even riding around a skateboard requires
_some_ form of dedication. Even skiing is more accessible because, well,
crashing in snow might appear unpleasant but is fun and all and makes for a
good laugh, while slamming on concrete is not exactly pillow-like and arguably
some quite twisted definition of "fun".

What infuriates me though, is the brats that think it's cool to wear
skateboarding apparel and draw ire of the crowd by acting like punks. Because
then as skateboarders we're just fine and respectful people but get some shit
thrown towards and kicked at or whatever by folks who conflate us with those
little bastards. Some "regular" people feel insecure enough they come right up
to us and get physical for no reason at all except us being skateboarders.
I've had cyclists kicking me out of bicycling lanes as I was passing near them
cruising around, or playing dare when coming up front. I've had cars trying to
hit and run a friend _on purpose_. What is just going across the mind of those
people?

> and there's a large influx of people who have no regard for the culture

Well if they have no regard for the culture they most probably _will_ drop out
because they won't be driven enough, and at some point the "culture" just
brings you along, and guess what, we're all sufficiently into it that we can
all recognise that if you're enjoying skateboarding, even if it's just riding
around, even if it's just a little spark that you nurture, well, then you're
one of us. Also, no true Scotsman.

«Riding a skateboard doesn't make you a skateboarder, being unable to stop
riding a skateboard is what makes you a skateboarder.» — Lance Mountain.

> The difference is this time they ingrained the cultural aspects into the
> brand.

Many people don't seem to understand the economic dynamics behind brands in a
fringe† activity like skateboarding. Pros and semi-pros emerge from the
community pool, brands sponsor pros, parks, events, video parts, which
crystallises culture, which entices people into skateboarding, which makes
them buy hardware at shops, which finances pros... It's a tight, dynamic loop.
Hipsters like to hate brands, but brands bring a lot economical and non-
economical value to skateboarding.

† Let's not kid ourselves, it's fringe compared to the massive amounts of
money displaced by mainstream sports like basketball, baseball, football,
soccer, skiing, whatever...

[0]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqpRZ69z8_8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqpRZ69z8_8)

~~~
enord
Wait, so... this "thing" that __true __skaters share, can the posers take that
away? If not, why the ire?

All my skater friends are very particular about who's real an who's posing,
and also rather hostile towards wrongboarders, inline-skaters, parkour-runners
and any other street-based activity except BMX (they're cool somehow). It's
all very tribal and I really can't relate.

~~~
lloeki
> this "thing" that true skaters share, can the posers take that away? If not,
> why the ire?

No, unless someone's feeling strangely insecure about his own self. That's why
I draw no ire _per se_ : The only thing that enrages me is more of a side
effect of _some_ posers being dicks (mostly because they think sk8rs are deh
bad4ss dop3 sh1t and making an attitude display of it), and other people
hating skaters because of the shitty attitude of people that look like skaters
to them.

Honestly I just compassionately find it quite sad that someone would rather
pose as something instead of, well, _being_ (or striving to) that something.
The latter is so much more rewarding, whatever it is. Also, there's a failure
of genuineness that I find intellectually bothersome. You could basically have
the same argument about anything, like l33t h4x0r kiddies vs public perception
of the "hacker" word vs the meaning of hackerdom (as in
[http://www.catb.org/jargon/](http://www.catb.org/jargon/)).

> also rather hostile towards wrongboarders, inline-skaters, parkour-runners
> and any other street-based activity except BMX (they're cool somehow). It's
> all very tribal and I really can't relate.

In decreasing order of hatefulness we hate scooters (because it's lie a
skateboard, with a handlebar. hah, trainers.), parkour-runners (because they
just use their feet. gross.), inline-skaters (because the wheels are merely
tied to the feet, how lame is that?), and longboarders (because they didn't
bother to learn to ollie). BMX get a pass because they slam their nuts on a
bar similarly to how we do on a rail (but hey they have a handle too, so...)
Buuuuut really that's all in jest, nobody's serious about it and we definitely
try each other hardware from time to time, having fun at how "easy" each
other's sport is and laughing our ass off at how much we suck at it.

------
agumonkey
I don't know about you, but something in the blend of raw riskness and complex
physics of skateboarding makes my heart melt.

~~~
lloeki
You may then enjoy Adam Chomsky's skateology channel[0], with tricks
beautifully shot at 1000fps, and painstaking zooming on relevant parts. I
recommend to watch in this order to get the hang of how the tricks build up:
ollie, bs pop shuv, kickflip, 360 flip, frontside pop shuv, heelflip, laser
flip.

As for riskness, here's Chistian Flores arduous two year journey to land a
laser flip down a triple set of stairs[1], or take a look at Jaws jumping down
25 stairs at Lyon[2], but the test of one's physical and mental stamina of the
former is much more inspiring to me.

[0]:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSv2qggIrJaprGDRSwgUQ...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSv2qggIrJaprGDRSwgUQqLsGcOxKt8us)

[1]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9KE2R92pSg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9KE2R92pSg)

[2]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GFIXrybfKg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GFIXrybfKg)

~~~
agumonkey
I've seen the lyon thing. Completely insane. Even if I love the mad max vibe
of skaters that was to close to deathwish to my tastes.

Flores video was thrilling. He says it, the sheer determination is what they
are about. It's something I value a lot after years.

I wonder if physics teachers should analyze that with pupils. It's so damn
impressive how much control they get out of their bare feet, in motion, about
to leap over voids ..

------
yakshaving_jgt
The article is absolute nonsense. Is Nora the future of skateboarding? Sure!
But she's also skateboarding's past. Her perspective of skateboarding culture
is as it was for at least the past couple of decades. We do keep out the
posers — the people who take it on as a competitive sport instead of living
the lifestyle. It's clear from the article that Nora is a real skater.

The final few paragraphs are a blatant attempt to shoehorn a sexist us-vs-them
political agenda into a culture where girls were never not welcome.

~~~
lloeki
> The final few paragraphs are a blatant attempt to shoehorn a sexist us-vs-
> them political agenda into a culture where girls were never not welcome.

This is in stark contrast with the video embedded right next to that part,
which clearly is not being _unwelcome_ :

«I just think being a woman in skateboarding, it was just a very solitary
thing, in the beginning i was by myself but also solitary and the social and
community aspects of it, a lot of guys are intimidated by a girl being at a
skatepark just as much as I'm intimidated by them being there»

I have a hard time believing Nora would say the following out of the blue:
«For some reason, women are more welcoming and maternal. Skateboarding could
really use that personality.» especially given the display of supportive
people laid out in the Adidas video, and _especially_ with Andrew Reynolds
acting like such a supporting, open and welcoming figure since so long. It
feels like some twisted out-of-context quote.

Also, I can't speak for a past I was not involved with, but this is the
skateboarding community I know: welcoming for everyone, of any sex, gender or
colour, or status, as long as you're genuine about skateboarding.

------
bmj
I haven't been involved in the skate scene for a quarter century, but I'm at
least vaguely shocked that Adidas has a team. Does any part of skate culture
reject "big business" nosing into a rather anti-establishment culture?

~~~
Disruptive_Dave
Absolutely. Generally, those rocking Nike, Adidas, even Supreme are not
accepted by those who support skate specific shops and brands. But it's become
a lifestyle thing. Somehow you see people like the Kardashians wearing
Thrasher hoodies and someone like me, who grew up skating in the 90s, has to
laugh a bit.

~~~
lloeki
> Generally, those rocking Nike, Adidas, even Supreme are not accepted by
> those who support skate specific shops and brands.

The situation is much less clear cut these days. There are the die-hards that
will never ever buy those newcoming brands, sure, but Nike and Adidas
skateboarding offshoots do embrace the culture and sponsor great talent with a
genuine skateboarding spirit like Sean Malto (Nike), Shane O'Neill (Nike),
Daewon Song (Adidas) or Chris Chann (Adidas); plus the shoes are objectively
good stuff for skating. They certainly have less of an extreme attitude than
Ali Boulala and Dustin Dollin, but that never was what skateboarding was
about.

------
DaggerDagger
Yeah. Feminism. Thrasher's bro boarding King of Road machismo is going to get
old really fast. The moment someone starts a feminism skate mag I'll be all
about it.

~~~
Andre_Wanglin
Is skateboarding going to be another one of those scenes created and,
curiously, popularized by low status males that will have its history
rewritten to have always been the province of powerful elitist misogynists
keen on wielding power to unfairly keep out the teeming throngs of talented
girls and women?

------
110011
Why is this on HN? Irrelevant, poorly written, lacks credibility.

~~~
reducesuffering
"On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes
more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the
answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity."

~~~
analognoise
I agree with GP - yet another 'culture clash' article with a marginalized
group focus.

You could probably create a Markov generator to create these stories. "I don't
fit in, look at my talent! Let's talk women. She'd stand out in any decade!"

Snore.

~~~
watwut
You did not read the article or alternatively, you lie about its content.

~~~
dang
This breaks at least two of the HN guidelines. Please (re-)read
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
and follow them when posting here.

