The ESPYS are almost here so it's your last chance to vote for your favorite female action sports athlete, as well as all the other athletes who are up for ESPYS in various categories this year.
Click HERE to vote now, and be sure to watch the show this Wednesday night at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST on ESPN to see who wins.
Mark your calendar. This event looks like a LOT of fun and we heard that after the skate session they are heading to the river to cool off in the early evening - so bring a swimsuit and a towel too!
For more info on how the day is going down click ----> HERE
It's the weekend! Get out and have an adventure. Looking for some inspiration? Check out this new short surf video from Billabong. It features surfers Alessa Quizon, and Felicity Palmateer Laura Enever surfing and playing in gorgeous Morocco.
Travel, surf, skate, make new friends, have an adventure - these are things you will never regret. xx
How rad is this? Rachael Caballero has an awesome store, Bela La Vie Boutique where she sells her own cool jewelry like this "Skate and Destroy" necklace, plus art done by Kayla Caballero (yep! Stevie's daughter who also skates) and well known artist Caia Koopman. I bought this Chanel inspired cell phone case Kayla created - check out all the cool art, jewelry and more HERE.
Via Drop Zone LA Magazine / Cover shot by Mike Avalon
Not many women land on covers of surf or skate magazines so we were stoked when we went to the CHILL LA event and this issue of Drop Zone LA was in our goodie bag. It features local LA surfer, Surf Sista (aka Mary). Even better was that we know Surf Sista from Facebook! Huge congrats!!
You can read the whole article HERE
photos via Sonso
She's beautiful and FAST. She hasn't met a hill she doesn't like and she much prefers freeriding to racing and competition. Sounds like a true soul skater to us! Meet Sonso Masia and find out which skater girls inspire her!
Who's Rad? Sonso Masia
Age: 22
Home is? Madrid, Spain. I grew up in Avila, a medieval town 1hour away from the capital, in Castilla, the land of Castels.
How Long Have You Been Skating? 3 years and a half, I started on October 2010
What type of skateboarding do you do? Downhill and freeride (longboarding)
Girls Who Skate that inspire YOU?
Definitely Marisa Nuñez, Spoky Woky, Alicia Fillback; and some Spanish baddass like Cristina Mandarina, Laura Guancha, Eider Walls, Tana Rohrer, Laura Amoros, Ales Cardenas, Cristina Verdú and all the rest of #PrettyGirlsDontSkate crew!
Favorite place you've ever skated? In Norway, at the end of the fiord of lights, Lysebotn. But my favorite race ever was Catalina Island Classic, I was there last year and I had such a good time, that place is beautiful and the road amazing.
Favorite tricks/maneuvers? Bombing a nice hill and Switch frontside sitdown powerslide.
Sponsors?
The amazing people of XS Helmets, Arbor Europe, Daktak Shop and Nikita clothing. Thanks folks!
Three Things You Don't Know About Me?
1. I hate racing and competitions, don’t take me wrong, I love traveling and skate closed roads with hay, that’s why you might see me at some IDF races, but at the moment I have to start pushing at the start line, I prefer to chill and stay safe, don’t want to hurt myself and hurt the other riders on a attempt of wining something that is definitely out of reach.
2. I´m a Daddy's girl, but to get my own money, I work as a hostess on random congress, and as a skiing instructor. The truth is that my parents are my best sponsor.
3. I can’t fold a Camping tent by myself.
What’s Next?
I just arrived from a freeride at the north-west of Spain, O inferno (the hill to the hell) and It was such a blast to skate again with the Spanish downhill crew. And I am looking forward this summer to stay in Norway and skate some fiords hills, I am taking it easy this year and I won’t be racing, I don’t have money and I need to do my architecture Internship. But in September I will move to Delft in The Netherlands for the fall term and stay with the Sickboard shop family.
Make sure you follow Sonso on Instagram and on Tumblr
Last Words...
Thanks so much for the opportunity of this interview Cindy, and to everyone out there for reading it. Big hugs to Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word.
Un beso, Sonso
What Does It Look Like To 'Skate Like A Girl'? from Neon Stash on Vimeo.
I am sure by now most of you have seen the Always video "Like A Girl". Inspired by this message, Neon Stash decided to interview skater girls in the UK and ask them what it means to "Skate Like a Girl". Awesome responses!
Check out the XS Helmet launch party that happened in Vancouver with XS team riders Amelia Brodka, Hunter Long and Justyce Tabor. Looks the girls had a great time and got some fun runs in!
Photo: Ian Logan
Happy 4th of July!
We hope your day is filled with skateboarding, surfing, good food, friends & family.
all photos (except where noted) via Debra Moeller
Today's Who's Rad is pretty special! Angela Madsen & Tara Remington are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean all by themselves on the "Spirit of Orlando" a 19 ft boat, rowing their way from California to Hawaii . Yes, a 19 foot boat. And yes, they are ROWING. There are NO support boats, just these 2 courageous women rowing their way 2,560 miles across the sea. Let's just mull that over...
Who are these women?!
Angela is from the USA and Tara is from New Zealand. Both Angela and Tara hold Guinness records for ocean rowing. They are both competitive rowers and have done many types of ocean rows before partnering up for this huge undertaking. Angela is a disabled vet and paraplegic (she has competed in 2 Paralympics and won a bronze medal for shotput in 2012) and they are doing this row as a tribute to our fallen service men & women, and to raise awareness and money for their two charities. Angela is raising money for The California Adaptive Rowing Program and Tara is raising funds through "Row for Charlotte" to help a young girl named Charlotte so she can attend "Camp No Limits", a special camp for children who are amputees.
Here's how the interview went down.
It was day 36 into their row when we caught up with Tara & Angela via satellite phone while they were almost half way between California & Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific ocean. We lost our satellite phone connection at one point during the interview, and were unable to connect with them the previous day as the satellite phone had come unplugged in the night and lost it's charge. But as you will see from our conversation with these two rad women, they don't sweat the small stuff in life!
Angela & Tara - so nice to speak with you both! Can you tell us when you left Long Beach California and when you expect to arrive in Waikiki, Hawaii?
"We left Long Beach on May 20 and we won't arrive in Waikiki, Hawaii until July 24 or so, depending on weather conditions"
We have to ask the burning question - what makes you two want to do something that's as physically & mentally taxing as this journey?
Angela: "I was flying over this huge body of water and looked down and said "I'm going to do that".
"We both want to inspire others and let people know that there is a freedom of choice & adventure waiting for you out there. You CAN do things so get yourself out of the box and do it!"
** I'd like to note that Angela surfs and skateboards and once showed up in France ready to compete in a surf contest without letting the event organizers know she was disabled and ended up competing with all the other girls! Now that's badass!
How many miles per day are you averaging?
"The going was tough leaving Long Beach, California - we were barely making headway and the water felt like cement, but we are now averaging about 70 miles per day"
How is your day broken up?
"We row for 2 hours on / 2 hours off. When the other one is rowing we take care of boat chores, cook, clean up, and try to get some much needed rest"
What is the toughest part of your day/night?
"The 3 or 4 AM shift is hard. You are just tired all the time. Night is hard because you can't see the waves. Right now there is not a lot of light because of clouds - so no moon or stars"
This is a long journey in a small boat, you are 36 days in and have about 20+ more days to go, how are you both holding up?
"We have blisters on our hands, sores on our rear from sitting and rowing, and we are always tired. No sunburns as we both use sunblock. Tara gets seasick so she has that to deal with. There are times when we wonder if we should stop but then we keep going. But over all we are holding up well!"
What are your meals like out there on the boat?
"We have dehydrated food on board, mac & cheese, Nisson noodles, granola with protein powder for breakfast, pumpkin soup for Tara as she has been seasick. We heat water on our stove which is powered by solar power and cook once a day. We also have snack packs with protein bars in them and Tara brought junk food on board - Moon Pies, candy bars & Skittles - you have to have Skittles!"
"We are always tied to the boat with a 20 ft strap for safety reasons. Leaving the California coast the water was pretty cold, now it's about 70 degrees and as the water gets warmer like this, we will need to go in and scrape mussels off of the boats hull. And later we will jump in to swim for the fun of it too"
What have been your favorite ways to entertain each other on this long journey?
"We have Kazoo's and we play "name that song" with each other. We also have audio books and we started to listen to the book "50 Shades of Grey" but we gave up, we are out here with 1,0000 shades of grey! There are no sunsets and all we have seen is grey, grey, grey, in various shades, so we thought that was funny"
Editors Note: Tara played a song on her Kazoo for me over the satellite phone - how rad is that?!
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| Photo: Matt Cohn |
What have you seen while out there so far from land?
"We haven't seen a lot of ships, we had some 10-15 waves hit us near the coast but now the waves are about 6-8 feet. A sea lion came up next to the boat and rolled over for Tarah - which is very unusual. We have seen sharks at one point & we saw 30 or so dolphins cruising with us."
We heard that in rough conditions you will use a "sea anchor" can you explain to people who may not know what that is, how it works and why?
"It's a parachute type anchor because we are on a 19 foot boat and the water is so deep. The parachute opens up under water and keeps the bow of the boat into the waves and wind and in stormy situations it helps slow down drift so we don't get off course and it gives us a break from rowing in really rough conditions"
Technology is amazing - the fact that we are able to hear you clear as a bell right now when you are in the middle of the ocean is so cool - what other devices do you have on board?
"We have ipads, cameras, video cameras, 4G phones, night vision cameras and 3 Gopro's and about 100 mounting spots on the boat so we can attach the Gopro's to collect footage of our trip"
What is the first thing you want to do or eat when you get ashore in Hawaii?
"We definitely want some fresh fruit and veggies, cold drinks, a hot shower, and a bed that doesn't move!"
I know I was able to reach you originally on a ship to shore message line you have set up - can other people connect with you that way to send messages of encouragement?
"YES! We love that - we can't respond to everyone but it's so nice to know people are following our journey and sending words of encouragement"
To track the row & send a message of encouragement to Angela & Tara, please click HERE
Any parting words before we catch up with you when you are back on dry land?
"Whatever happens in your life happens. YOU choose whether to let it depress you or not. Choose the best life possible. You can do anything!"
Want to see the boat and meet Angela in person?
You can see the "Spirit of Orlando" and meet Angela (and hopefully Tara too!) at the Abilities Expo coming up March 6-8 in the San Francisco Bay Area and also in Los Angeles November 21-23, 2014.
Want to follow the row and know more about what they are going through each day?
Get daily updates on the Row of Life Facebook page
Many thanks to Debra (on land) and Angela & Tara for doing this interview with GN4LW - we think you are both RAD! xx
Photo via Sierra Prescott's instagram
Skateboarding. It doesn't matter who you are or what type of terrain you skate. All that matters is having fun. Sierra showing us once again how it's done.
Rumor has it that Shiloh, their 8 year old daughter, is the one who loves to skateboard so while the other kids will get to enjoy it too, it's really been built for her. That is awesome - Go Shiloh!!
Coming up soon - an exclusive interview with 2x World Champion Carissa Moore. In the meantime watch this awesome video of Carissa and get ready to be inspired!
Repost from Eva Chen's Instagram
We are stoked to have the raddest fashionista around, Eva Chen, Editor in Chief of Lucky Magazine trying out the GN4LW board. Eva mentioned she wanted to learn to skate so let's hope she throws on a pair of Vans (or perhaps Celine slip ons) and takes her new skateboard to the streets of NYC. In the meantime I hear that Conde Nast has some pretty nice hallways to skate...
Love the shout out she also gave to the non profit we are tied into - Girl Riders Organization - if you don't know GRO, please check them out. They do amazing things for women in this sport!
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| Photo: Tom Goldwasser |
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| Photo: Maria Ardnt |
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| Photo: Maria Ardnt |
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| Photo: Nicholas Littlefield |
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| Photo: Nicholas Littlefield |
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| Photo: Nicholas Littlefield |
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| Photo: Nicholas Littlefield |
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| Photos: Arian Chamasmany |
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| Photo: Tom Goldwasser |
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| Photo: Tom Goldwasser |
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| Photo: Arian Chamasmany |
You know the girl who everyone loves to be around? The one who is always encouraging others and rips damn hard herself? The girl who is out there everyday making things happen, as opposed to just talking about them? That's Valeria. She's known to skateboarders (male & female) all over the world for her rad style, grace, and general badass skating ability, not to mention her posse of girls called the Longboard Girls Crew, that seem to be everywhere taking over the streets, and encouraging even more girls to get on a board and skate. I have no idea when she sleeps because Valeria skates, writes, and gives inspiring talks all over the world not too mention creating films that inspire others. Her LBGC skate films are beautifully done and show the top female riders skating places most of us only dream about. This girl makes shit happen, and all of us in skateboarding are forever grateful for all she has done. Read on to see what else you may not know about this awesome skater and amazing girl. xx
Who's Rad? Valeria Kechichian
Age: 33
Home is? Argentinean - living in Madrid, Spain.
How long have you been Skating? Almost 7 years
What got you into skateboarding?
I’ve been involved in the boardsports industry since my teenage years. My first paid job was in a local skateshop in Buenos Aires, Argentina but at that time I was a street in-line skater (haha, I know). When I was 28, living in Spain, quitting some bad habits and in desperate need for new things in my life, I chose longboarding.
You co-founded and run the amazing & popular Longboard Girls Crew – can you tell us how the idea came about & a bit about the concept?
In the beginning Longboard Girls Crew was created to get more girls into the sport. It was something pretty local. We were 5 or 6 girls longboarding in Madrid and knew there had to be more. If not, we wanted to make them start. With catchy high quality videos and photos that sent a fun message we started to spread the stoke and girls and women all over the world started to grab a board and skate. We got a lot of people into the sport, now I want to achieve real gender equality and industry backing for females in action sports. Skateboarding is just the beginning.
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| Photo: Matt K |
It seems like there are chapters everywhere across the world, which is so amazing! How many LGC groups are there?
At the moment we have more than 60 official LGC country crews worldwide, which is just amazing. They run their own LGC Facebook country pages following the LGC guidelines, do their own events, videos.. Everything is collected in our web so it’s easy to follow the worldwide news daily in www,longboardgirlscrew.com
How can a girl go about joining a chapter of LGC? Are there requirements – like skating ability, or?
Longboard Girls Crew is an open community. Every girl that skates is part of LGC. If they want to be more involved with their countries’ crew they can contact the ambassadors through that country LGC Facebook fan page and do it. If someone wants to open a new crew in a country where we’re not they should drop me an email or write to info@longboardgirlscrew.com
When it comes to shooting new videos we usually chose based on the rider’s skills and personality. We want to portray the highest skating level but the way you behave around others is as important.
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| Photo: Tom Goldwasser |
Are there any women out there doing rad things (skateboarding, business, etc.) that inspire & motivate you?
Absolutely. Everyone that’s working for a greater good and not just for themselves, inspire me. Everyone that’s pushing their limits and doing things for the first time ever inspires me. My mom Graciela, my sister Carolina and my sister in law Mercedes inspire me.. they are such loving fighters. I’m extremely inspired by my mentors, one of them the amazing Coco Taché from the Swiss Magazine 7sky and the Ride For Shift movement. From the industry I’m inspired by women like Mimi Knoop, Kim Woozy, Amelia Brodka and everyone in the Women in Board and Action Sports organization who are pushing the female scene as much as they can. I’m also inspired by all of you OG skaters that paved the way for us years ago and keep working pushing the scene. I’m inspired daily by emails I get from girls and women in far away countries where no one skates but they do and are hugely stoked. I’m inspired by the new generation.. 6, 8 and 10 year olds landing 540 on vert ramps or ripping harder in a bowl than most people I know. Inspiration is everywhere and it’s a huge moment for women in action sports to get together and take us to the next level of exposure.
You also started taking the industry by storm with your beautiful longboarding films – what gave you that idea – as it really has not been done before with women in skateboarding?
I don’t recall any longboard video before ours where so many female skaters where featured and shot in such way. But if there is, please let me know, I would love to see them! When I came up with the idea of shooting our first video ever featuring 14 Spanish riders cruising around Madrid I didn’t give it much thought. I just thought that the boys were doing it and so should we. At that time the problem was finding that many girls.. haha.
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| Photo: Katie Neilson |
Can you tell us about your new movie OPEN and when we might be able to see the film? Everyone is so excited to see what you girls have done!
It’s almost ready! We’re just working very hard in all the technical features and in making a movie that not only portrays the highest longboarding level so far but also the story behind it. 14 female riders from 11 different countries skating Israel is quite a story.
On top of all this you find time to longboard, write articles for Concrete Wave Magazine, do speaking engagements and continuously promote women in skateboarding in such a positive way – how do you find time & what does your “typical” day look like?
At the moment and for the past 6 months I’ve been doing all LGC work by myself. That includes updating the web every day, checking what’s new around the world, all social media (LGC’s and mine), managing the 60 crews worldwide, emails, press, marketing, PR, brochures, projects, LGC camps, the shop, OPEN related issues (premieres, sponsors, riders, legal..), products… just to mention a few. As you said I also write articles for other publications and give lectures in associations or Universities about the role of women in action sports and achieving real gender equality. I also need to coordinate all these with my trips that multiply in the spring/summer time while I find time to skate, surf, snowboard or go for a bike run. So to be honest, I wonder every day how I do it! ha ha. At the moment I work around 15 hours a day but I’m recruiting new staff members so hopefully I can go back to sleeping 8 hours a day sometime soon.
My “typical” day while I’m in Madrid is waking up early and working until late night. I go skating as much as I can, especially to my local bowl. During the trips there’s no “typical” I just squeeze the days as much as I can skating everywhere, meeting as many people as I can and being high at life all the time. I love it so much.
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| Photo: Tom Goldwasser |
When you girls are traveling shooting the films it takes a lot of energy – any healthy eating habits you can share when you are on the road? Favorite foods, etc?
I’m very healthy when it comes to food. I just have too much of a sweet tooth and cake plays a big role in my alimentation. Besides that, tons of fruits, veggies, grains and cereals in general are part of my diet. During trips fruits and cereal bars save my life.
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| Photo: Val Grinda |
Favorite place you've ever skated?
So many! But I’m gonna say all the roads I skated in California for longboarding and the Pavel Indoor skatepark in Dusseldorf, Germany for skateboarding. Unfortunately this last one was torn apart some weeks ago. That bowl was a dream.
Favorite Trick or manuver?
Anything stand up sliding.
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| Photo: Tom Goldwasser |
Sponsors:
Concrete Wave Skateshop in Cologne, Bastl Boards, Hawgs Wheels and some of my friends and mentors.
Three Things You Don't Know About Me:
1. I can eat 2kg of dulce de leche (typical Argentinean sweet, a paste similar to toffee) without a problem. If anyone doubts it, I will gladly accept a food challenge. Anytime.
2. I’m a witch and so are some of my friends.
3. I cried when I saw Free Willy.
What’s Next?
The LGC Camps are around the corner: a week in northern Spain surfing and skating all day. This year I’ll do two camps, the last week of August and the first one of September. For more info check www.longboardgirlscrew.com/camps I’m also working on the Open premieres and I’m releasing a new LGC board designed specially for girls. The female market is getting bigger and we need products designed specially for our features. I’m also closer to the big ladies in skateboarding and together we want to push the female scene, shorten the gap between longboarding and skateboarding and work generally for women in action sports. Too much stoke.
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| Photo: Arian Chamasmany |
Make sure you follow Valeria at:
http://instagram.com/valeriakechichian
https://www.facebook.com/valeria.kechichian
https://twitter.com/ValKechichian
http://www.tumblr.com/blog/valeriakechichian
Make sure you follow Longboard Girls Crew at:
https://www.facebook.com/longboardgc
http://instagram.com/longboardgirlscrew
https://twitter.com/longboardgirls
www.longboardgirlscrew.com
Thanks for all you do Valeria! xx
Check out Bella, Sierra & Relz in the just released Pink Helmet Posse Documentary - Here is the write up on the New York Times website today AND the movie (click play symbol above) - so rad!! Congrats girls!!
as featured on Into The Gloss
Nice to see a lot of us old school pro skater girls (Judi Oyama, Patti McGee, Ellen O'Neal, Laura Thornhill, Kim Cespedes and Cindy Whitehead...) mixed in with fashion girls on INTO THE GLOSS last week. Into The Gloss is one of my fav beauty sites and my friend Alana alerted me that they had posted about skater girls.
Take a look at the feature and see how girls today think skater style is pretty damn cool.
Note: Judi is listed as Peggy Oki and Laura is captioned as Vicki Vickers in the article - but we know who these girls really are.
Photo: Ian Logan
Old school pro's Laura Thornhill & Cindy Whitehead
Skating at 1:30 AM in front of the Lincoln Memorial
Get out there and SKATE!
Tomorrow is National Go Skateboarding Day. So many fun events planned in cities all over the world. Hit up Google or FB or click HERE to find one near you. Or just grab your board, hit the pavement and SKATE!