ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

I turned on Fox Sports and it was showing a re-run of the Van's Slam City Jam and I'm stunned. These guys are skating some decent ramps, grabbing very high air and doing some really gnarly extended rail slides . . . completely and absolutely unprotected. I mean, no pads, no gloves, no helmets.

I guess what I question the most, though, is not how much gnashing got edited out of the final half hour, but what kind of liability coverage is Van's and the promoters carrying? And who would write a policy for an extreme sports event that didn't demand every competitor wear required body armor?

It's easy to say Street Style is not that heavy duty as opposed to the half pipe (where skaters are wearing protection.) The floor of the arena, though, is concrete (or something close to it.) The ramps are plywood. Concussions and fractured skulls are inevitable.

I hope Jack Smith or Maria C. reads this because they seem to be the most clued in to the current skate/contest/media scene. I'd really like to know how promoters are getting away with putting on contests that will inevitably have a kid get his brain bashed? Or his elbow mangled? And when it does happen, will the producers have all the blood and screaming on the air the same way they do on those "You Gotta See This!" skate antics? I'm not here to preach "wear your helmets!" I think that's pretty much screaming at the choir with those of us who race. My question is about promoters who allow unprotected competitors and underwriters who permit it.

Wesley you never cease to amaze me. Unfortunately skating (the industry) has promoted this COOL behaviour endlessly.

They use the excuse that these are Pro's. Unfortunately the injury rates are climbing. Did you notice how their shoes are not tied these days. Apart from the type of skating being done or attempted by most participants the ankle injuries sustained are also on the rise.

My ankle inury from the weekend was with high tops and tied so they don't always help but they do help reduce the risk of injury.

Skating has pushed no gear heavily since it went to the street in the mid 80's. That lack of control thingy people want. Unfortunately people don't sk8 as long anymore. They always come back however, if they can.

Claude,

I know about the Industry's direction. What I don't understand is who is insuring it? Even if they are pros, if they get hurt they go to the hospital. Question one is, "how many fingers do you see?" The second one is, "was he wearing a helmet?" If the answer is "no," then I can already see the lawyers swarming outside the ER door.

And as we all know, all the releases in the world don't matter when it gets to court.

It's my single biggest fight. Trying to get Helemts and other safety equipment worn regularly.

This is also why our sk8@school program is going to work out just fine in the future.

Several people dies every year because of a lack of a lid. While in France MB and i met a guy from Vancouver his son (past away due to sk8 related injuries) was a pro skateboarder.

Someday something is going to happen and things will change. Hopefully for the better.

Sure, accidents happen and people die. And that's terrible. But advocating wearing pads is just so square. Come on, this is skateboarding. (I say this as a guy who is now old enough that his body tells him to wear pads/helmet and I listen!)

As for event promoters being sued, I'm sure they have better lawyers and better releases and better insurance policies than any individual participant can come up with.

Do judo organizations get sued because the participants don't wear helmets? How about gynastics organizations? Boxing organizations? See where I'm going with this?

Funny, or better, interesting. We had the same discussion last weekend when we visited a new cocrete park before going to the Grüningen World Cup. We skated the 9 feet bowl all day and were the only ones wearing safety gear and knee sliding bails out. I mean this was a concrete almost vertical bowl, very fast.
All the kids there did not wear a single part of pad.
Someday some serious things will happen there I am sure.
I mean when they beat their knees, I have no problem, it is their pain, but, a helmet is absolutely the best thing you can wear.
Beating your head on concrete can defenitely make you handicapped in less than a second.

It was a horror show for sure - Chris I agree - I mean these guys were rippin really hard especially the long haired curly guy. Marc told me this guy is about to become a pro. He is already a Vans sponsored am. I mean if he doesn't change his mind concerning pads, his career could be finished, before it really started ...

During the session I had with Mark in this park about three weeks ago, two guys aged 10 and 12 showed up, even with no pads helmet etc., dropped in at the deep end and carved so fast ... it's good, that I am not the father of these young guns ....

sven lippert wrote: ... its good, that i am not the father of these young guns ....

hey sven,

it´s even better that you are not MY father.
in my teenage i was a regular at the emergency station.
(also for reasons not always skate-related).

now i´m 33 and my father is still dickering me "no unneccessary risks!".
though i really know it, i STILL have to learn it the hard way. (see below)
i now allways wear at least kneepads when riding miniramp or larger/deeper stuff.

this is my way to tell you why everybody should wear fullface helmets when downhilling:
(all pics 2003 - not my season)

please don`t misunderstand me - i dont wann play the prayer, cause i still remember the times when i was young. nowadays i sometimes have sessions without the full equipment but i feel more save with the stuff ...

me too!

I take a lot of flack and ut doesn't matter to me. They have to wear 'em in my sk8park. They have to wear'em in my sk8classes.

They can do what they want where they want. The point is trying to reduce the risk of severe injury even death in some cases.

Of late there have been far to many fatalities. I'm not just talking Pro's either.

Just take a really good look around a skatepark. If more people wore pads it may not appear to be so square or lame.

Athletes should have respect for themselves and the sport they love so much.

By the way in 1976 when I was passing a petition for a skateboard park, I think I was called square. Okay maybe you were'nt calling me square but safety is safety and shit does happen to the best and the worst.

I thought long if I should post it or not........I have to, it is over now, I am gonna fight the no helmet thing, I hate it. If you are not capable of reading german, doesn´t matter, you know whats it about, maybe a translating page might even do it. The dude may die or be handicapped for the rest of his life. Even worse, he is 32 and should be a role model, he is one of us....

Think about it.

http://vorarlberg.orf.at/oesterreich.or ... &id=326887

"advocating wearing pads is just so square."

Not the wearing of them, but the ADVOCATING of wearing them; that's what's square. Advocating the wearing of pads is square because, from the perspective of anyone wanting to continue to see himself as young and cool, the advocating of wearing pads is a decidedly parental behavior.

Of course, skateboarding has traded on the perspective of the disenfranchised youth for decades and, in my opinion, it is exactly this that kept skateboarding so small for so long. In the eyes of most of its' own participants, skateboarding's only for the cool, the tough, the rough 'n' ready. To be smart, to value one's own life or, even worse, to encourage someone else to value theirs is decidedly not cool.

What's the media's role in all of this? In my opinion, the mistake the media makes is buying into and thus perpetuating the disenfranchised and vaguely self-destructive attitude that unfortunately pervades skateboarding. You see... skateboarders don't just get hurt. We get hurt and then brag about it, as if injury and recovery, somehow, makes us tougher or cooler.

I watched chunks of the Slam City Jam street event, myself. I hardly even noticed that there was almost no safety equipment being worn. I'll tell you what I did see though. I saw Ed Templeton talking about how he's getting older (over 30), how that is affecting him physically and proclaiming how, "I'm on my sixth concussion. I think, in professional hockey, that's like mandatory retirement or something!" This was followed by more footage of Ed, ripping up the street course, helmetless. Pure stupidity... on the part of Ed, the contest organizers and the covering media.

DEAD is not COOL.

It's easily solved. Start making cool helmets.

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Andy Bittner wrote:"advocating wearing pads is just so square."

Not the wearing of them, but the ADVOCATING of wearing them; that's what's square.

That's right. I personally wear pads. I make my kids wear them because they are too young and hey, I'm paying for their potential medical care. But talking as if all participants in skateboarding should *by rule* have to wear pads instead of having freedom to choose for themselves, is simply against everything that skateboarding was born from and stands for in its essence.

Of course, skateboarding has traded on the perspective of the disenfranchised youth for decades and, in my opinion, it is exactly this that kept skateboarding so small for so long.

I disagree that it has remained "so small". How much larger could it possibly get? There are over 10million teenage skaters in the USA alone, and probably 15million or 20 million total in the usa. (that's nearly 1 in 10 of people who can walk). There are probably easily 50 million skateboarders worldwide.

In the eyes of most of its' own participants, skateboarding's only for the cool, the tough, the rough 'n' ready. To be smart, to value one's own life or, even worse, to encourage someone else to value theirs is decidedly not cool.

The first sentence is accurate - and who other than those wishing to capitalize monetarily (and we know that will never be "cool") would want to give up that image? Like the BLR guys jest, "chicks dig scars".

Creating the image that surfing is for everyone is what has crowded all the surf breaks in California with yuppie hobby surfers and baby boomers searching for their youth. Ugh. Skateboarding is a bit different because crowding can be eased by building more terrain but still...I'm simply not for making skateboarding any more harmless and mainstream than it already is. Your second sentence is a bit off: it's not valuing one's own life that's uncool - it's making decisions for others and requiring them to behave as you do or want them to (wearing pads for example).

-Rich
(who wears pads and capitalizes monetarily on skateboarders and is thus uncool, but wants to leave others to make their own choices)

p.s. as for cool helmets, coming soon! and something to protect your hips/ass too! see how square i can really be?!

i agree that helmets should be worn without exception while skateboarding. pads, however are a different matter. even the best fitting pads restrict movement which can lead to accidents. i speak from experience.
i use pads for skating vert and slalom. i do not use them for street/park (maybe sometimes an elbow pad on the leading arm), nor for downhill, where i have seen knees destroyed BY PADS.

Personally I don't like to wear knee or elbow pads. They are too uncomfortable and restrict movement too much. I've also learned to live with the occasional scraped knee. As for a helmet I almost always wear one. I say almost because I don't wear one when I'm just cruising around at slow speed but any during riding at faster speeds or down any kind of hill I am wearing a helmet.

?

It's something you can used too! I believe it's mind over matter. I know they can certainally get in the way for some stuff but overall it is easy enough to get used the safety gear.

I guess I just prefer getting right back up and having another attempt rather then go clean-up another wound.

I seem to get enough while wearing gear anyway

No offense to anyone, but here's what I've observed running a skate
program for kids for three years....

Not one single kid who said pads were restrictive was
able to make their "tricks"even 5% of the time.

That means for every 20 times they tried a move, they failed 19.
And honestly, I'm being generous with that figure.

Seems to me, if you're good you're good, whether you
wear safety gear or not.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think pros skip contests
due to a pad requirement.

Bernt Jahnel, a former Zorlac and Madrid Pro told me last week he has been judged and given minus points for wearing pads in a contest last year.

Chris Eggers wrote:Bernt Jahnel, a former Zorlac and Madrid Pro told me last week he has been judged and given minus points for wearing pads in a contest last year.

I hoped you typed that wrong. Giving a penalty for wearing pads! That's crazy!!

No, I didn´t.

It IS crazy.

It is as crazy as giving a skatepark low points in a review by writing "pads required"

That's just messed up.

Nothing surprises me about back door industry bullshit after some of the stuff I've seen and heard.

They only thing they care about their coin intake. We'll see where this control issue goes as they rush to resurect associations worldwide in order to regain the control they fought to keep for so long. The stupidest thing is that they are continually losing skateboarders of all ages and abilities because they promote unsafe skating.

Bottom line on pads is that if you wear them the chances are you'll injure yourself and possibly others less.

Minor restriction of movement may occur

hey rich stephens it comes down to this, whats more "square" wearing pads or being dead or not being to sk8 ever again?im only 14 and if it wasnt for claude it probobly still say the same thing u did but i only started slaloming about 4 months ago and its really fun.sports relie on new kids starting to do them so what happens when every new kid that trys slalom says pads are square and than falls and screws him self up. than there will be knowone to sk8 in 30 years.