Longskating in France

[Dieter Fleischer]

First an short presentation of myself ( Dieter FLEISCHER ) :

I started skating in 1975 and since this date I have been involved to develop skateboarding, first in Germany ( Frankfurt am Main ) and later in France.
During 1989 -1994 I participated in the ISSA organization, first as the French coordinator and later also as the ISSA Vice-President.

Today I'm investing an big part of my free time to develop Longskating in France (responsible national longskate coordinator). Longskate is now officially recognized by the FFRS (Fédération française de Roller Skating). We had an national meeting at Grenoble in November 2002 with 20 participants, mostly of them are actors in Longskating. We have elected 10 regional coordinators which will be helpful to prepare the French 2003 longsk8 season.

So what is longskate ? Some persons would call it also "Longboarding", but here in France we decided to call it Longskate as we want to distinguish from Surfing!

In the official French longskate rules we distinguish (for instance) 4 events :
1. standup
2. luge
3. buttboard
4. Giant Slalom

As you can see Slalom is back again in France! The interest for short slalom is also growing as never before, in other words Old-School Skating is back ...

So what's making Longskate so interesting over Slalom in France? Slalom is fast skating but longskate is faster skating and skating for longer distances, remember the Chamrousse 2002 Freeride where we rode 9.5 km in on time with 60 km/h average speed ! FREERIDE ... This is the key of success of Longskating in France. When Slalomers are meeting they do it mostly with the presence of an Timing equipment having fighting spirit in mind ... Longskaters are placing pleasure on the FIRST PLACE , mostly without chronometer, it doesn't matter if you are the world champion or a beginner. So much more people are interested in participating and celebrating good moments.

Why not to organize one day some Slalom FREERIDES ?

What can I do for the SlalomSkateboarder Forum?

Jani proposed to me to moderate the French section of the SlalomSkateboarder Forum. O.K. My free time is very limited as I'm also the President of the BLC (Bordeaux Longskate Club) .... So don't be disappointed if can't be every day on this Forum.

We have several longskate internet sites in France here one of the most visited sites http://240plan.ovh.net/~surfatti/phpBB2 ... /index.htm .
The BLC (Bordeaux Longskate Club) can be reached at http://www.bordeaux-longskate-club.com .
And my personal site is reachable at http://www.longwheels.com

Keep riding, Dieter

Turns without sliding are boring


http://www.longwheels.com

[Jani Soderhall]

Dieter,



Great to have you with us!



You used to be one of the strong supporters of the ISSA, being the secretary for quite a few years, and helped organize many events in Europe back in the 80's and 90's.



I am pleased to hear that you are now running the longboarding section of the French skateboard association which will be one way to make slalom more known over the next years.



I originally intended to hold a few slalom races next year, but now that I know you, Pierre Samray and others are working on that I think that 2003 will be my year of observation and underground work.



We must use our resources wisely to to build a solid and lasting slalom scene in France, in Europe and the world.



Count me in as an assistant and a supporter of your work!

[Vlad Popov]

No tight slalom race in Paris next year? No tight slalom race in Paris? But how can it be?

So many hopes... So many souls waiting and hoping for the real <i>official</i> international tight slalom race to happen. What if “Ridollis” and “Lucas” showed up? TS in Paris could have made them come out ones again. It would have been as great as Jani’s recent comeback.

Am I living in the past? Is it the end of the old Tight Slalom era and the beginning of the new International Tight Slalom one that requires 36-inch long boards to win World Championships?

[Jani Soderhall]

Just because I am not the main organizer of any events happening in 2003 doesn't mean that there will be no slalom in France this year.

I have recently been in contact with both Pierre Samray for the event in Antibes in September and the Association of Riderz responsible for the http://www.Riderz.net forum.

Pierre is currently discussing with other European organizers to make his event The European Championships of this year.

The Riderz group are planning a large scale event on the Trocadero. The application has just gone to the mayor and there should be an answer in mid / late February as to the exact dates. It could be as early as May or June! I have been their technical advisor and will certainly help them organize the actual race.

More news to follow soon.