YAAAHHHOOOO Betty is here! For those of you who live under a rock, or somehow found this page accidentally, Betty is the newest comedy / skate masterpiece from The Skate Kitchen written by Crystal Moselle + Lesley Arfin.  Betty is kicking off its first season with six episodes exclusively on HBO. HOWEVER you can watch the first episode on Instagram live now

ALSO want to give a huge shout out to Betty + HBO for sending us such a sick package. Feeling really blessed and excited to use all those goodies to share the love. This post wasn’t sponsored - but needed to give a little love and kudos.

The description of Betty states: A group of diverse young women navigate the predominantly male-oriented world of skateboarding in New York City.  I mean lmao story of my life right...but let’s get into it SEASON ONE EPISODE ONE

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We catch Nina aka Kirt (spelling change in this show versus the movie The Skate Kitchen) taking some ass shots of a seriously bruised butt. Wonder how much of that was costume makeup or real life. She facetimes our girl Dede aka Janay because they’re about to meet up for their first girl’s sesh!

It’s absolutely foreshadowing who the guy is with Janay but we shall see. PS shouts out that Janay had on a KCDC tote. But anyway - we catch our girls at LES somewhere *incredibly* extra. Enter Moonbear aka Honeybear, and immediately we clock that she’s a filmer, so our gang starts to catch some clips. 

Camille shows up with her two boys and immediately is a way different character than her movie debut. Then we get this montage of skating and general LES shenanigans. How many times should I mention that I miss being outside? It starts POURING and they all mob to a bodega. I wonder if that was real rain or not - but I’m going to go with not. I’m from Miami and I don’t remember it raining like that here.

“Phillip” orders a bacon egg and cheese and my heart dies a little. Camille realizes she forgot their backpack at the park and freaks out on her to go get it. The girls are not having how he treated her and they all get kicked out of the bodega. 

The gang realizes that the backpack is stolen. Janay proves to be the smartest thinker trying to get Camille to use find my iPhone. Phillip doesn’t have an iPhone because “he doesn’t trust the government.” I wish I couldn’t say that I haven’t met a New York skater exactly like that but…

Phillip is really upset because he lost his “Winter Bowl Key” which Kirt quickly reminds him girls can’t get in there anyways. Our first look into the divide of the skate scene. But they make a deal that when they get the backpack thief, they can get into Winterbowl.

They run into a friend Farook and meet Indigo, our baddie smoking in the van. Camille doesn’t want to hear her stoner friends excuses and just wants her backpack. Kirt, Phillip, Honeybear and Indigo pile in Farook’s van to smoke. Janay gives her stuff to Honeybear and her and Camille embark on this adventure to get the stolen backpack. Camille and Janay first see a similar backpack on a young man, and think they find gold but in reality it’s some mean 14 year old boy. 

Back in the van, Farook tries to remember his weed prices to send out Indigo to sell some *drugs*. Kirt delivers the best line of the show “not my fault if my lets skate and my lets smash vibes have some overlap.” She tries to get Indigo to skate with her, and speaks the truth about skating: it’s not about landing tricks all the time, it’s about having fun. This scene seems really chill but it is in fact the pivotal moment of the show. The difference between how men see skating and how women are developing their own communities.

Now we get to a Fuckin Problems montage to find our backpack through Chinatown. We start to see Camille and Janay develop their relationship and it seems like a fun promising future for our ladies. Meanwhile back at the van, Indigo is learning to skate from Kirt. Indigo baby mall-grabs the fuck out of this deck while flirting with this guy to sell some weed. She skates now though “it’s whatever”. My personal favorite part of the episode is that Kirt teaches the importance of how to hold your skateboard.

Janay and Camille have a terrible interaction with an old man and start to get a little more open about the overwhelming sensation of older men preying on younger women in situations they should be safe in, like the school bus. Back in Farook's bus, Honeybear realizes she found the backpack thief on her camera. The ladies meet back up to fuck this guy up. He’s sitting on a park bench and then starts cursing at them in Spanish but surprise Camille speaks Spanish and gets! her! backpack!

YAY we did it we’re all best friends wooooooo. So Farook drops our ladies off at the Winterbowl and Camille opens the door to get in. They’re greeted by some random guy who refuses to let them in. A guy vouches for Camille but she ditches the other girls at the door. All of a sudden the sky opens up and leaves our ladies out in the rain.

That’s all she wrote.

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Catch our Betty recaps every week here!
If you have any suggestions or anything we’ve missed DM us @quellskate.

Welcome to the first, of what will be many posts from our new series: Skate Pop.

We’re taking you through on this rocky journey of skateboarding through pop culture by recapping movies and TV that feature our favorite skaters. Kicking off the series, we decided to feature the most mentioned skate movie to us in recent history: The Skate Kitchen.

The Skate Kitchen Movie is so special to us because we’ve heard that it has inspired SO many women to start skating. It’s an amazing representation of our mission at Quell: visibility for women and non binary people in skateboarding. If you have not watched The Skate Kitchen it is streaming now on Hulu. Hope you enjoy the first Skate Pop.

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First, we’re introduced to our protagonist miss Rachelle aka CAMILLE about to ollie a four stair. I’m on board for this solo sesh…until we get this BRUTAL fucking credit card scene.

I am so squeamish that this literally hurts me to watch this and has re instilled a fear in me that I can’t even put into words. The timeline seems insane because you would never get released from the hospital after having major vagina surgery that quickly and then just WALK your ass home but whatever let’s roll with it no pun intended.

So enter Camille’s mom who is my favorite Orange is the New Black character–and she has the reaction of every parent who has ever seen their kid skateboard and fall: promise me no more skateboarding. Okay mom…I promise. But Camille does NOT care. I’m kind of obsessed with the fake instagram and then like google maps transit view of LES because baby our real New York journey is about to begin!

Here we go! Enter Janay (played by Dede), Kurt (played by Nina) and Ruby (played by Moonbear). “I follow you on instagram” is my favorite introduction also. But lets stack these clips ladies. I wonder what they’re actually looking at on that camera honestly. But cut to a downtown montage that is literally making me so sad to be sitting on my couch doing this review. “Can you do an ollie?” is also my favorite introduction…fuck that guy. Who else has had that experience?

I also wonder how much of this is planned or acting - like the car almost hitting Nina aka Kurt etc. Anyway, I feel like they wouldn’t just leave her hanging like that but we had our first day skating with the ladies! Camille get her clip on “The_Skate_Kitchen” insta...fuck yeah bitch as Kurt says.

Day two of hanging out with the squad. Our ladies go to this amazing rooftop tennis court scenario and smoke weed in a beautiful sunset. Kurt brings up and incredible point about the Mandela effect. I am obsessed with this. Camille has to make up a reason to leave and it is SO awkward I am even hurt emotionally.

Still sad we have to hide that skateboard...which another thing, how is her credit card injury going ??
WHAT, was it her birthday all along??? is she vegan? 
Why is she doing the skateboard out the window if we saw her put it in the bushes?
I have a lot of questions clearly.

Now we enter a vibey montage of time passing and their relationship building. Camille states a very sweet sentiment about not feeling lonely because she’s found this group and it makes me really happy. I think it’s so important to have a safe space to feel comfortable with…I mean duh I do. Also, it’s so nice to actually have friends to be able to hang out with. I miss that feeling.

Complete side note but obsessed with this bedroom with a couch in it because WHERE in New York is this. Also I love supportive dads.  It’s so nice to know that this tampon fear has made it onto main screen. I do think I talk about this with my friends but I have to say that this is not what women sit around doing all the time . So then we move into the shitting on men portion and that’s my favorite thing to do with the ladies. The two sexual spectrums are outlined by Kurt- Do you like sucking dick or eating pussy? So Camille likes boys – not sure why we needed to state that but lets see where this goes.

Camille is late to get home and her mom takes away her skateboard. Fuck.

But, a new day is here. We’re at cooper and Charlie, the nicest person in this movie, has delivered a board to us so let’s set this up for the shredding montage. Enter trap music and said montage. Also enter another corona related depressive episode.

Camille sleeps over Janay’s house, and steals her tampons. How’d that go? We’re living our best life now, back having fun at fat kid until mom literally shows up to scream at her and actually hit her in front of her friends? So bye mom we’re leaving your ass and new jersey long island and shacking up with Janay.

It’s so sweet to have this friend moment and hear Camilles story about her struggles with puberty and identity. I think it’s a really difficult grounding point in the movie and her relationship with her mother and the pressure to make these relationships work as you’re trying to know who you are growing to be. You shouldn’t feel that much pressure as a child and it’s so sweet to see someone listening and seeing Camille have that moment where someone is there for HER.

Anyway time to go fuck someone up. We’re back at LES! There’s a dreamy Clairo song playing while there’s just a full on altercation started by Kurt. Hi Jaden aka Devon, welcome to The Skate Kitchen. Fast forward to the grocery store where Camille and Devon both happen to work.

A small but important scene here, is when the girls are on the way to the party and they start talking about their past hookup experiences. Gaslighting is the worst thing possible. I hate having to hear how many shared collective horrible experiences we have with men. But this scene brings my favorite coming of age movie scene- putting lipstick on your friend to a Princess Nokia song. Fast forward through the scenes that probably make this a rated R movie.

I’ve noticed that this movie is really like just about these beautiful friend montages and a couple key plot points but just kind of feeling that emotion and without dialogue it gives you time to like bring it back to your own self. Is that too deep? I don’t know.

Anyway, Camille goes to hang out with Devon to take photos. My fear of heights is giving me insane stress in this moment but it’s clear that this kick flip photo shoot on the roof is a ~turning point~. Especially when he says: you’re the only girl i’ve ever brought up here oh FUCK that’s the worst sentence I have ever heard.

Camille goes back to her new home, aka Janay’s home and wants to skate this street spot with the girls. I feel the tension building. Janay is nervous and isn’t feeling respected which is culminates in a skate injury and a metaphorical riff in her and Camille’s relationship. Sad.

Camille tries to ask questions about boys to Indigo and we’re finding out the tea between Janay and Devon. Tension builds when Camille lies to Janay and hangs out with Devon. But at least we get another vibey montage of skating with the bros.

The next day, we hang out at Cooper. Literally what is good with this weed she is dead??? but Indigo just realized what is GOOD with Camille and Devon…uh oh. Fast forward, another day another Cooper scene. Janay comes back to the park to hang with her friends and also beat Camilles ass because suddenly learns about her “friendship” with Devon. Seems like this is not going to go very well for the future of The Skate Kitchen.

Not that this is the point of this scene but when Camille is mad as fucks her hair looks incredible. So anyway, Camille made her bed and now has to lie in it...and by her bed I mean this couch in the living room of Devon’s apartment until she literally gets in his bed instead. UH OH. I’m excited for this all to get better because now I am sad and I miss my mom.

And here we are, mom gives the best advice to just apologize. Squad scene, we are back. Let’s vibe it out a little more. I don’t know about you but I MISS MY FRIENDS.

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This recap was written by Adrian Koenigsberg.
If you have a movie or show you want us to recap let us know.

Stay tuned for more Skate Pop and follow The Skate Kitchen's journey when Betty comes out on HBO May 1st.

We’re back for our second round of stretch videos with our guru, Steph Reid.
Follow Steph on Instagram to find her classes. Catch the stretch video for feet & ankles here.
Stay tuned for more from this series!

We fell in love with Fabiana, Breanna and Una when we briefly hung out with them during Wheels of Fortune last year. All rad skaters, their energy and dedication shines through everything they do. When we found out that Shari was filming with them for Vans, we were even more stoked, what a perfect combo. We’ve been fans of everything she’s done with Skate Witches and knew we could expect something great from this. Side note, as with all of the Skate Witches edits… music choice was on point! Read up about the making of the film and if you haven’t yet, give it a watch!

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Just under a year in the making, Credits celebrates the diverse energy and personalities of the global women’s skate community. With a talented cast led by three underground favorites — Una Farrar, Breana Geering, and Fabiana Delfino —the film highlights the unique, individual style and expression of a group of friends that skate, hang and travel together.

Credits marks an important milestone for the women’s skateboarding community, exposing a title that in jest challenges the idea that women have often only been showcased in the “credits” section of skate videos. Here, in stark contrast to the former status quo, Una, Breana and Fabiana emerge, gracing the screen with full, complete parts in their own major video. Being directed, filmed and edited by Shari makes this extra notable as some brands have put out an all non-male video, they haven’t had a woman filmer.

Fabiana Delfino

Shari White by Norma Ibarra

“Everyone had the opportunity to film their best skating over the past year, with their homies cheering them on,” film director White said of the project. “That is what skateboarding is all about! The laughter and friendship, along with the battles—I hope viewers get a sense of that feeling.”

The film includes cameo appearances from Vans team riders and friends, Beatrice Domond, Cher Strauberry, Clara Solar, Poppy Olsen (who also serves as the film’s art director), Helena Long, Adelaide Norris, Dayana Young and director Shari White herself.

“Credits is just some best friends having a good time and making a skate video,” added Geering. 

Una Farrar

Fabiana Delfino by Norma Ibarra

Credits was shot in 4:3 with a mix of HD and Super 8, with footage captured across the US and Canada, in addition to Melbourne, Australia and Barcelona, Spain between April 2019 and March 2020.

Watch Credits on Vans’ YouTube channel as well as a Q&A with the director and main skaters from the film.

Jaime Reyes is arguably one of the toughest people in skateboarding.

At the height of her skateboarding career in the mid 90’s, you could catch her breezing down Lafayette with the Supreme squad, or doing kickflips in the Rookie loft with Lauren Mollica and Lisa Whitaker.  We had the pleasure of interviewing Jaime Reyes on our podcast about her skate beginnings and career in the 90s and early 2000s. After getting to know her more and more since the podcast, we wanted to catch up with Jaime on what skateboarding means to her now and her plans for the future.  We invited Jaime to Brooklyn for a whole weekend to find out.

While we already know Jaime is a badass, we were impressed when we witnessed her push through a stomach bug (we’ll spare the details) on a humid, 95 degree Saturday. She busted out a pivot to fakie on a crusty bank and promptly re-named it the ‘puke to fakie’ - a true legend.

Jaime played a little backseat DJ, made a necessary fried chicken stop a la Harold Hunter and never missed a Yankee’s score update. She even admitted she has 23 blue Yankee’s fitted hats (the brim color changes, obviously). But what stood out to us even more, was that Jaime made sure we felt as good about skating the spots as she did, even pushing us to land our tricks before moving onto the next spot.

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Kristen Scalise: I don’t want to call it a comeback, but it feels like you’re making a comeback to skateboarding. I don’t know if that’s more because of social media. Have you been actually skating more recently?

Jaime Reyes: I’ve been skating for the last three years. I went on a seven year hiatus. 2009 I just went into a dark place after my pops passed away. When he passed away I completely stopped skating. I had been miserable for seven years. Three years ago, I was like ‘you know, I need to skate because that’s what always made me happy.’ So yes, I’ve started skating.

KS: And do you feel happier?

JR: Fuck yeah. Relearning some stuff gets frustrating but hey if I did it before I can do it again. It’s all part of skateboarding and I love you skateboarding.

KS: It doesn’t matter.

JR: It doesn’t matter because I fucking threw down some shit.

KS: Laughs you paid your dues.

JR: It’s like being in a union. I paid my dues and I fell today hard. Still paying dues. 

KS: What’s the union?

JR: The skate union. You know, like union workers.

KS: Get that insurance.

JR: No yeah, I love skating. Trying to be the best I can at it. I’m slowly getting all my stuff back. Flipping the board, jumping on ledges. I’m not going to jump down handrails and stairs anymore.

KS: What tricks are you trying to get back next? 

JR: Everything, I just want to skate. Darcy [Jaime’s Partner] said I was way happier now that I’ve been skating. I mean I built a fucking mini ramp– sweat, blood, tears and empty pockets!

KS: Does she skate?

JR: No. She’s the complete opposite of me. I am so much happier and better of a person when I get to skate. 

Adrian Koenigsberg: What about skateboarding really makes you feel that drive and that love?

JR: It’s a feeling you can’t describe.

KS: I can’t imagine trying to describe that too. You’ll know it.

Abi Teixeira: It’s just you on
that shit. 

KS: That’s something I love about skateboarding. You go and do something by yourself but with your friends.

KS: Do you think your love for skateboarding grew over the years, or was it love at
first sight?

JR: I think it was love at first sight. When I stepped on a skateboard I was like dude I love this. I ate shit, I still love you. It’s like my best friend. I call it my purse because I carry it everywhere.

AT: How long have you been
skating for?

JR: Since ‘92. Before you were born probably. I got the cover [of Thrasher] when you were in your dad’s nut sack.

AT: What year? 

JR: ‘94.

AK: That’s the worst way to phrase that. Laughs.

KS: Jaime what are you
scared of?

JR: I don’t know. Disappointing someone, or people.

KS: That’s a real fear though. Not as good as butterflies [Adrian’s fear]. I’m also afraid of that.

AK: Yeah I’m all about the crippling anxiety of disappointing people.

KS: You probably have it worse than I do. Laughs. This is an out of the blue question: Max Fish then versus now.

JR: I miss the old Max Fish, but I am grateful it’s still around!

KS: I feel like Max Fish is not only a bar but a spiritual place.

AT: What’s different about it?

JR: To me it was more of a dive bar. Now it’s a little more clubby. For the most part the peeps are the same. I love going to Max Fish when I am in town!

KS: I can’t think of any other place that is a more open arms place to skateboarders. If you’re a skater you have a home at Max Fish.

JR: When I go to Philly I go to Tattooed Moms. It’s just like that.

KS: What do you think about the skate scene in Richmond? [Where she currently lives]

JR: In Richmond I go to my friend’s house called The Lost Bowl, and it’s awesome because he has a transition park in the backyard and the front yard he has a slappy curb. Thank you Pat Lowry. I learned how to slappy on that curb, it’s awesome. There’s a planter on the front curb. He built all that stuff. Look up #TheLostBowl.

KS: Why did you like the Seaport Ledges so much?

JR: I don’t know, they were dope. There were the old wooden benches and they put the metal corner coping on the ledge. The ground was so smooth.

KS: What’s your favorite trick you got on that ledge?

JR: The switch backside 5-0 and the switch back tail line. That was probably my favorite.

KS: What do you think about skating in Brooklyn?

JR: Everything is all new to me here. Obviously these spots weren’t here when I was skating back then. It was cool.

AK: Do you feel like a lot of Manhattan spots have changed since you skated them?

JR: Hell yeah! There are like 20 Manhattan spots parks now. Back in the day it was just Riverside and the one on the West side and like Canal Street. Before they re did the LES park, it was so bad before. 

KS: Do you use wax?

JR: We talked about this. I shellac a curb.

KS: What is that?

JR: I buy these spray paint thing, and when you gloss up the curb it’s so much better.

AT: You don’t need that in New York, with the metal and shit.

JR: Yeah but did you see that spot where I did the nose slide? That has so much wax on it.

KS: People love wax in New York City.

JR: Jaime points to a three inch scar. This is why I don’t like wax.

KS: What happened?

JR: Someone waxed a
metal curb.

KS: Oh cool.

JR: Metal. Angle. Curb. I slid out and caught the corner. I had to get 20 stitches and 5 internal stitches. This was recently.

KS: I’ve never heard of internal stitches.

JR: Go look at the photo.

KS: I don’t want to look at your injuries anymore.

JR: It was so bad that the doctor thought I got bit by a dog, and I kept skating, drove home and I told my girl that I had to clean my arm up… I didn’t know. It was cold, so it must have been the fall and then blood started dripping down my arm. As soon as I took my long sleeve off, she was like you have to go to the ER now.

KS: Oh my god.

AK: Is this going to make me so nauseous?

KS: This looks a lot like the steak picture next to that post.

JR: That’s a prime rib by the way, that I cooked to a perfect medium rare, it was delicious.

KS: You earned it with those
stitches yo. 

JR: I didn’t know the whole time. The doctor was like you drove from Richmond to home, an hour, and back. Yeah, I didn’t take my long sleeve off. He was like ‘you didn’t feel that?’. He thought I was crazy.

KS: It is crazy! We skated around all weekend and you definitely skoached me.

JR: Yes, I would like to be an Olympic Assistant Skoach. Mimi Knoop, holla at ya girl.

KS: Can we start a petition? Like the Alex White Petition? It does make sense to have a park skoach and a street skoach.

JR: I would love to be a skoach.

KS: What do you like about skoaching?

JR: I just want to get people hyped.

KS: I think you’re really good at that. You really pushed me today, and I could see how you can push someone who really has skills. Laughs.

JR: I recently skoached some kids last weekend. That was fun.

AK: Do you feel like that just comes naturally because you’re interested in seeing other people skate?

JR: I am interested in everyone having fun. If they want to learn, I’ll skoach the shit out of you.

KS: Can you tell if people want it?

JR: Yeah. I hate “I can’t”. Fuck it, at least try. I think that’s probably the most important thing in the skoach. It’s not that I can’t do that, it’s I haven’t done it yet. You at least haven’t tried.

AK: I think that’s cool though, that that’s your approach to it. Especially because you don’t have to be that person.

JR: I can tell, if you want to learn, I will be your hype woman. I am going to be so hyped when you land it.

Abi T: It’s always good to have that one person.

KS: You’re hyped for yourself but you kind of feel like you did it for that person too.

AT: That shit does get me hyped. 

JR: You did a kick flip today!

AT: I tried.

JR: We all made you do a rock to fakie. 

AK: What is one of your favorite Skoaching memories?

JR: Having them land it. Everyone landing that trick. Their reaction is priceless, they’re so psyched. It doesn’t matter what the trick is.

KS: In the car, we were talking about music. Favorite song you’ve ever skated to?

JR: Gloria Estefan, Falling in Love.

KS: You said your friend Darin put the retrospective together. Who is Darin?

JR: Darin Lee is a dude I grew up skating with in Hawaii. He filmed 90% of my Hawaii stuff.

KS: What’s your favorite type of music?

JR: I like everything. Cage the Elephant. Modest Mouse. When in Rome. I loved Jay-Z’s first three albums. I used to always skate to the Pixies back in the day. Smashing Pumpkins were my favorite growing up. Let’s listen to Mayonnaise right now.

AK: How do you feel when people are making retrospectives of you? Or talking about your career in the past tense, even though you’re still here and still active.

JR: I guess it should bug me but I am just here to skate.

AK: I don’t mean to get in your head.

KS: If you’re here to skate and have fun, why should it bug you? Do you think social media has influenced skating?

JR: It glorified skateboarding. I don’t know if that’s the right word but you see more skateboarding now through social media period.

KS: Totally. Do you interact with skateboarding differently since joining social media? 

JR: I’m not sure. There’s a lot of good fuckers out there.

KS: Do you wish there was social media in the 90’s.

JR: No.

KS: I wouldn’t either

JR: I came up without it.

AK: The only reason I would wish there was social media in the 90’s is so that I could see better quality footage of the people that I really haven’t gotten to see.

JR: If there was social media in the 90’s, I think I spoke about this before, there would have been a lot more girls out there that we didn’t know about.

KS: Do you think there are more girls out there now because of social media?

JR: Oh yeah.

KS: What are some current skaters that are crushing it?

JR: Everyone’s killing it. Everyone. There’s too many to name.

AK: To go back to our social media question, do you think there’s a combined stoke that is pushing everyone?

JR: Yeah I think so.

KS: Do you think people are just as hyped to see it on social media as they are in person? Like I can see my friends land a trick in Australia.

JR: Yeah if you have a heart, you’re fucking stoked. You should always be stoked to see someone else land shit.

KS: This might just be because of my radar, but you’ve been at a lot more women focused events like Wheels of Fortune, or the SK8 Babes meet-up. Have you always attended women’s meet-ups? Is that something new?

JR: I go to wherever, whenever, whoever flys me out. Thank you to those sponsors!

KS: Are you seeing more women’s skate meet ups as
of late?

JR: Yeah in the last few years, there are more women’s events than before. It’s definitely due to social media and it is a positive thing. I don’t care if you’re brown, yellow, green, dude, chick…just skate.

AK: I feel like if you feel comfortable about the people you’re with, it’s such a good feeling.

KS: That’s what really interests me about you [Jaime] and interviews with Elissa Steamer. You are two people that have just stuck out to me as like ‘yeah I’ve just always skated’. I think there’s a personality type that is you and Steamer that is like ‘I just love it so I did it.’  I really connect with that feeling. I’m just going to show up to the park and you can just wait for me, I don’t care about how slow I’m going, I’m learning. I think that’s super sick.
    Anyway, there’s been a few movies featuring skateboarding lately, such as Mid 90’s. How do you feel about how people are portraying skateboarding?

JR: I think that Mid 90’s did a great job. They didn’t glorify skateboarding. They showed both sides, that everyone has their fucking problems. It reminded me of when I was in the 90’s growing up skateboarding.
     We all were coming from fucked up backgrounds. There were only a couple of us whose parents are together. I identified with Mid 90’s. It was the crew I grew up with.

KS: I do think the perspective they took was cool.

JR: You know, skateboarding really brings all types of people together.
     That’s a beautiful thing. 

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Photo by Erin O’Brien

We are so excited to introduce a new stretch series on Quell with our favorite Yoga instructor and skate queen, Stephanie Reid.

Steph teaches the perfect combination of poses to reach all the best stretches for skateboarding. You may have taken a class or two with Steph last summer at our takeover of the The General by Vans space or at Alo Yoga in Williamsburg. We wanted to launch the series with a little Q+A to learn more about Steph!

Watch the video after the interview and tune in next Wednesday, April 15th to a zoom class by Steph password Quell.

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Photo by Erin O’Brien

Tell us about yourself! (Where are you from, any little bio information)

I was born in PA, moved to England for a year, then to NJ (where I primarily grew up), then AZ (where I went to the University of Arizona), and finally NYC. I moved to the city to be closer to my family and pursue a career in graphic design and now I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. Although, I really did love the desert- Arizona is such an underrated place.

How did you get into yoga? How did you get into skating?

I did gymnastics for 16 years and my coaches would often have us try different workouts- weight training, running, ballet, calisthenics, yoga and probably more (they got very creative when it came to conditioning). So the very first time I did yoga, I didn’t think much of it. But, when I blew out my knee and decided stop competing, yoga was recommended as part of my recovery. So, I joined a fitness center near my house and started taking classes with my mom. I remember feeling mortified when I walked into my first class and saw that I was the youngest person there by about 40 years. But, I rolled out my mat and focused on the teacher, thinking this is gonna be easy- I was a level 10 gymnast. Boy was I wrong! My arms were shaking in down dog and I left so humbled. The thing with yoga is, you could be in the best shape of your life, but if you’ve never used your muscles in the way that yoga engages them, it’s going to be difficult. 

As an athlete, I loved the physical challenge of yoga. But, I was completely unaccustomed to the practice's mentality. Yoga asks you to respect your body’s limitations, not compare yourself to anyone (including former versions of yourself) and strive for presence over perfection. I felt so liberated! I didn’t realize that my ego was as battered and bruised from gymnastics as my body. The more I practiced the better I felt. One of my favorite teachers in Arizona noticed my dedication to the practice and suggested I do a teacher training. I used to be so shy so, I dismissed the idea at first. But the more I thought about it, I began to realize what a cool opportunity it would be to share my passion and learn more about the practice that had transformed my life. 5 years of teaching and over 350 hours of training later, and I’m more in love with yoga than ever.

Skating didn’t enter into my life until a little over a year ago. My sister, Christi, used to do it in high school and my other sister, Lizzi, picked it up after she graduated from Pratt, so it was always in my peripherals. When I moved to NY after college, I had a hard time figuring out where I fit in. It’s crazy how you can be so surrounded by people and still feel lonely. Lizzi related to that struggle and invited me to a girls skate meet up at Skate Brooklyn. She assured me that skating’s how she made all of her friends post college and figured my background would help me pick it up quickly. I was so self conscious at first, but was lucky to have Quell and Grl Swirl hosting meet ups for beginners all the time. Lizzi had also been skating for around 7 or 8 years by then, so it helped to be associated with someone who was so ingrained in the community. I fell in love with the adrenaline and the people! Now I can’t imagine my life without skateboarding.

Photo by Erin O’Brien

When did you start to combine the idea of yoga for skateboarders?

When I started skating a lot, I couldn’t believe how sore it made my body. I ride goofy, so my left achilles got super tight from pushing, while my right hamstring would get sore from balancing on my board. My hips felt tight from squatting and jumping for hours on end too, so yoga became an essential way to stretch off my soreness and prevent injury. I also noticed how applicable yoga’s mentality was to skating. Yoga trains you to quiet the mind and focus on your breath and movement, thereby increasing your proprioception. In skating, this prevents you from getting paralyzed by thoughts of all the ways you can get hurt by trying a new trick and trusting in your body awareness. Fear plays such a big role in skating- it did in gymnastics as well. You can get really hurt trying these tricks and not everyone is able to push past that possibility to fully commit- and that’s often when the worst injuries happen. So, yoga really compliments skating both the physically and mentally.

I started to progress really quickly and people were noticing! At first I just attributed it to my history as a gymnast, but then I realized what a big role yoga was playing. So, I started recommending skaters try it. Especially because I would hear a lot of them complaining of soreness and saying they needed to stretch more, but didn’t know what to do. Unfortunately, a lot of skaters were dismissive of yoga- either they didn’t think they would be good at it, couldn’t afford it or were intimidated to enter into a community that had never reached out to them. So when Quell approached me about teaching some classes at The General by Vans in Williamsburg last summer, I jumped at the opportunity! I was excited to curate a yoga experience specifically for skaters so that they could see how beneficial the practice is for them. 

What is your advice for someone who is first starting to practice yoga?

Leave your expectations at the door and be patient with your practice. Failure is part of any learning process and progression takes time. Just like with skating, start off with the basics- you’re not going to try a kick flip before you even know how to stand on your board, right? The same applies to yoga. That’s why I always offer variations of poses with props to help you on your yoga journey. Accept where you are at in the present moment and use it as an opportunity to better yourself for the future.
What is your favorite yoga position and what is your favorite skate trick so far?

My favorite yoga position is handstand- it's my happy place. My favorite skate trick is a fakie 360 kick turn (also known as a dizzy Lizzi). My sister makes them look so effortless and cool- I remember seeing her do it for the first time in a skirt on the mini ramp at Blackbear bar. She was the only girl skating and when she did that trick all the guys tapped their boards for her. I’m so stoked that I recently learned how to do it myself!

How are you staying sane during social distancing?

Lot’s of yoga and Netflix. I’m so grateful for my roommates and video calls with friends! Staying in touch with loved ones during this time of isolation is super important.

Anything else you want to add/share?

I am so grateful for how welcoming the skate community has become because I know it wasn’t always like that- especially for girls. So I want to shout out my sister, Lizzi, the girls from Late Skate, Quell, Grl Swirl and all you individual trailblazers (Yaz, Kava and Dee, just to name a few) for paving the way for girls like me! You created this incredible community of positivity and support in a city that so often chews people up and spits them back out. I feel so lucky to be a part of it and contribute what I have to offer- yoga, backflips, and of course skating. 

Where and when do you teach yoga– local to Brooklyn? (If schedule is staying the same post COVID 19?)

I teach Yoga for Skaters classes twice a month at the Alo store in Williamsburg. The dates vary month to month, so follow me on Instagram (@stephreid333) to stay tuned for upcoming classes! 

Zorah Olivia is probably responsible for your favorite skate photos.

She’s a tour de force in the skate industry, covering everything from: the X Games to the upcoming Olympics and goofy portraits of our skate icons. Zorah’s crystal clear style stops each moment so perfectly. This photo series from the 2019 Dew Tour offers a snapshot of what Zorah captures best. We sat down to talk the contest, Zorah’s life, and everything skate photography.

Photos by Zorah Olivia. A version of this interview appears in Issue 004 of Quell Skateboarding. Buy a copy online here.

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Can you give us a brief history of how you started skating and shooting?

I started skating when I was 10 years old. I remember watching my cousins play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and I was hooked. I’ve honestly always been shooting photos. Both of my parents are photographers, so I grew up in an artistic household.  Naturally at first as a kid, you want to do the exact opposite of what your parents do, so skateboarding was my main focus for years. It wasn’t until I turned 16 that I really started taking photography seriously. 

How do you think going to Woodward for skating and for photography has influenced your approach to skateboarding and capturing skateboarding?

Going to Woodward as a kid absolutely shaped who I am as an individual, skateboarder and a photographer. Woodward was the first time that I was exposed to other female skaters. I felt free and able to fully be myself. When they introduced the photography program to camp in 2009 my entire world changed. For the first time, I was given access to top professional skateboarders, the best photography equipment, and real life photo scenarios. To this day, I’m still incredibly grateful for that time in my life.

Often skate photography is just about the ‘spot’ as it is about the subject or the trick - can you talk a bit about how you approach skate spots and angles?

The majority of the time, skaters and filmers introduce me to spots, so when I go out with them I’m seeing everything for the first time. You can make a creative image out of any spot, it’s all about using your eye to pull the best qualities out of any location.  The key is to pay attention to the details, colors, textures, and human elements. 

What’s your ideal setting for taking skate photos?

A spontaneous phone call from a friend, meeting up for iced coffee first, and exploring the city for unusual spots. It’s all about being spontaneous for me and my crew. 

Do you approach street, park and contest photos differently?

Street definitely comes naturally for me, park and contest shooting is always a necessary learning experience. I just observe first and pre-visualize how I want to shoot the skaters desired trick. Contest photography is more so about getting as much content as you can in a set amount of time. 

How did you get involved in shooting contest photography?

Contest photography was actually my first true introduction to the skate industry! In 2016, I emailed Kim Woozy from Mafia.TV and asked about internships. She emailed me back and really liked my portfolio. We ended up talking on the phone for over an hour. On that same first phone call, Kim invited me to shoot the X-Games in Austin, Texas! She flew me out to Seattle, WA first to introduce me to the female skate community. That was my first time at Wheels of Fortune, so officially WOF was the first time I shot a skate contest. 

Specifically, what were some of the exciting parts and some of the challenges of shooting this year’s Dew Tour? 

My only challenge with Dew Tour was gaining access to the course to shoot with the girls. But I did end up meeting a lot of amazing people who helped organize Dew Tour that want me to officially shoot for them next year!  The most exciting part about Dew was seeing all of my friends in one place. That’s what we all love about contests, no matter how much pressure we all feel, we’re just thankful to be with each other. It’s like a big family reunion.

How did you approach photographing practice versus the contest?

During practice, I always try to get as much action content as possible because on finals day they absolutely won’t let you anywhere near the course. Finals day I focus on the individual skaters, their reactions with not only themselves but with everyone else. I just want those viewing my photos to feel how they felt that day. 

If we came back from the future to tell 14 year old Zorah that when you get older you’ll be shooting some of the biggest pro skaters in the world, how would you react?

I probably wouldn’t believe you! But that would have saved me years of worrying about my future.

We heard, from you, that you’ll be shooting at the Olympics, would you like to share a little about how you got the opportunity and how you’re preparing for it? 

Yes! I recently signed with FujiFilm. I’m incredibly grateful for their support. I’m currently working on the early stages of a photo series leading up to the Olympics. More details coming soon! 

What’s your advice for people who want to get into skate photography?

Practice, be vulnerable and fully put your heart into your work.

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On this episode of Quell Party, Kristen and Adrian talk February Quell events, music, and our upcoming Issue 005.

We also chat with meme queen, Alex White about all her nine lives: Krux Trucks, Getting Nowhere Faster, kids, olympics and more.

Watch "Can You Kickflip" here

Music credit: Jupiter – The Marias and Boy – Purr If you have music that you want us to feature, email skate@quellskate.com

Quell Party is presented by Listening Party and recorded at Canal Street Market. If you love us, please rate us 5 stars and write a review! DM us @quellskate on Instagram or email info@quellskate.com with any questions, comments or concerns. Thanks for joining the party!

The “baddest babes in the skate scene” are on fire. Las ChicAZ take us on a visual adventure to Baja that will have you wishing to join their crew.

A version of this interview appears in Issue 004 of Quell Skateboarding.
Buy a copy online here. Photos by Natalie Krishna Das

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“Who’s got the lid to the tequila bottle?! ” yells Courtney Ramos across the 12 passenger van that is bouncing across every bump on the dirt road to Cuatro Casas. 

“Pee break!” As Cristal Taren pulls off the highway at full speed, everybody laughs so hard until tears are pouring like dew rolling down an ice cold can of Helton beer (who sponsors this crew on their adventures). They had made it to Mexico!  

Rena Accetta takes the first barefoot hill bomb on the side of the road. The stoked sets in!  That anxious feeling of skating a new spot fills the hearts of the whole crew as they jump back in the van to get to Cuatro Casas!

After an excruciating 14 hours of traveling, all 13 members pulled up to the sign of the hostel. Cuatro Casas is a Mecca of a skate and surf trip deep in Baja. It’s frequented by Tony Alva and is famous for its pool coping from the Dog Bowl from Lords of Dogtown. 

As the Las ChicAZ ripped out of the van, some were drunk, some were tired, some were ready to shred!  The sound of pool coping grinds sparked the tone of the next three days. Las ChicAZ had arrived. 

In between surfing, riding dirt bikes, yoga, and bonfires with karaoke, the girls found time to be in a couple commercials that were being filmed by a few companies who were also staying at the hostel.  Natalie Krishna Das (crew founder) grinds the deep end and knocks over two bottles of Gnarwhal Coffee as the film crew gets the shot in slow motion. 

They had ten ladies present and three dudes with the crew. Everybody had an epic sesh. 

Leo Baker has a new Spitfire wheel graphic (which we are HERE for), so of course we teamed up with KCDC Skateshop and JuneShine Hard Kombucha to celebrate with an epic evening of Punk Rock Karaoke with about 75 of our closest friends. We heard that if you grab a JuneShine and start singing karaoke that Nora will actually just appear, kind of like Beetlejuice, but more fun and better at skating.

When there’s not enough mics, you can always just pick up the trusty Quell megaphone!

And sing to your friends!

Pretty sure they were singing The Used in this shot….

It’s not a room full of non-men skaters if you’re belting out “What’s Up”!

Man down :( Thank you JuneShine for stocking us up for the party!

Even the energy after the event was hyped! Also - huge shout out to Abi, front and center, our lead filmer and Issue 004 cover photographer for documenting the whole day on film!

NY is so much better with these babes in it - We love you Leo and Mel!!

Over the year, the spaces created by NYCSP have become invaluable to the NYC skateboarding community. They have become places for people to meet their new best friends, to try things that scare them, to feel comfortable being themselves, to feel confident in a skate park and most importantly, to have fun.

2nd Nature Skatepark is about 1 1/2 hours north of Williamsburg, Brooklyn and kind of hard to get to without a car. It’s been our dream to bring as many folks as possible up there, for free, for a while now. Thanks to Nike SB, we were able to rent a bus from OvRride, and make that happen!

After skating we watched Carving Space, a short documentary about Queer Skateboarding by Annie Dean-Ganek. You can watch the trailer here.

Check out our photos from the event below

Sleepy babes on the bus captured by Akira

So stoked watching so many folks learning how to skate!

Never underestimate the power of holding your friends hand.

While the clinic was going, everyone else was free to skate and have fun!

Housewife Skateboards had a strong showing at the bowl!

After the emotional documentary screening… we raffled!

Beatrice Domond by Abi Teixeira

We’ve been lucky enough to hit the Vans Space 198 a few times so far but definitely didn't pass up the opportunity to skate with some of our local favorites. Check out some of our favorite moments captured by Abi Teixeira and Lanna Apisukh on film.

Lenna by Abi Teixeira

Leo Baker by Lanna Apisukh

Jessyka Bailey by Abi Teixeira

Jessyka Bailey by Abi Teixeira

Lenna by Abi Teixeira

Natalie Thomas by Lanna Apisukh

Bud Babe Kava by Lanna Apisukh

Jessyka Bailey by Abi Teixeira

Quell boss flexing her newly-healed muscles, Kristen Scalise by Lanna Apisukh

When the rad dudes at Freedom Skatepark reached out to us about hosting a Women + Queer skate sessions called Mercury 13 we knew we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. It was awesome to come back to help this year and skate the new obstacles repurposed from House of Vans in Philadelphia, built by 5th Pocket. The park is so welcoming and had something for every level. Clif Bar provided the yummy snacks, and we had lots of raffle prizes to give out from: Krux Trucks, Independent, Bronson Berrings and Creature. Check it out this winter and keep an eye out on Freedom's Instagram for more events.

See our photos from Mercury 13 below

Thanks so much to our sponsors for this killer raffle: Krux, Independant, Bronson and Creature.

By Natalie Marie Salsbury

Please note: This story contains sensitive topics around addiction and prescription drugs. If that is triggering, please do not continue.

Let’s go back to the spring of 2018. A year from now I will start hormones, change my name and pronouns, and with a decent job begin cycling through another thrift store/discount section wardrobe trying to find clothes to fit my evolving understanding of my gender. But until then I spend most of my time here, at my computer. Too nervous to go outside, I spend most of my free time watching skate videos and videos about gender. At night to help me fall asleep I imagine carving around the bowl in my hometown, which I am about a hundred miles away from with no car. 

Between 2016 and 2018 I had skated maybe a handful of times. I loved the freedom of it: pushing as hard as I could up and down the streets, not thinking about what other people might be thinking about me. In my day-to-day life, I felt like I could feel people staring at me as soon as I walked out the door. There is no hiding when you’re 6’2” and in a dress. I didn’t realize I was doing it at first, but to avoid being around strangers I began to only really leave the house to go to work, the grocery store, or therapy. Skating gave me a reason to go back outside though at the time I didn’t realize this is what I needed most.

I began to seek out other feelings of freedom. Alcohol and its freedom gave me strength against everything I was and everything I was not. And for a while it asked so little in return. When I went to start hormones I lied to the people at Planned Parenthood about how much and how often I drank, scared they wouldn’t let me begin. 

As you may know, Hormone Replacement Therapy, or HRT, for trans femme people is commonly two-part: Spironolactone and estradiol. Spironolactone is a testosterone blocker and if mixed with too much alcohol can cause blood clots and estradiol, basically synthetic estrogen, absorption into the bloodstream can be inhibited by smoking regularly, which I did whenever I was drinking and increasingly when I wasn’t.

I wish these reasons alone made me stop. The much more messy one is I began to hate losing all my money, my weekends, and more than a few weekdays to drinking and being hungover, more than I feared not having any feeling of escape from the life I was living. My  family has a history of alcoholism and always in the back of my mind was that the day may come when I couldn’t stop unless something really bad happened. 

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So without her usual weekend escapades, what is a bored femme to do? I began skating more and more until I became the person I am now who goes to bed early Friday and Saturday night to be the first one at the skatepark the next morning. I’m not sure if I feel like a “skater” but I have fallen in love with skating again.

 I did not pick up a skateboard last year on a whim. I skated from about age sixteen to twenty three (I am twenty six now). During that time, I knew I was a straight cis guy, though I wouldn’t know the word cis until must later. At its peak I had a solid group of other straight cis guys who I skated with almost everyday. More on this later. 

There is an urge in people first coming out as trans to “reinvent” themselves, or rather to emerge as a totally different, hopefully better, person. Skating put a twist on all of this. I could not pretend that I was starting from scratch with skating. When I would go out to push around the neighborhood, I was skating the same board from when I stopped years ago, I could pop up and down curbs with confidence, and if I wanted to watch skate videos I knew where to look, at least I thought. Trouble was, I didn’t want to watch straight guys skate anymore and didn’t know where to find anyone else.

Last year when I started looking for other skaters someone I found early on was Leo Baker. I’m not too ashamed to admit that for a while I emulated Leo’s style of primarily black clothing when I went out skating. Of course, dressing monochromatically is not uncommon in the skate community. Seeing them do it, however, gave me an example of a more androgynous presentation when I was first skating again.  

I read somewhere that to be a cis het white able bodied man is to be invisible in the dominant culture. To be anything else is to be watched, and this watching or even the perceived feeling of being watched impeded one’s autonomy. So the trouble for me comes in when I try to figure out whether I continue to wear more simple outfits to skate in, black pants/hoodie with only slight variations, because I really like this or I because I really like not getting the looks I get when I walk down the street in more femme clothing.

Since starting to skate again I have found many more skaters and the organizations and companies who support them. These came to me through articles, interviews, conversations, and videos in Quell Skate, Unity Skateboards, Skate like a Girl, Skateism, Pushing Boarders, Girls Skate Network and a few others. 

Each name invariably lead to another and then another. To help me remember them all I would try to follow as many as possible on instagram. These were not just any skaters either. I was looking for skaters that were queer, womxn, trans, and every combination and extension of these identities. I was looking for people like me. As you can imagine, this saturated my feed with skateboarding from all around the world and gave me loads to watch. More than that though it became a source of comfort. 

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One of my favorite things to do since a big chunk of Richmond is one big hill, in about 2 miles it drops over 150 feet, is skate all the way down and hit a bunch spots along the way. After some time skating around at the bottom, an area literally called Shockoe Bottom, I would find the nearest bus stop to take me back up the hill. 

It is a well-documented law of the universe that city buses are either pulling away just before you run up or they won’t be there for at least 20 minutes. What I would do, still do, with this time is scroll through instagram and since I had followed all these awesome skateboarding accounts I could see right there in front of me, thousands of miles away, skaters like me. It made me feel in some small way that I was apart of it too, that I was not sitting by myself at some random bus stop but was in a huge community filled with super rad people. 

That sense of connection with the larger womxn’s skate community is something I don’t think was reflected in men’s skating back when I was a teenager. We had a lot of the same social media platforms that exist today, but the skating my friends and I watched was what we would have called “good skating,” i.e. skating at a level that none of us could ever dream to achieve. We all happily signed on to a culture that gave us heroes and legends to watch, but gave us no real way to interact with that culture aside from buying boards and shoes. 

This difference in community and what is considered “good skating” reminds me of something Nora Vasconcello once said in an interview. She said that the only ranking she could ever put on a skater was how much they made her want to go skate. What this means then for me is if I see someone online who is just having fun on a board or pushing themselves to try something new and it got me pumped to go skate then that’s good skating. 

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Earlier this year, in the beginning of summer, I was sitting at the bus stop and saw someone post a clip of them skating every day for 30 days. I thought to myself, why don’t I try that? I was at that point skating only once or twice a week. For the next few weeks though every day when I got home from work instead of opening my laptop or sinking into the couch, I change clothes and had right back out to skate. I began progressing quicker and when I got home I would be thinking about all the tricks I wanted to try when I went back out to the next day. 

The next month after my personal 30-day challenge, and all the months after that, there was hardly a day that goes by that I don’t skate down to Shockoe Bottom, or up to a school/church parking lot, or through all the side-streets and alleys that make up Richmond. 

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While we are on the subject, let’s talk about Richmond. If you think back to your days in high school history, you’ll recall that this fair city was once the capital of the confederacy. Many of our streets, public schools, and even a highway are still named after confederate generals and the confederate president. If you think of this region’s more recent history you may remember that two years ago in Charlottesville (just a hop and a skip out of Richmond) a white-supremacist ran his car into a group of counter-protesters, fatally wounding a woman. As I began writing this piece, an incident in the news struck an unsettling similarity. At the 7-11 down the street from my home, a man tried running down with his car a couple he perceived as queer and thankfully missed, but ended up seriously injuring two other people. 

Despite all of this, Richmond is widely considered in this state to be a haven for queer and trans folx. This is largely because of the people who flock to the university in town with a strong arts program. Something something queer people are always trying to express ourselves something something. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have known the meaning of “chosen family,” but now I couldn’t imagine how my life would have turned out had I not have found a few close friends here to support me when I needed it most. 

I thought of picking up skating again as “taking back my city.” I see now that is a very colonialist way to look at it. If this city belongs, and even this is an improper word, to anyone it would be the indigenous people my wasp-y ancestors took it from and then, particularly here in the American South, enslaved a group of people to build up to their liking. No, what I see now is that picking up a skateboard was more about reclaiming some of my own autonomy. Walking down the street seems less scary when I’ve been down it a hundred times on a skateboard. If I need something I have to suck up the courage and walk into a shop to get it, regardless of how people may feel about me or how I think they may feel about me. And sometimes people surprise me. 

I was visiting my home town in another part of the state and decided to pop in to the local skate shop. It had changed so much since I had last been there. I recognized the owner behind the counter right away, but he gave me a look that said he knew me though couldn’t quite place from where (four years, about a foot more hair, and a wildly different wardrobe will have that effect). I hesitated when he asked for my name. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to “out” myself as trans, or just use the old name he knew me by then quietly sneak back out the door. I took a chance and told him my name was Natalie now and to my relief he was super supportive! Then we just talked about life in Richmond for me and all that he had been doing there in town with the shop. In other words, small talk. 

For me though, after so long of being too nervous to have a real conversation with male skaters, I was bubbling over with excitement while talking to him. I left my hometown because of college; however, I promised myself I would never move back because I did not think it was a place that was friendly to people like me. That brief chat with the shop owner gave me hope for the queer and trans people who still call that town home. 

I mentioned earlier that one of the main reasons I began digging through the internet was to find people like me. I never stopped looking. I know you are out there. I think you are like me, scrolling through instagram at a bus stop in one of the thousands of cities that aren’t Seattle, New York City, or San Francisco. I wanted to write something for you, so that you may feel less alone. 

Skating is rad as fuck, but this is about something more: you need to go outside. This cis-normative society wants you to stay inside, wants you to feel like you always have to hide. Just because no one is currently pointing a gun at your head does not mean we are free. I know I am only speaking for those of us in the US, those of us in “progressive” cities, those of us who are white (the list goes on); outside of this small minority of us where weapons can be just metaphors. I do think skating can help us; it can be a shield, it can be an escape, it can be fun.

If you’re interested in writing for Quell, email submit@quellskate.com

On this episode of Quell Party, we’re in our new studio at Canal Street Market. Kristen and Adrian talk heel flips, winter blues, and upcoming Quell events. We have lots of questions for you to answer- so DM us if you have answers.

We also chat with Mimi Knoop on Hoopla, creating Action Sports Alliance and get all our Olympics questions answered.

Quell Party is presented by Listening Party and recorded at Canal Street Market. If you love us, please rate us 5 stars and write a review! DM us @quellskate on Instagram or email info@quellskate.com with any questions, comments or concerns. Thanks for joining the party.

Looking back, we had so much fun at this year’s Exposure competition in Huntington Beach, CA.
Check out this recap video by Joel

Photo by Ruby

We had so much fun at this year’s Exposure competition in Huntington Beach, CA. Check out these snaps we’ve been saving from our friends Ruby & Boyz. Can’t wait to see more contests in 2020.

Photo by Ruby

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Ruby

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Ruby

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

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Photo by Boyz

Photo by Boyz

We're ending the year off right where we started it, with a womxns night at Homage in Brooklyn. We collaborated with Sk8Babes to bring the best vibes and lots of pizza.

Check out the event photos below

So many helping hands. We love hosting un-structured events because we find that sometimes, friends are the best teachers!

Wish you could have heard the celebration after Sam landed this kickflip rock fakie…

At least you can see it here! Look at the stoke on everyone’s faces! Sam worked hard for that and we love how stoked the whole room got!

Is it even a sesh if someone doesn’t end up in a split?

At the end of the sesh, we all reflected on how much we learned, and how stoked we were to share the time skating together

Thank you to everyone who came out! Can’t wait to have so many more days like this one on the books in 2020!

All photos by Ruby Storey

The Berrics FINALLY held a ‘Womens’ Battle at the Berrics. After following the contest online, Ruby stopped by for us to check out the final round.

Check out the photos below

The commentators for the evening: Alex White and Vanessa Torres

First up: Alexis Sablone vs. Jenn Soto to claim the spot of Candy Jacobs, who unfortunately couldn’t compete.

All smiles around here

Round 2: Monica Torres vs. Leo Baker

Leo consistent with the huge pop and great style.

Monica has her game face on- as she moves into the final round.

Samarria gave it her all in Round 2 against Alexis Sablone

But unfortunately got knocked out. Still stoked, even when she doesn’t get a make.

and for the final round: Alexis Sablone vs. Monica Torres

Great games to everyone who made it to the finals - congrats Monica!

by Kayley Berezney

Please note: This story contains sensitive topics around addiction and prescription drugs. If that is triggering, please do not continue.

I learned how to skate in High School– if you don’t count taking my older brother’s board, unused in the garage, and used it to sled down the driveway in the summer, dragging my heels into the pavement right before I hit the road. 

I started skating to school after a dramatic incident while borrowing my step-dad's car. Unfortunately, the perfect circumstances to not be able to hear or see the cop trying to pull me over. Long story short the cop called back up and ended up ringing my parents doorbell and I immediately lost car privileges. 

There was no way I was going to take the bus as a senior so I stole my younger brother’s board that went unused in the garage and started skating to school. 

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From there, a friend taught me a few things but I missed the age when everyone was learning tricks and I stayed a street skater for years. I wanted to learn tricks but never felt comfortable going to skate parks that were filled with dudes. I was already one of the few females that hung out at the music venues and felt like I caught enough toxic masculinity in that world. I just pictured either being made fun of or someone trying to reenact some sort of Ghost like scene where my hips would be grabbed and steered. 

I went to undergrad in Albany, NY to get my BFA. There is a really cool skate culture there and I would walk by the park slowly and watch. I have a great story about my board being stolen and sold in a basketball court apparently Even better, I got it back! One day a random customer that walked into the BBQ joint I worked at came and put his board against the wall and I immediately recognized my long lost hand painted deck, gifted to me by my friend who taught me a few things before we parted ways for college. 

The dishwasher and owner of the place came out front to figure out why I was fighting a customer. The dishwasher just walked up to him and grabbed the board for me and handed me my board. My boss talked semantics. It was awesome! 

However, I was harassed by these dudes every time they saw me walking and not using my board. I didn't have an in to the community and just stuck to myself. Occasionally I could get a friend to bicycle alongside me cruising. For the most part it was always just me and my board. 

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Shortly after graduating I moved to Brooklyn to pursue a career in the arts. Within a year of being here I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at age 23. It was shocking but I had known there was something wrong with my body for about 2 years and doctors just weren't taking me seriously because of my age and gender and complications with gaslighting. 

**~~~Queue any more eye roles you may have left*~*~

The diagnosis was immediately followed by a plan to action and intensive treatment that would change my body indefinitely. I was not the athlete I always identified as anymore. Though I was making leaps of faith for my art, going to grad school across the country and coming back here to keep going, I was not really happy with my relationship to my body. 

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Last winter, my boss had a board in the lost-n-found that was sitting there for a while and I finally convinced him to let me take it home. I started playing with the board, watching videos on youtube, going back to cruising on the streets, trying a few tricks on my own. I don’t have any friends that skate though I tried reaching my dog. I would skate to McCarren Park at night and loop around ‘til no one was in the skate park and then I would go in. I couldn't believe how smooth the cement was. It was scary at first because I was used to the gravely, glass sprinkled, potholed roads. I started pushing and was in awe. It felt amazing to be rolling in a space that was created specifically for skateboarding. 

The spatial relationships felt magical and I started playing around. It was amazing but it didn't feel safe. If I fell and got hurt I was alone at this park in the dark. 

So I wasn’t feeling safe with no one in the park and wasn’t feeling safe in the park. 

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I think I posted something about this on instagram; I’m normally spewing some feminist critique or health care critique or posting about my dog and bad hair days. 

A friend sent me a link to a Quell Skate meet up and I had a great time talking to other people who felt similarly and hadn’t entered the parks but have been skating for a long time. 

My family and friends became concerned though. I mean, already cycling in the city makes my family nervous but now I was skating around like it was nothing on a regular basis. 

It is true that my bone density is messed up and my immune system is barely functioning. On top of that my treatment includes zometa which is a bone strengthening drug but can actually make your bones harder and more easily breakable and if there was to be a break it would most definitely take longer to heal. The cancer is metastatic and has mostly spread from my breasts to my bones through the bloodstream. My treatment makes my bones disintegrate, something all of our bones do with age but mine process a bit faster. 

So.. all of this plus skating might not sound smart but I know it is right for me. 

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2 years ago I become tolerant to the oxycodone that was allowing me to be on treatment and hold a job and do all the things. I became tolerant and then was put on a fentanyl patch. After my first prescription there was an issue getting the next prescription filled, a classic issue with any narcotic. Pharmacies can’t tell you if they have narcotics on site because someone could 

come and steal the drugs. So, if you need the drug and have a prescription it can be really difficult to get it in a timely fashion; just another gaping hole in our system. 

When I couldn’t get the next prescription of fentanyl right away I went through mild withdrawal symptoms. It sucked so badly that I never wanted to go through that again or worse. I made my doctors wean me off the narcotics. So I was on my own with the pain..... Epsom salt baths, tiger balm, weed and ~~~ Skating!~~~~~ 

There are studies that state that vibrations heal pain. Like groaning with a stomach ache... try it next time. 

I felt so free in my body. 

I also started thinking about natural dopamine and how much that was helping my pain and my mood and my health and my cancer. 

I was moving around the city better and faster. 

I was able to do more, see more, 

engage in a new culture, 

was getting high-fived by other skaters and 

connecting with other bad ass bitches. 

I was watching the sunset on the regular. This movement and freedom in my life was amazing and actually lead to me advocating to my team of doctors more about making sure I was able to be on treatment and enjoy a better quality of life. 

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In the meantime I was also starting an online platform for people with chronic illness and disabilities. Something that I needed to quit my secure job to keep pursuing. I wanted there to be a better support and community for women like me who didn’t necessarily relate to pink ribbon culture and also struggling to find a community of younger people facing their mortality the fragility and oddity of their body day-to-day. 

Starting a platform and business is terrifying. I was really inspired by Riot Grrrl Culture growing up and I wanted my platform to have similar radicalism. Victory Dolphin GRRRLS became the name and I took advantage of the free classes for aspiring entrepreneurs the city offers. 

Overcoming fear and focus on the freedom, power and natural adrenaline was something that was coming up repeatedly in my life and directly relates to skating and the community that Quell skates nurtures. It’s what I live for. I was so grateful for that meet up and learning that I was not alone in these experiences as a females and non gender conforming individuals skaters was everything to me.