Category: News

This page is to summarize the average costs for skateboarding lessons.

Skateboard Classes
$200-695. – Small group classes at the local YMCA and public recreation departments are usually the least expensive options. They are generally in the price range of $95-195. The typical class has about five sessions. Private camps through skateparks and skateboard schools will be pricier- $395-1395.

Private Skateboard Lessons
$365-499 (Four) Lessons – One hour-long session with an instructor
$455-699 (Four) Lessons – Two hour-long sessions
$565-799 (Six) Lessons – One hour-long sessions
$859-999 (Six) Lessons – Two hour-long sessions

Geographical Differences

New York, California, Illinois, and Hawaii typically have the highest prices for lessons. Skate lessons are 32% higher in these areas. Prices also tend to be higher in cities and higher-income areas. Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee have shown to have the cheapest prices for skateboarding lessons.

Skateboard Camp Prices

From Camp Woodward ($1300-1500) to PointX ($795) to GoSkate ($900), there are several differences in pricing. Some camps include cooking, lodging, and equipment. Camps usually run for five to seven days. Longer camps may cost $1500-2000 for 14 days.

How Much Does a Single Skateboard Lesson Cost?

Most schools do not offer a single lesson. You will likely find pricing as part of a class or a group of lessons. Skateboarding can’t be learned in a single session. However, you may be able to find a single session for around $79-159.

How Much Do Skateboard Lessons in Europe Cost?

The running price in Europe tends to be the same as in the United States. London has the highest prices in Europe. Average prices in London can run 20% higher than in the United States. Eastern Europe has the lowest prices on lessons. There, a single lesson can be purchased for $35 or less.

 

Skateboarding traces its roots back to 1950s in California when surfers attached roller skate wheels to boards in order to surf the streets on wave-free days. But a lot has happened with the sport since that time. Here’s a list of some of the most interesting facts you probably didn’t know about the history of skateboarding.

 

1. Clay and Metal Wheels

In the 1950s and 1960s, before urethane was invented, skateboard wheels were primarily made out of clay or metal. Prone to cracks and corrosion these wheels were very unsafe and led to many injuries. And the dangers were exacerbated further by the fact that skateboarding was primarily a barefoot sport in these first decades. The skaters in the 50s and 60s were tough all right.

 

2. The First Female Pro

The first female professional skateboarder was Patti McGee, who turned pro in 1964. She is perhaps most well known for setting the world record for the fastest girl on a skateboard when she was only 19. Understandably, Patti was also the first female ever to be included in the Skateboarding Hall of Fame.

 

3. The Ollie

The invention of the ollie, a skateboarding maneuver where the rider slams his foot on the tail of the skateboard and simultaneously jumps into the air, revolutionized the sport completely. The trick is credited to and named after Alan “Ollie”� Gelfand, and was invented in 1978.

 

4.  A banned sport for 11 years 

The use, ownership, sale, and advertising of skateboards were forbidden in Norway between 1978 and 1989 because of the perceived dangers of the sport. During the 11-year long ban, skateboarders had to smuggle boards from Germany and built ramps in the woods in order to avoid confrontation with the police.

 

5. Have you seen him? The Search for Animal Chin

The 1987 skateboard film “Search for Animal Chin”� is perhaps the most celebrated film in skateboarding culture. It was also one of the first skateboarding films to have a solid plot, rather than solely a collection of tricks, stunts, and music. Produced by the Bones Brigade, the film features legendary skaters such as Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero and Lance and Mountain on their quest to find a wise old man called Won Ton “Animal”� Chin. Other widely celebrated skateboarding films include Thrasin’ (1986) and Lords of Dogtown (2005).

 

6. The 1980s’ dip 

The popularity of skateboarding plummeted in the late 1980s to early 1990s, and with the decline most skateparks closed down. Most historians agree that it was precisely this lack of parks that eventually lead to development of modern street skateboarding, where curbs, stairs, handrails and the likes assumed a central focus in the sport.

 

7. Skateboarding in the military?

In the late 1990s, the United States Marine Corps tested the usefulness of skateboards for urban warfare as part of the Urban Warrior ’99 programme. According to the program, the skateboard’s special purpose was “for maneuvering inside buildings in order to detect tripwires and sniper fire”�.

 

So there you have it, our picks for the top 7 of the most interesting facts from skateboarding’s long history. Feel like I missed something? Let us know in the comment section below!

 

Did We Miss Any Interesting Facts? Comment Your Most Cool Fact Below…

[fbcomments]

It’s been a long and controversial journey, but a proposal to make skateboarding an Olympic sport in 2020 is finally here. With the recent Olympic developments and lots of professional events going on-from the recently finished X Games to the upcoming Vans Pro Skate Park Tour-competition fever is in the air. What’s a better motivation to up your game than watching pros compete? Competing yourself.

The problem is that finding good amateur skate contests can be tough. Here’s a quick guide to some ways you can get that competitive experience.

Local contests

There are lots of local level skateboarding competitions out there. Ask about it at your local skate shop, talk to people at the park, and see if there are any skateboarding Facebook groups in your area that post about local contests. They might not be as glamorous as the X Games, but they’re a great way to practice competing.

CALUSF

Touring Amateur Contests

If you want to get beyond the local, your next step is touring competitions. Most of them are hosted by skating companies, they’re usually free or have a small registration fee, and they have events all over the country. You may even have a shot to win some prize money or skate at a national competition. Some of the bigger ones are Zumiez Best Foot Forward, Volcom’s Wild in the Park series, and The Boardr Am Series. Check out the internet and your skating contacts to find out if any touring series are stopping near you.

Zumiez Best Foot Forward

Volcom’s Wild in the Park series

The Boardr Am Series

Professional Contests with an Amateur Division

If you’re tearing it up at local and touring contests, this is your next step. Lots of professional skateboarding competitions have an amateur division. The X Games, for instance, have an amateur event that you can qualify for through The Boardr Am Series. The World Cup of Skateboarding and The Boardr both list competitions that are mostly geared toward professional skaters, but often have amateur events. Look through them and read up on entrance requirements to find out more about your path onward and upward.

X Games

Tampa Pro/Am

Dew Tour

Pro Tours

Vans Pro Skate Park Tour

Maloof Money Cup

Street League Skateboarding

[fbcomments]

by Ron Darian

Tony Hawk and Aaron “Jaws” Homoki have battled gravity their whole lives and now, they finally get a chance to skate without gravity. The result was perhaps a more difficult skate environment than imagined.

Their experience was captured by Sony and 900 Films.

by Ruben Najera

Nuge bombing the fifth steepest street in America
Bomb hills not countries! Thats a phrase I remember hearing or seeing somewhere at some point in time on some skate related product and I always thought it was awesome. By now many of you should have seen Don the “Nuge” Nguyen recent hill bombed the fifth steepest street hills in America. The hill is in Los Angeles. If you have not I will provide the link below. For those unaware “Nuge” is also the first person to ollie the El Toro 20 stair so he’s no stranger to setting gnarly standards.

How to Bomb a Hill
Bombing a hill is no joke and it can be straight up devastating or even life threatening if things were to go wrong. Whether it be getting speed wobbles on the way down and slamming or worse getting hit by a car at an intersection because you can’t even see them coming nor are they looking out for you. It is a dangerous balance of disaster to juggle with and all while going so fast that worrying about staying on the board is the primary objective and everything else that’s to come in front of you becomes secondary whilst the few milliseconds of adrenaline and focus.

Top 6 Gnarliest Hill Bombs
Below are not the top six hill bombs of all time but more like 5 notable hill bombs that come right to mind for me.
What is your definitive favorite greatest hill bomb of all time to watch? Who holds that title in your eyes? Also bombing hills is super dangerous and in no way are we trying to amp you up to ride down anything like these dudes. You can straight up just live vicariously through watching these speed demons fly by your screen at 40 miles per hour. They are professionals and have had their fair share of years of experience skateboarding in general before they even attempted any of this. Also on a side note I won’t be counting longboard hill bombs these are pure gnarly true skateboard hill bombs! Essentially boards that are not meant to go down something that fast!

6. Anonymous, Massive Cement Hill
Okay this first hill bomb left me wondering where the heck this spot is? Its a trip to be honest with you I mean this is a massive cement hill I’m not even sure what it is completely but it must have been an absolute pain pouring that much asphalt or cement into the ground to create it. This dude nearly disappears on screen the size of an ant and truly shows the sheer mass of this hill. I won’t spoil the end but some of you might be able to guess it. Either way props to him for sticking with it. And if anyone knows where this is in the world let us know!

5. Thrasher, Need for Speed, Richard Bowen (1:35)
This next video is a full montage via Thrasher. They had an actual hill bomb contest and these were individuals that submitted there quite a few in the video but my personal favorite is Richard Bowen at 1:35 of the video because of the near catastrophic fall you think he’s about to have its so gnarly how he recovers at the last millisecond!

4. Next is Jon Allie in the New Blood video!
Now in the video this might not look as gnarly as you’d expect but B Street in Downtown San Diego is gnarly believe me! And bombing it switch is no walk in the park its absolutely mind boggling. This hill has so many potholes and giant cracks throughout its downhill descent that you could be deterred from trying it just walking up it seeing what your going to have to deal with on the way down.

3. Frank Gerwer is a San Fransisco skateboarding legend!
He has always been one of my favorites to watch skate and this hill bomb is epic! I absolutely love his reaction at the end of his hill bomb because the first time I watched it I swear I said the exact same words in synchronization with him as he said them it gave me goosebumps “holy shit”

2. Emmanuel Guzman
Wow is all I can say on this next video! Emmanuel Guzman is a beast he tackled this hill like a champ you can see the sheer and viscous speed that he battles through blazing by the camera its absolutely mind blowing. Its the kind of speed that you would need a windshield to deter insects dying on impact upon your flesh its THAT fast. I could only imagine. Prepare to watch it a couple of times.

1. Here is the “NUGE” hill bomb.

[fbcomments]