🛼💫 Flexa's Trick Diary 🤯🛼

What is Park Roller Skating??

Park roller skating is exactly what it sounds like--doing tricks in a skatepark on quad roller skates ("quads", the classic 4-wheels, 2 in front, 2 in back). It experienced a resurgence in popularity during the 2020 pandemic, and it sparked curiosity. I messaged my high school friend who was posting videos of her skating for information and later that year, I got my first pair of quads.

Initially, my plan was just to roll around and see what happened. The most clearly delineated space for skating happened to be the skatepark. Somehow, I never once questioned whether or not I belonged there. The history of women and LGBT+ people in skateparks is full of targeted gatekeeping from sk8r bois. It helped that the park I first learned in was extremely quiet. Any boys who showed up paid me no mind. My sister and I were free to practice our skills, each new move "unlocked" a fresh source of dopamine. We were visiting our parents for a few weeks and had all the time in the world to improve.

When I returned to Montréal, I went looking for a community and found what was then called CIB Montréal. CIB, or Community in Bowls, used to have chapters around the world that organized skate meetups. While CIB as an entity disbanded, many of the groups formed under it have remained under new names. This group is now Montréal Aggressive Roller Skating (MARS). At my first meetup, I shyly stood by the halfpipe as more experienced skaters whizzed past, sometimes going from the ramp to a wooden bench on the deck. It was certainly intimidating. However, the easiest way to attract quad skaters is to be one. They noticed my setup and took me in. I showed off what I'd learned with my sister to some fellow beginners and I was set on returning ever since.

My interest only grew over time. Eventually, I upgraded my setup to something more suited to take a beating:

Community is the best part of skating. In a world that has become increasingly transactional, it is refreshing to have a place where you can share tips without any expectation of payment. The satisfaction comes from sharing a hobby and wanting to genuinely help another person achieve the feeling of something *finally* clicking. With the exception of filming each other, it's also a way to get off your phone and into the outdoors. There's also no objectives outside of self-imposed ones. I have goals for tricks I want to land, but if I'm feeling low energy, I can just choose to roll around aimlessly and have just as good a time. All of these factors make for an addictive loop.