First of all, thank you for visiting. This site was launched at the end of July 2018 and quickly became popular. I just wanted to write about skateboarding from my perspective, my experience, and keep it real. Today we are able to test and buy skateboard gear and give a fair judgement.
SkateboardersHQ.com is independent and transformed from a hobby into a small company and now also covers snowboarding.
Team
Our team consists of several writers with lots of experience in both snowboarding and skateboarding.
Ruben Vee – Founder
In short; I’m in my early 40’s, worked as a lead designer in the tech industry, and I graduated as an art student (media and technology), and decided to start a blog about skateboarding in 2018.
To some skateboarding is a way of life, some say it’s an art, and others say it’s for kids. I just feel great and full of energy when I come back from a good session.
I’ve been skateboarding for a while now, I started skateboarding in 1989, just sitting on a skateboard with one knee on the board and pushing with the other foot. I think my first ‘real’ skateboard even had fake Schmitt Sticks and copers. There was just no one around to show me how, but I loved my board despite its limitations.
I started inline skating but after watching the local skateboarders, and finally understanding how to ollie, I was quickly convinced to buy a real skateboard. I did both for a few years but dedicated myself to skateboarding eventually.
In 1996 we got permission from our local municipality to build our own mini ramp/vert, it was amazing. We maintained it ourselves as best as we could with our limited budgets. I made so many friends which I still see and hold dear to this day. After a decade, plans changed and it was decided that the vert had to move (hence destroyed) to make room for something else.
I went to study elsewhere and my new town had no facilities for skateboarders. No skate parks, horrible streets, and I just cruised once every while. I could ignore skating for a few years, but not for long. Once a skateboarder, always a skateboarder.
In 2015 my wife and I decided to move back to our roots. The houses were cheaper, the town small and safe, perfect for our kids, so we did it. Funny thing is that when I moved back, the local skatepark got an upgrade so I started skateboarding more often.
Since I was able to afford better gear, I looked online for advice but realised there was a lot of bad content out there. It got me thinking about sharing my experiences and decided to launch skateboardersHQ.
William K.
Hey there! I’m a 40-something Canadian, standing 5’10”, weighing in at 170 lbs, and with a knack for growing one heck of a beard. I’m into video games, movies, and just chilling with my feline buddies, Steve and Gary. I’ve also got a creative side – I love to get my hands dirty, from crafty DIYs to building structures. And yes, I’m a huge fan of skateboarding.
Growing up in the ’80s, skateboarding was the “it” thing, thanks to the ‘Back to the Future’ movies. They made it look so cool that every kid just had to have a skateboard, and I was no different.
But here’s the thing – I grew up in rural Canada, where skate shops were a rare sight. The closest one was in the city and sold completes for a hefty $80. My lawn mowing gigs didn’t cover that. So I ended up with a cheap complete from a department store with plastic trucks.
Not knowing much about quality boards, I had a quick and harsh lesson when the back truck broke while attempting acid drops in my garage. That mishap put my skateboarding on pause for a few weeks until mom took me back to the city. Lesson learned: you get what you pay for. From then on, it was only quality skateboards for me.
Most of my life has been spent on a skateboard, but I wouldn’t say I’ve reached the “pro” level. As a kid, we didn’t have many obstacles to practice on, and we’d get booted from spots in no time. Skateparks? Those were barely a concept.
Fast forward to now, skateparks are popping up everywhere, and I absolutely love hitting them whenever I get a chance. I find peace in carving the bowls, grinding the boxes, and just pushing my boundaries. Skateboarding for me is a mental escape – when I’m on my board, the rest of the world just fades away.
What keeps me glued to skateboarding is the constant learning curve – be it nailing new tricks or figuring out innovative ways to tackle obstacles. I may be a middle-aged guy with a healthy respect for my limits (like avoiding a 5-stair jump), but that doesn’t mean I won’t spend time perfecting an ollie into a nose stall on the 3rd step, followed by a slick fakie manual.
I’m all about quality, both in what I make and what I buy. Having gone through a good number of skateboards over the years, I’ve developed an eye for what makes a top-notch setup.
Having sifted through countless blogs and articles, I can distinguish between real-deal advice and baloney. If I’m sharing something, you can bet I’ve had personal experience with it and have done my homework.
I also enjoy experimenting with different gear and setups. I’ve invested my own cash to try various skate shoes, deck shapes, trucks, and wheels. Sure, I have my favorites, but I love the thrill of trying out new stuff and experiencing the unique vibe each setup brings.
Mike Mckernan
At the age of 21, I embarked on a journey from Scotland with a plan to ‘travel,’ beginning with a snowboard instructor training course. However, after the first season, my travel plans took a backseat as I found myself pursuing the snow.
For the next four to five years, I dedicated my time and efforts to working as a snowboard instructor across the globe, from countries like Poland and Bulgaria to Australia and New Zealand.
Around the fourth and fifth year of my snowboarding career, I shifted my focus towards constructing snowboard parks as that was where I spent most of my time on the snowboard. Even after 9 years, my passion and motivation are unwavering.
Throughout my snowboarding journey, I’ve been fortunate enough to garner several sponsorships. I’ve had the honor of winning rail jams and minor competitions and have contributed to building courses for the X games. Moreover, I’ve provided assistance at some of the year’s largest park events, like The Stomping Grounds project.
I am currently a snowboarder and snowboard park builder who’s been based in Norway for the past four years. After spending my initial years teaching snowboarding worldwide, I transitioned into building snowboard parks, and I always seize the opportunity to ride them whenever possible. For the past nine years, I’ve been dedicated to building snowboard parks in Norway.
Christopher Michael
What’s up, everybody! I’m 31 years old. I was born and raised in eastern Pennsylvania and am now living it up down in sunny South Florida. I started skateboarding with my older brother after getting my first board for Christmas in 1999. It was a Toy Machine deck with the iconic mutated fists graphic, and I loved it. From then on, I would eat, sleep and breathe skateboarding. If you weren’t obsessed with skating, we didn’t really have anything in common.
Considering how much time I spent on my board, I progressed quickly and worked my way into earning a couple of sponsorships. I went on tour with 5boro skateboards as a youngin’, was flowed shoes by Nike Sb and Osiris before that. I also rode for a local skate shop. Then, as I gained more exposure, my passion for this beautiful art started to fade. I experienced a few recurring injuries and then slowly fell out of love with my obsession in my later high school years.
I started having other interests that aligned with the kids in my neighborhood, and that easy-going lifestyle appealed to me for a while. Keep in mind, I loved to skate, but I took my craft about as seriously as you could almost immediately. So, after some time, it started feeling more like a job than a passion, and the love began to gradually diminish.
During this hiatus away from Skate Life, I developed some passions I still value to this day. I’m very health oriented, so I love to work out, run, shoot hoops, eat well, meditate, and take in the sunshine. I’m actually in the process of becoming a health and wellness coach to help people feel better and live healthier lives.
Let’s get back to why we’re here. So, about 3 years ago, I was getting a haircut at the barbershop. One of the barbers brought his skateboard in, and I asked if he would let me rip it around the parking lot for a bit. His trucks were too loose for my liking, but that experience was still enough to reignite my flame, so I went and bought a board the next day. But what really brought my love back for skateboarding was when I tragically lost my older brother in 2022. It devastated me and presented extreme challenges to mymental health. I developed severe anxiety and thought I would never escape the trauma.
And then skateboarding came back into my world full force, ultimately saving my life. The feeling I get when I push around my smooth, blacktopped neighborhood streets is better than anything else in this world. I skate every single day again and I’m starting to get consistency and style back with every session. I’m forever thankful for this beautiful creation, and I’m so psyched to be back on my board.