A stroll down the Rosedal in the Bosques de Palermo on a Sunday afternoon will almost certainly include an encounter with a group of freestyle slalom skaters practising their latest moves. Ultra-cool and strangely mesmerising, the slalom skater is hard to miss. With a row of miniature cones lined up on the pavement, he dances his way around them, snaking in and out with incredible ease and true skill. For those who have not witnessed slalom skating first hand, I can only think to liken it to break dancing on wheels. As if the skates themselves had super human powers, the skater’s legs twist and bend in seemingly impossible ways as they speed down the line of cones without knocking over a single one.
As a mere spectator of the sport you cannot help but be impressed. Yet every slalom skater had to have started somewhere and for most of the skaters here in Buenos Aires that beginning was not so long ago. “A year, at the very most,” says Alvaro Villareal, an avid porteño slalom skater, when asked how long it had been since the sport first became popular in the city.
“I only started in June and my friend and I were some of the first to get into it,” he adds. For a sport that is well established and hugely followed in Asia and Europe, it is only just beginning to take off here in Latin America. The first slalom skating competition to be held in Argentina only took place last November, under the catchy title of ‘Battle Buenos Aires’. The Argentine competitors may have been relatively inexperienced compared to the European pioneers but with the world renowned slalom skaters, Sebastien Laffargue and Igor Cheremetieff, judging the battle, it was a great way to promote the sport.
Freestyle slalom skaters in Buenos Aires may be small in numbers but they are certainly a lively and dedicated bunch. As of yet there is no official club or organisation for slalom seekers to join or take classes with, but anyone interested in getting involved can attend the casual practices that take place regularly each week. I say “casual” because they are free and informally organised but in terms of the slalom skaters’ determination they are anything but. Villareal sums it up when he states: “And weekends are obligatory!”
Yet such enthusiasm is not required to reap the benefits of slalom skating. As he explains, “I started slalom skating because it is a great way for anyone to improve agility but I ended up really liking it.” Like most sports, slalom skating is highly competitive but it is also surprisingly creative. The “freestyling” aspect of it allows skaters to improvise with the many moves that exist, creating beautifully fluid choreographies combined with bold jumps and tricks.
It is no wonder that so much practice is needed when some of the moves have names like, ‘Double Crazy Grapevine’, ‘Backwards One Foot Chapi Chapo Jump’ and ‘Kasatchok Toe Wheeling’. Although these moves may seem daunting to a beginner, the need-to-know basics of Slalom Skating are pretty straight forward. There are 20 cones lined up, with distances between them of either 50, 80 or 120cm. The idea is to skate your way around the cones either as quickly or as creatively as possible without knocking any over. The different styles of slalom skating can be defined as “aggressive”, “technical” or “harmonious”. It is traditionally done to music, mostly rap, hip hop or electronic, but it is not a vital element in order to practise. The most important thing, however, is tempo.
In terms of safety precautions, it is important to have good quality skates that give sturdy ankle support, as the more intricate moves do have your legs bending in awkward positions. Skating gloves with a good grip are useful for tricks involving using your hands and beginners may also want to bring along knee and elbow pads for extra precaution. More than anything though, it is great fun. So, if you have not already, I suggest you strap on a pair of skates and see how creative you can get!
For more information about Slalom Skating practices and other types of skating events in Buenos Aires, check out the following websites: www.patinenlinea.net, www.freestyleba.com.ar, or www.slalomskating.com