Skate life: Top skateboarders share their love for the streets and how to find the best spots
Speaking to Olympics.com during the WST Lausanne Street 2023, world champion Aurelien Giraud and Team USA's Mariah Duran lifted the lid on the world of street skating, including how they find spots and what the freedom to roam means to them.
Skateboarding
Skateboarding outside of dedicated spaces is known in the world of skate as 'street skating'.
The craft of street skating encourages freedom and self-expression in areas and surfaces never once dreamt of being for such uses, and for many who take up the sport, it is an essential part of the culture.
Having grown up as a street skateboarder, Mariah Duran is a professional who remains particularly committed to the streets.
Away from the heat of the competition circuit, the 26-year-old American is often out, either with friends or filming video parts.
The outlet of skating is something Duran cares about deeply. So much so, after competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021, she took her skateboard with her to the White House where she had been invited to visit, along with other Team USA athletes.
“I was fortunate enough to go to the White House and I remember bringing my board with me and all the other athletes who didn’t skate thought that that was weird,” she told Olympics.com.
“They’re like ‘You’re going to come and train?’ At me, and I’m like, ‘No I might just find something I want to skate like the curb or something!’”
That instinct, to always be looking out for something to skate, even in the Rose Garden, is something Duran says comes intuitively to her.
“There’s always that part of me,” she explained. “And I came up street skating so things that people think are normal I’m thinking of just different tricks to do down it, so it’s really cool to have that and just absorb the area; it’s a little bit of different take on the world basically.”
Street skating and soaking in the environment
Seeing the world through a different lens also inspires Duran to get out and about and more generally explore. That is something she says she has come to appreciate over time.
“Before Tokyo, I didn’t really get to soak in the environment that I was in. I would just be at the contest, go to the hotel, be at the contest, go to the hotel, and you’re kind of just like, 'I went there but I didn’t go there.' So now I’m better about branching out, seeing some stuff.”
Making the most of her stay in Switzerland for WST Lausanne Street 2023, Duran says she’s already been for a Lake Geneva swim, as well as checking out local spots.
The town, on the edge of the lake and surrounded by mountains, features hill climbs and steep sets of stairs, which have caught the American’s eye.
“Maybe! If I was just super on it. If I really needed it - maybe down those stairs,” she said with a big grin and a laugh.
“But yeah, it’s so cool to see the type of spots everywhere in the world. That’s what’s cool about skating is you can just be creative.”
Mariah Duran on how to find skate spots
The art of finding a spot in the streets to skate in the wider world is something that pros like Duran have in common with other casual skaters and is a pillar of what makes the street community so close.
“We just walk around,” Duran said explaining the process. “Someone takes a photo, someone sends a photo and we’re like, ‘Hey, where is that at?’ We kind of swap spots or ask somebody if they post it on their Instagram like, ‘Oh where was that spot?’ And they’ll send us a pin sometimes. It’s kind of just when we see something we like it. Sometimes you just stumble upon it and places like this, I’ve already seen a few spots where I’m like, ‘Wow, this is a very unique spot. You wouldn’t get this anywhere else.’”
With video parts and, increasingly now, social media being used as a frame of reference for skaters across the world hunting spots, sharing intel is common. But sometimes there are those that prefer to keep where they’ve discovered a secret. Duran insists she is not one of those.
“There are gatekeepers out there! But I’m not of them for sure. I’m more the person asking for the spot.”
Street skating can sometimes entail a few hours out and about with friends or can span weeks as skaters stitch together video content for a part. In any case, travel is normally a large part of the experience, and it’s why Duran likes to pack accordingly.
“A band because I gotta warm up the ankles,” she said with a smile describing what she normally takes with her. “A bottle of water, probably hand wipes an extra shirt, wax and a skate tool and that’s pretty much it.”
Aurelien Giraud: Back to the streets post Paris 2024
You don’t have to look long online before you find one of Aurelien Giraud’s epic street skating videos.
The 25-year-old Frenchman, the current world champion, has a reputation for going big where few else dare, and there is plenty of footage around to prove it.
Speaking about the universe of street skating and its intricacies the Frenchman told us that, for the moment, that life is currently on pause for him as he pursues his Olympic goals at Paris 2024.
“When we’re doing competitions we can’t take too many risks getting injured,” he explained to Olympics.com.
And a certain video of cracking his heel after tackling the infamous Lyon 25 helps explain why.
Still, getting back to the streets to film once more is not far from his thoughts.
“That is what is already planned,” the skater said, looking ahead to when he can skate the streets again.
“If all goes well, I should do the Paris Olympic Games. And after that, I'll have a bit more free time. I’ll be able to slow down on the competitions and dedicate myself to filming a video part and bring back some glory to the street.
“Unfortunately, we don't see much of me in the streets. I’m often at the skatepark or at competitions but I am very conscious of it. And it is something close to my heart, to make a real street part, especially in Lyon. To show that it’s not just in the US, and other parts of Europe and Japan - it’s us too. We have really cool spots and we can do really something beautiful.”
Aurelien Giraud on street skating: "It's a big family"
Even though he has currently put his street skating plans on pause, like Duran, Giraud never stops checking out the potential in his surroundings.
“I’m always interested when we go past guardrails, ‘Ah that could be cool!’ We always have our little childlike imagination,” he confessed.
Also like Duran, another thing Giraud says he always does is share the intel he has when it comes to skate spots.
“Before, there was an app that was created and unfortunately, it no longer exists today. But it was amazing because we could get the locations of the spots. There were photos and everything. Now it's word of mouth,” the Frenchman explains.
“Whenever you arrive in a city, there is always a local who knows all the spots and who skateboards. It's a big family. He is super happy to show everyone what has been done, and where are the places we can skate."
And just as he receives knowledge, Giraud is also happy to do his bit in sharing the love.
“That's the point of skateboarding,” he said definitively. “We’re learning and we’re going to give to the young guys. So we give advice, we give everything. And if they ever find me, there are plenty of places in Lyon that I know."
As for Lausanne, Giraud is all too familiar with the city. Just two hours from his home town of Lyon, the Frenchman has been to the Olympic capital in Switzerland a number of times to skate in the past and it’s a solid favourite with the world champion.
“I was lucky enough to have come to Lausanne when I was younger, so I was able to discover the spots and skateparks that are next door and the people who are here.”
And, true to his word, the Frenchman between practices at the Paris 2024 qualifier, has been hitting up local skatepark, La Fievre, to test out his skills out ahead of the big rumble.