In a current go to to New York, I used to be inspired by skateboarder C’naan Omer (Hamburger), who received Vancouver’s Slam Metropolis Jam ladies’s avenue in 2000, to succeed in out to Irene Ching. Irene is a vert roller-skater with a protracted legacy going again to the Nineteen Seventies, and I trusted C’naan’s advice. On this archival venture, I hadn’t deliberate on deviating away from skateboarding, however Irene’s story and images brought on me to pause and rethink particularly after our dialog on August 18, 2024.
Whereas some hardcore skate boarders are hesitant to just accept this, skateboarding and roller-skating are sure collectively. Within the Nineteen Sixties, we repeatedly hear that youth dismantled their curler skates and utilized them to a bit of two×4 to create their very own DIY skateboards, which implies we’re indebted to rollerskating. There’s even an early skateboard firm referred to as The Curler Derby, paying tribute to aggressive roller-skating.
After which, within the Nineteen Seventies at skateboard parks it was frequent to have each skate boarders and roller-skaters benefit from the area collectively with out stress. Occasionally, main roller-skaters like Fred Blood, Duke Rennie, and Kenny Means had images and interviews included in skateboarding magazines [See: “Blood & the Boyz” by Denise Barter in Action Now, November 1980, p. 33]. There gave the impression to be mutual respect in these communities no matter what was underneath their ft as a result of it was the vertical terrain that unified them.
And but, in these stories of vert roller-skaters there was no point out of girls’s accomplishments, ladies like Irene Ching. Maybe it was assumed that feminine roller-skaters caught to Venice Seaside, cruising round in bikinis listening and dancing to Disco music, however there’s at all times going to be exceptions, and Irene was one among them.
Over on the east coast, Irene grew up on South Avenue subsequent to the East River in NYC and had taken up ice skating round age 9 after which curler skating. And, identical to skate boarders within the Nineteen Seventies have reported, every little thing modified for curler sports activities with the evolution of wheel know-how due to urethane. In an interview from Dogdays it’s written that, “It wouldn’t take lengthy for Irene to find her love for vert. Whereas her pals would quite skateboard, Irene caught together with her quads and simply emulated her methods first from skate boarders and later kind aspect browsing curler skaters from the west coast.”
Picture: Irene Ching on the plexi-glass ramp at Skateboard Metropolis, Staten Island, NY in 1978. Irene stated that it was a little bit of an ordeal to get there with a number of trains and a hike, however price it.
Irene was the one girl pursuing vert in her neighborhood, whether or not it was on skateboards or curler skaters, and she or he wasn’t remotely phased by it. “First, all of us began with avenue skating, the same old leaping over issues, going by means of visitors and simply discovering no matter obstacles you will discover in a metropolis. And we did numerous downhill. We did numerous dancing; a lot of my skateboarding pals did curler skate. We skated in Central Park…” Irene defined to Dogdays that in New York it was uncommon for anybody to personal a automotive, so it actually was all about transportation and having enjoyable, like hanging on to automobiles going uphill and catching a free trip. “It was humorous, principally the taxi drivers had been OK with it. It was enjoyable for them too I feel.”
Irene finally bought a skateboard across the age of 17 or 18. “I occurred to get a job at a sporting items retailer and so they on the time simply determined to open up a skateboarding division. It was in all probability in 1978 or 1979 when these massive crimson Krypto wheels got here out. They had been tremendous gentle so you may skate over every little thing. And that’s what blew it up actually for metropolis folks.” Irene briefly tried to skateboard on the first skate park she went to, however with none instruction, she opted for curler skating together with a pal. “That’s actually the way it occurred, as a result of it might have by no means dawned on me, alone, to attempt to curler skates. It being my first skate park, with out figuring out something about what to do and to not do. Then I began seeing photos of curler skaters from the West Coast in skate magazines on occasion. And I used to be like, OK, it’s a factor.”
To skate vert on curler skates, the popular methodology was “aspect surf” along with your heels virtually touching so the wheels aligned, identical to a skate boarders’ wheels. Irene defined that she remembered studying this transfer as an ice skater, which was referred to as a ramification eagle.
On the native skatepark referred to as “Skateboard Metropolis” on Staten Island, the scene was all guys, however Irene stated her presence was principally accepted. “I feel it was extra the younger boys that I’d get crap from within the early days… simply foolish boy stuff. It was good once I began seeing extra ladies coming into the parks, it undoubtedly felt good to have that completely different kind of power as a substitute of all of the testosterone all the time.” Within the Nineteen Seventies, since Irene was working on the sporting items retailer, she was used to being surrounded by guys, and whereas a youthful woman may sometimes seem on the park, there was no consistency.
Over in Europe, within the Eighties, the connection between skateboarding and roller-skating continued, as seen at occasions in Germany just like the Münster Monster Mastership. The footage of the competition impressed Irene to maintain going. “Europe gave the impression to be like an even bigger scene for curler skaters. I feel they had been extra accepting of it, like they didn’t attempt to conceal it as a result of numerous these guys skateboarded too.”
Within the Eighties, Irene was additionally nonetheless within the combine together with her skateboarding / roller-skating neighborhood. Actually, her photograph of David Hackett, skateboarding on the Brooklyn Banks was printed within the June 1988 subject of TransWorld journal.
Picture: Irene at Jersey shore ramp by Mark Sullivan in 1990
In her interview with Dogdays, there was vital dialogue concerning the naming of methods, and the adaption of surf, snowboarding, snowboarding, and skateboarding phrases, the completely different roller-skating kinds, and the entire historical past that goes again finally to ice-skating. However the reality remained that Irene was a novelty as a feminine vert roller-skater and held her personal whether or not the X-Video games included it as a aggressive sport or not.
In a zine referred to as Mimi’s Revenge from 1995/96 there’s an interview with an artist named Maura Sheenhan who provides Irene a shout out! Maura created a vert ramp in 1995 as a type of momentary artwork set up contained in the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage referred to as “Tradition Bridge: a social sculpture” as described in Thrasher, November 1995.
This ramp is necessary for girls’s skateboarding historical past as a result of it’s the place the feminine co-owners of Rookie Skateboards, Catharine Lyons and Elska von Hatzfeldt (Sandor) first met on the launch celebration. In Mimi’s Revenge, Sheenhan acknowledged that Irene was skating alongside main locals just like the Lopez brothers (Wealthy and Sanford), Dan Zimmer, Steve Rodrigues and Sean Greene, and that she “is pretty much as good as any of the fellows.” Maura additionally stated there was a woman’s night time (9pm-1am) on Thursdays, to attempt to make the ramp extra inclusive.
Picture: Irene on the Brooklyn Bridge ramp 1995
Irene recalled that the Brooklyn Bridge ramp was solely out there for a number of months in the course of the summer time “nevertheless it was such an awesome spot ‘trigger in there it was good and funky and damp indoors. Outside it was sizzling and sweaty. Yeah, it was such an awesome refuge and it was our crew, like a household.” Irene would entry the ramp a minimum of twice every week and stated it was “phenomenal!” Since there weren’t many choices, the skate periods had been aggressive and intense, however Irene was up for it. And, talking of Steve Rodrigues of 5boro, Irene stated that he had at all times been actually variety to her. “He’s just like the skateboarding mayor of New York Metropolis… he received [Brooklyn] Banks re-opened.” She additionally supplied tribute to Andy Kessler (RIP) who handed away 15 years in the past, because the godfather of NYC skateboarding, since he helped set up the primary skateparks.
Irene did share that there have been instances when she felt excluded, even with pals, since she could be the final particular person to get a seat within the automotive going to a skate session, however that each one modified when she received her personal trip. “I used to be really all about taking the youthful youngsters that couldn’t drive or go wherever, the had been like 13, 15, 16.” Irene knew they wanted the chance to do one thing constructive like skate and keep out of hassle, so she loaded them in, “the extra, the merrier.”
Within the Nineties, the angle by most of the people in direction of wheeled sports activities, each skateboarding and rollerblading turned hostile with gear getting confiscated, fines issued by cops, and tensions with safety guards. There was additionally a rising rift between skate boarders and rollerbladers, maybe as a result of area was so territorial and due to the immaturity of younger males who went as far as to sentence rollerblading as queer, which was sadly, the last word insult throughout an period the place AIDS impacted homosexual males and a stigma in direction of them was cultivated out of concern and ignorance. The skateboarding business within the Nineties was fragile, and a few skate boarders would lash out at any perceived menace to their id as heterosexual and masculine, and that included rejecting roller-skaters.
However by means of all of it, Irene cast on, and principally stayed away from the varied controversies and traits, preferring to develop her vert-skating talent as seen within the late Nineties and early 2000s on ramps like Rexplex in New Jersey, the On line casino skatepark in Asbury, Woodward West, and Crimson Dragons ramp in Vancouver, Canada. Irene acknowledged fellow side-surfer, Brian Weaver of North Carolina whom she witnessed skating at a few of these skateparks, nonetheless killing it in his 50s, identical to Irene.
Irene is now in her 60s and is more and more being acknowledged for her legacy. She had two images from the Brooklyn Banks printed within the guide Full Bleed: New York Metropolis Skateboard Images (initially printed in 2010), and extra just lately interviews in zines like Staple Gun (August 2020) and Curler Rag Magazine (Spring 2024). There’s been an actual increase in roller-skating at parks doubtless linked to the impression of COVID. Irene defined that, since contact sports activities like Curler Derby had been not permitted, people like Derby ladies sought to assert some area in skateparks and, because of this, there’s been an enormous return to roller-skating in swimming pools, bowls, and vert.
Footage from 2007: Santa Monica skatepark
It’s superior to see Irene being acknowledged and a sluggish return to a extra respectful appreciation between skate boarders and roller-skaters contemplating our shared connections. It’s additionally been nice to see a extra numerous presence at skateparks, and even a mash-up of skaters switching forwards and backwards between boards and roller-skates, simply having a blast and difficult themselves.
Irene had her justifiable share of accidents over time and even has a “physique map” to chart them, so today she’s slowing down since vert skating requires constant practise. And but, Irene nonetheless enjoys the occasional avenue session accompanied by her little Chihuahua.
Thanks once more, Irene for the dialog and historical past lesson!
Pictures: Allen Gibsons, Glenn Joyce, Mark Sullivan, Ray Llanos
References:
- Dogdays. “Irene Ching: ‘We might get on the subway with out being harassed,” Dogdays – Curler Skate Journal, November 27, 2023 *Interview performed November 2020.
- Mimi and Sushi Woman. “Interview with Maura Sheehan,” Mimi’s Revenge Zine No. 1 (1995-1996), p4.
- Porter, Natalie. “Private interview with Irene Ching,” August 18, 2024.