Skateboarding is a very ardous sport. It is often difficult to learn in the Seattle area unless you go to an indoor park in Bellevue where there are several advanced skaters. Unfortunately, the advanced skaters make it difficult for beginner skaters to build their confidence there. Unlike local skateparks, like Mercer Island, Redmond, and Federal Way WA, where the family and beginner is the focus.
It is important to learn at park when it is not busy. As you know, on a nice sunny Seattle day, skateboard parks can get very busy. In order to beat these crowds, you should go to learn before 10:30 AM on the weekend or before 2 PM on a weekday.
It is important to learn all of the basic transportation skills prior to going into a skatepark. The skateboard parks are designed to practice tricks. They are not meant for people to learn how to ride a skateboard. If you are not timid, you may try learning in a skatepark, but with Seattle crowds, I wish you luck in being able to pick it up in a timely manner and not running into other skaters.
Take your board down to Woodlands Skatepark in Seattle. Learn how to ride on the sidewalks surrounding the park. Once you have mastered, pushing, turning, and stopping, take your board inside to see how the ramps feel. Turning on the ramps is a completely different feeling then simply turning on the sidewalks.
Learn how to skate in Marginal way, then take your board down to pick up some fish in Pike’s Place. Skateboarding will be an incredible transportation tool for you. You will love the feeling of the wind brushing through your hair and the sounds of your wheels echoing off the walls of the skyscrapers in downtown Seattle. Once you learn all of the basics in Sammanish, take your board to the Bothel Skate Park and try to 50-50 on their mini ramp.
Don’t take your board out in the Washington rain! This will weaken the pop of the skateboard, and potentially rust out your bearings causing them to no longer work. The $30 cost of new bearings plus the pain of installing them cannot be worth the fun of just one rain session!
If you must skate Seattle in the rain, take your board out beneath a bridge or an overpass. Make sure you are on public property and not near a residence where they might complain about noise and call the police. Skateboarding in Seattle is a crime; However, it will not be enforced unless you are annoying someone, tresspassing, or damaging property.
If you are asked to leave a property, just leave. It’s not worth a $100 skateboarding ticket from the police to skate one spot.
This article was written by Rob Dunfey, owner of GoSkate.com, a nationwide skateboard lesson service that comes to your closest skate park. Available in all cities around Seattle Washington and in all 50 states.