Skateparks are packed, skateboarding is everywhere on social media and it was supposed to be making its entry in the 2020 summer Olympics,. How can one explain the popularity of skateboarding? Why has everyone started skateboarding again? Who is getting back into skating? This is a complex phenomenon so we had to investigate. We spoke with Adam Julien, Empire Boutique’s Buyer, who grasps  the skate products evolution in Quebec.  Here are five reasons why skateboarding is more popular than ever.

1. More time on our hands

Adam called it “the covid effect”. People have more time, less work and since many other sources of entertainment are closed, it wastime to get back on the streets where you can skateboard freely. Little side note about spare time: most diehard skaters seem to enjoy the extra time they have on their hands and most of them take advantage of it to log in extra hours on their boards. Many others picked up their old board or just bought a new one. Spare time is precious!

2. It’s accessible

A skateboard is not considered as an expensive equipment. With the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB),  it motivated people to start skateboarding and make their first purchase have just recently reopened and summer sales are at a good start  due to an increase of skateboard sales online.. Kids buy their first boards, teenagers get set for a summer at the skatepark, adults get back to their first love and families are getting equipment, rails and quarter pipes for the yard. The summer vacation budget gets reinvested in skateboard gear!

3. It is a great way to exercise

Not everyone became a corona jogger. After the first two weeks of confinement indoors, the weather became warmer and most people yearned to exercise outdoors. Learning how to kickflip again or simply how to roll and ollie became  the new fitness training. Skateparks located outside of Montreal were still open and very popular and some even built ramps in their backyards.

4. t’s cool, popular and now socially acceptable

Long before the Olympic committee was ever interested by skateboarding, believe it or not, it was not considered a cool discipline. One could argue it was always cool because of the unique way it allows us to interact with urban space, feel the sense of speed  and balance as well as a way to express oneself. The days where punks and misfits were the only ones skating are long gone. The discipline is now socially accepted and still cool for the right reasons. There is a great diversity of people skating and popularity will keep it growing with the Olympics next year as well as the huge influence of such great ambassadors such as Annie Guglia, Matt Berger, TJ Rogers and JS Lapierre.

5. Girls rule!

This might be a major factor. There are so many girls and women skateboarders now and it is extraordinary for the skate culture. Girl skaters bring such a new and powerful energy. It could be argued that skateboarding is still a bit more rebellious when you are a girl. So that is exciting. Girls who skateboard break the stereotypes even more. Girl skaters are considered more rad then guys when you put it that way. Long live equal representation of the sexes in skateboarding and who cares about gender stereotypes anyways? Subscribe to our newsletter to read more stories on action sports.