Rollerblading. “It’s way more fun than walking.” – Malia Ward Photo: Courtesy of Malia Ward
During elementary school, I rollerbladed hard. If you’re in your thirties, you probably did, too. It was awesome. When Emilio Estevez guarantees you an inline hockey world championship, you accept. And the only way there is through rollerblades. At one point, I saved enough money to buy a pair of K2 Fatty’s that had one of those little grind plates between the middle two wheels so I could do sick ass grinds. One evening we filmed ourselves launching off a little kicker ramp in my neighborhood for hours until I inevitably catapulted my seventy-pound body a few feet in the air and landed flat on my face. I bled a lot. And luckily, we videotaped it, so as soon as my parents got home, I proudly made them watch me crash in slow motion with all of my might into a puddle of my own blood on the cement. I was beaming, covered in bandages and inexplicably proud of the injury I sustained. It was masochistic and cruel to my endlessly loving and patient parents. But fun. Like rollerblading!
Which is one reason why I was thrilled to see that trendsetting San Clemente pro surfer Malia Ward is on the team. She’s bringing rollerblading back. It never should have left. It’s a good speed for a person to move through the world. A few days ago, she took to social media to broadcast her love for in-line skating. So we reached out to get the skinny. Turns out it might actually have an application to surfing, too.
“My mom got me into rollerblading with her recently and I love it,” Ward told The Inertia. “It’s like cardio, toning, and balancing all in one without wear and tear on your joints. I went surfing yesterday after 30 minutes of rollerblading, and felt super light on my feet in 2-foot mush…and that’s saying something lol.”
So is rollerblading the reborn neon trend for cross-training surfers who don’t give a shit what other people think and like having fun? Let us be so bold as to predict: Maybe. Hopefully. Definitely!
“Rollerblading feels like I’m floating,” said Ward. “It’s way more fun than walking or going for a run. I highly recommend it✔️.”
