Get Set, Go! Girls At the Ultrabowl in Malmo
The skateboarding scene in Malmo is an inspiring one. Not only do they have an amazing skate park where they hold the annual Ultrabowl competition, they have a supportive city loaded with street and DIY tranny spots and even a skateboarding school.
Behind every booming skate scene are the visionaries who lead the expansion: In the case of Malmo, those include John Magnusson and Andrea Antunes. John not only started the skateboard school that he runs, but he also maintains an indoor park as well as organizes hugely popular competitions such as the Ultrabowl and Vert Attack.
The concentrated scene of Malmo has also bred a movement of female skateboarders, a group called Tösabidarna lead by Andrea. Not only does she create “welcome to skateboarding” events and girls’-only sessions to encourage female participation in skateboarding but she also runs competitions such as the Get, Set, Go! Women’s competition at the Ultrabowl.
This year, 30 women from Norway, England, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the US came together to be a part of Get, Set, Go!
The gathering started with the opening of an exhibit that showcases the growth of women’s skateboarding in Malmo. The exhibit featured videos and photography of the local girls in action and on tour as well as results from previous Get, Set Go! competitions. It was an honor to be invited to hold the International Premier of UNDEREXPOSED at such a powerful event.
The Get, Set Go! competition took place in the brand-new section of the park. It skated like a DIY park reminiscent of a miniature Washington Street. The small space was really well utilized and packed with tight trannies lined with a various types of coping and quirky features including bowling balls, a mini clam shell and a volcano roller.
Twelve women of varying skate styles advanced to the finals. An array of technical tricks went down as each heat skated in an open jam format. Skaters zig-zagged between one another popping flip tricks and grinding pool coping. Julia Bruckler did switch blunts and smooth frontside flips over the hip. Lucy Adams threw fakie flips on the bank and bs 5-0s across pool coping. Tonje Pedersen popped ollie north’s over the pyramid hip and Kristin Ebeling did pivot fakies.
The top 3 girls were also ones that chose to skate the main park with the guys in the men’s qualifiers.
Alana Smith earned 3rd as she flowed through the course throwing casual tre flips, airs, blunt-to-fakies and flawless back disasters.
Local ripper, Emma, demonstrated a mastery of the course. She was able to link tight lines packed with back-to-back tricks as she threw lein-to-tails, frontside grinds, front rocks, and backside flips on the tricky transitions.
I typically have a hard time remembering the details of my contest runs but I had fun finding the strangest tranny to front rock on and a twinkie to frontside 5-0 over. I also played with staple guns, backside flips and tailslide reverts. My brain practically exploded when I heard that I won. I owe it all to the wonderful energy surrounding the event.
It was an inspiring experience to meet and skate with women from all over the world. Seeing our competition as a part of the action on the jumbotron and on the live webcast was reflective of how much support women’s skateboarding is gaining. It was an honor to be so incorporated into such a big event.
Top 12:
1. Amelia Brodka (US)
2. Emma Fastesson Lindgren (SWE)
3. Alana Smith (US)
4. Julia Bruckler (AUT)
5. Kristin Ebeling (US)
6. Sarah Meurle (SWE)
7. Tonje Pedersen (NOR)
8. Lucy Adams (UK)
9. Lois Pendlebury (UK)
10. Leonore Sparks (GER)
11. Mimmi Leckius (SWE)
12. Kristina Westad (NOR)
For additional coverage check out SkateMalmo