Taipei City Government

The fashionably outfitted skateboarders steps atop his skateboard and goes sliding and gliding up and down the large U-shaped half-pipe. When his speed is up, he goes hurtling into the air above one edge, and with a deft movement grabs his board with one hand and launches himself into a thrilling spin mid-air. When he comes back down to Earth and lands safely again, the c rowd roars with appreciation, then quickly goes silent again as they await the next gravitydefying acrobatic feats. This is skateboarding, which always gets t h e blood rushing in both the athlete and onlookers.

Skateboarding began shooting up in popularity in the 1960s, catching on around the wor ld. Fol lowing s teady advances in skateboard design, as the increase in flexibility, durability, and turning ability enabled ever more difficult maneuvers such as bounces, flips, and reverses with greater speed.

The Rise of an Extreme Sport
Today skateboarding is an international phenomenon with global-scale competitions. The sport now features dedicated skate park, the half-pipe, and other special facilities. The result is incredible speed and power, and taking BMX and roller skates to extreme-sport status.Added to the mix today are also ultracool skateboard graphics and baggy street outfits. Punk, hip-hop, and other rock music are also major influence, and mus t be played at top volume. Skateboarders even have their own lingo. The special fusion of street, sports, and pop culture adds up to the one and only skateboarding culture, celebrated with the annual international Go Skateboarding Day, usually held on June 21.

Taipei City has its own loyal corps of skateboarding aficionados and lovers of other extreme sports. In 2000, the Taipei City Govt. launched the country’s first international-standard extreme sports facility at Zhongshan Soccer Stadium. In the following year, the Chinese Taipei Extreme Sports Association was established. Although at the moment the extreme sports park is closed because of the needs of this year’s Taipei International Flora Exposition, there will be a trial run for the“Taipei Extreme Sports Training Center” in August, making a more comprehensive array of first-rate facilities dedicated for the local skateboarding army.

The new facility will have a park, half-pipe area, and main building of 6,048 sq. ft. Inside will be dormitory facilities for athletes and coaches, and weighttraining facilities with a wide variety of equipment. The secretary-general of the Chinese Taipei Extreme Sports Association, Jiang Zhi-ming, says that“All three rail networks—MRT, High Speed Rail, and the regular rail system—converge at MRT Nangang Station, with the new training center right beside it. When the time comes, we invite skateboard devotees from around the country to come check out all the specialized facilities. When we are officially up and running in September, we’ll expand into popularizing the sport with classes, inviting groups of students from elementary schools to come try their hand at this fashionable sport.”

Mountain Hike Tips:

1. For your safety, wear shoes with flat soles and a good grip, and always wear a helmet and knee/elbow protectors.
2. Start off by taking lessons from a qualified instructor, who can teach proper safety techniques for mounts, falls, etc.
3. Do not attempt acrobatics beyond the range of your strength and endurance.