Whitehorse's Rise and Shine Skate Jam shreds through inaugural weekend

It might be hard to find a link between popping an ollie and building a community, but those two elements were central to the Rise and Shine Skate Jam last weekend.

The event was hosted by local skateboarder and photographer Ashley Swinton on Saturday and Sunday at Whitehorse's Second Heaven skatepark. 

"Sport really makes us stronger, not just only physically, but helps us become leaders in our communities," Swinton said. "We then learn to support one another and really just building strong women and girls in our community ... being able to do an event like this that is really to support, to help them grow and show that we can do all these things while having fun."

Swinton said she's hosted skateboard camps across the territory for the past five years.

The event was organized to promote skateboarding among women, girls, and people who are transgender, non-binary and two-spirit. The two-day skateboard camp included a skateboard workshop where young skaters could practice and learn new tricks, an art workshop where kids could learn how to paint their grip tape, and a skateboard competition on Sunday. 

Winners of the competition received blown glass medals, along with a number of prizes, including backpacks, skateboards, new shoes and a brand new BMX bike for the winner of the event's best trick contest.

'They push me to be better'

Swinton was joined by three female amateur skateboarders who made the trip from British Columbia: Alexandra Kolebniak, Kira Urbas and Violet Whyte. The skaters helped with the workshops and also acted as judges in Sunday's competition.

"Nowadays, with skateboarding being in the Olympics and everything, there's a whole new generation of girls that are coming into skateboarding that didn't have that community," said Whyte. "Stuff like this lets women keep skateboarding through their life and they don't just hit that wall when they turn 18."

Urbas said that having friends within skateboarding and seeing other girls compete can make participation in the sport a lot easier.

For Swinton, being able to skate with other women allows her to view the sport differently, and provides one of the most supportive and encouraging spaces she has had in her life.

"They push me to be better," Swinton said. "I am almost chasing that feeling because it's so good. I want to share this feeling with other people, I want others to experience it."

Teaching the next generation

Kristine Ferris's daughter was one of the participants in the skate jam. She said the low cost of skateboarding helps eliminate some of the barriers of getting involved. 

"I think Ashley's done a great job of getting the word out there that there's something fun and a welcoming community that your daughter can go enter into pretty easily," Ferris said.

Triple J's Collective was one of the local sponsors of the event. The company's CEO, Jordi Jones, also had a daughter in the camp, and is a former skater herself. 

"As someone who's grown up in this community, there hasn't been a lot of female mentors available to girls in various sports, but especially in skateboarding," Jones said. "The inclusivity piece is so important for our community, and I think that it's just a really great forum for these kids to learn and progress."

She said having local female skateboarding mentors and seeing the calibre at which young girls are competing in the Olympics is "mind-blowing."

"I'm just deeply, deeply excited to see where we can go with this," Jones said.

Going forward, Swinton hopes to be able to make the skate jam an annual event.

"I'd love to do it annually, and I'd love to build on it," she said.

Violet Whyte, one of the skaters who made the journey from B.C., said they hope that they can inspire more girls to take up the sport.

"I hope every girl that snowboards in this town gets a skateboard in the summer."