‘A great community builder.’ Skaters excited about new half-pipe in Ndılǫ

A new half-pipe in Ndılǫ is giving northern skateboarders a chance to get together and hone their skills.

Installed outside K’àlemì Dene School, the half-pipe was built by a group of local youth.

That includes 18-year-old Shayla Evans.

“I just love skateboarding and I know that our skate park here isn’t very skateable and I knew that I wanted to further my skating,” she said of why she got involved in the project.

“It’s a really good way for me to decompress and it’s really god for your mental health.”

Evans said she has been skating since she got her first skateboard for Christmas in 2018.

She hopes the skateboarding community will become more close-knit, get a bigger and better skate park and that there will be more events.

“I love knowing that there’s a bigger skating community than I originally thought because it’s been encouraging me to continue this,” she said.

Yellowknife currently has a small outdoor skate park located near École St Joseph School that has been criticized by some as being in poor condition. The Territorial Action Sports Association is lobbying the city to use the former Ruth Inch Memorial Pool building for an indoor skate park.

The half-pipe construction project in Ndılǫ was a partnership between Skate North and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation’s Dechı̨ta Nàowo Training Centre with support from the NWT Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research.

Forrest Doctor runs Skate North and is working to grow the sport of skateboarding in Ndılǫ and beyond. He has also launched his own skateboard and apparel company Dene Skateboards.

Doctor said the idea for the half-pipe project came from “seeing how many youth in Yellowknife and Ndılǫ are interested in skateboarding but don’t always have access to safe places, equipment, or opportunities to be involved in something positive and creative.”

“Skateboarding helped me a lot growing up, and I wanted to create something that gives youth a sense of purpose, community, and pride while also teaching hands-on skills,” he told Cabin Radio.

Doctor said the half-pipe was designed as a portable, pop-up structure so it can be used outside during the warmer months of the year then taken apart and stored inside during the winter or set up indoors if he can find a space to do so.

Looking forward, Doctor said he hopes to provide more skateboards and safety gear to youth that can’t afford them, run more community skating events and workshops, and eventually install more permanent skateboarding infrastructure in Yellowknife.

He thanked De Beers, the Yellowknife Community Foundation and community members for their support toward youth skateboarding, safety equipment and programming.

The half-pipe still needed some finishing touches, like railings and some paint, but local skaters came out to test it on Friday evening.

Among them was Nick Debrun. While he’s been in Yellowknife for two years, he said he’s been skating for the past 25 and is excited for the new half-pipe.

“This is an absolutely great outlet for kids,” he said.

“This is a really accessible thing for people to be able to do. It’s great for people to be able to do on their own schedule. It’s really affordable for a lot of the community and it’s a great community builder.”

Debrun said skating is a great way for kids to learn “how to get back up after they fall down and to teach each other new skills.”