There Are Many Ways to Live Skateboarding
Cristian Orozco — one of the skaters helping preserve and grow León’s skateboarding culture.
Cristian Orozco — Part 2
Last Saturday, I visited the León skatepark for the first time. It was my first face-to-face meeting with Cristian and many of the other skaters I had previously only known through Facebook photos and Messenger conversations.
In many ways, it felt like visiting someone’s home and being welcomed into their world. Cristian was just as friendly and sincere in person as he had always been in our many text-based conversations.
One of the things I enjoyed most was watching Cristian interact with the other skaters. I was especially moved by the way he and the others encouraged the youngest skateboarder there. To them, the boy was not simply a kid with a skateboard. He was already part of the community, and they genuinely wanted to help him improve. That is real mentorship.
Young skaters learning alongside older skaters at the León skatepark.
I had brought a copy of my book with me, and I enjoyed watching Cristian and the others flip through the pages, recognizing familiar landmarks from León along the way. They especially liked seeing their own skatepark already included within the story.
Skaters at the León skatepark recognizing familiar León landmarks and their own skatepark within the pages of Montar La Fire.
As the evening went on, it became increasingly clear to me that skateboarding here is about much more than tricks or competition. It is friendship, encouragement, perseverance, and community.
Before leaving, Cristian invited me to return on June 21. I am already looking forward to seeing him and the other skaters again then.
After years of sharing skateboards, building improvised ramps, and skating through the streets of León, skateboarding began to become something deeper for Cristian than simply a pastime.
Over time, skateboarding became part of his identity.
Not only because of the tricks or competitions…
But because of everything that existed around it:
the friendships,
the perseverance,
the difficult moments,
and the feeling of continuing forward even when many people did not understand why someone would dedicate so many years to a skateboard.
Like many skaters, Cristian has also lived through moments when advancing in life has not always been easy. Even so, he continues to see skateboarding as an important part of who he is.
Listening to Cristian speak, I began to understand that for many skaters here in León, skateboarding was never only about sport.
It became a way of surviving difficult moments.
A way of building friendships.
A way of staying connected to something meaningful.
Even now, after all these years, Cristian still speaks about skateboarding with the same passion he had when he first began.
Cristian Orozco and fellow skaters at the León skatepark during my visit Saturday evening.
“There are many ways to live skateboarding.”
— Cristian Orozco
For Cristian, skateboarding has never been simply a weekend activity.
Over the years, it became a way of understanding perseverance, friendship, and even life itself.
And although the road has not always been easy, one thing still remains completely clear:
he will always be a skateboarder.
