WomxnSk8History: Northwest Edition

In this article Natalie Porter from WomxnSk8History shares with us a peak into the history of skateboarding in the Northwest.

One of the best parts about creating an archive on the history of women in skateboarding is finding the threads that connect people’s stories together. I’m especially interested in those skaters outside of the California core who may not have received the same limelight or support.

The skaters in this article all happen to have meaningful ties to the NorthWest, and full bios can be found on the womxnskatehistory.ca website as well as features on Instagram @womxnsk8history. And if there’s somebody that you’re curious about or want to celebrate, check the archive and give me a shout. I’m always grateful for more photos and insight, and even better, direct leads to the skaters themselves to glean their story first-hand.

1960s

Gail Yarbrough is best known in the Pacific Northwest surfing community, as she’s dubbed “First Lady of the Point” in reference to a revered surf-spot just south of Seaside, OR. Gail surfed there while living in Nehalem Valley after a pro surf career. And yet, her skateboard history goes even deeper. Gail competed in the very first National Skateboard Championships, held at Santa Monica Park on December 4th, 1964, placing fifth behind the legendary Patti McGee. In the 1970s, while raising her sons on the farm in Nehalem, Gail had a mini-ramp built in her horse barn and started her own skateboard shop. There’s rumour that Gail’s humble skateshop was the first ever in the State of Oregon. Would be grateful for photos and confirmation!

Gail Yarbrough 1964. Photo by LeRoy Grannis.

1970s

Denise Danielson has her grandparents in Grays Harbor, WA to thank for her pro skateboarding career, as she moved there to complete high school and attend university. Denise was already a skater, starting out in the mid-1970s in Louisiana at age 14. Once in Washington, Denise’s skillset expanded, especially after making friends with the manager of Ride-On skateshop, who took her to the local parks, including a “new” one in Olympia. Denise would eventually make a trip to SoCal that upheaved her studies, and resulted in pro sponsorship with Z-skateboards, Mad Rats, Vans, and Tracker. Her top result was a 3rd place finish at Marina Del Rey Gold Cup #4 behind Pattie Hoffman and Cara-beth Burnside in 1980. Denise would return to WA, and even placed third against the guys at the Olympic skatepark in 1982 before it closed.

Stephanie Férnandez currently lives in Anacortes, WA and while her skateboarding career never occurred in the United States, it’s cool to note that Mexico’s first female champion is now a local. Stephanie was born in Mexico City and became sponsored by equipo SERISA, Mexico’s first skateboard company. She would win the 1979 championship and impress pro skater, Vicki Vickers, who acknowledged her in the December 1979 issue of Skateboarder. Stephanie eventually became a marine biologist, boat captain and tour guide in Hawaii and Alaska. She now runs Skagit Guided Adventures in the San Juan islands.

Stephanie Fernandez equipo serisa Skatorama 1978. Photo by Luis Gongora.

1980s

Denise Frohlick of Coquitlam, BC received props in the September 1981 issue of Thrasher mag for winning the banked bowl-riding contest at “The Great Canadian Open” at Seylynn bowl. The “contestants were judged on two 45 second routines utilizing the park’s downhill snake run and 20 food wide banked bowl.” Frohlick had started skateboarding in 1977 and had a few run-ins with the cops but won them over with a freestyle demo in a nearby tennis court. At an ASPO freestyle contest at Magic Mountain some dickhead organizer told her she wasn’t pretty enough to win, so she proceeded to beat all the girls and take 3rd overall against the guys.

Anita Tessensohn and Leaf Trienen of Eugene, WA were at the Willamette Dammit skate contest in 1986 when Stacy Peralta approached the two skaters to request their photo. Without any heads up, their photo would go on to become the iconic Powell-Peralta ad, “Some Girls Play With Dolls. Real Women Skate,” which was first printed in the December 1987 issue of Thrasher and promptly cut-out and pasted to female skaters’ walls. Anita and Leaf were part of a girl gang of ten skaters, including pro snowboarder Circe Wallace. While Leaf would also opt for competitive snowboarding, Anita would go on to have a video part in Public Domain (1988), take the cover of Equal Time zine in 1989, and finally become inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame in 2023.

Anita Tessensohn and Leaf Trienan. 1987 Powell Peralta ‘Some Girls’ Ad.

Anita Tessensohn cover of Equal Time Vol 1 No 3 1989. Photo by George Medlock.

1990s

The Frumpies were a punk band from Olympia, WA who formed in 1992 and had skateboarding and Riot Grrrl connections. Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Billy Karren all played in Bikini Kill, Molly Neuman was from Bratmobile, and Michelle Mae played for Weird War and Make-Up. In the July 1994 issue of Thrasher, a review of their album Safety First, called it a “skate punk must.” And even though Olympia banned skateboarding, the crew skated to their interview anyways. The Frumpies, in classic Riot Grrrl form created a zine called Nu Skate Movement, which was later re-printed in the Beastie Boys’ magazine Grand Royal (issue 2, 1996). Tobi was “sick of being insulted by the usual boy criticism/suspicions/dissers,” and Michelle was hopeful that a girl on a board would someday cease to be an oddity.

Image from the July 1994 issue of Thrasher Magazine

Lisa Jak Wietzke of Vancouver, BC, was a local at the Richmond Skate Ranch and benefitted from being able to skate vert after the park adopted the Expo ’86 Transworld contest vert ramp. When a filmmaker named Samantha Reynolds came by Seylynn bowl looking for a female skater, Lisa’s name was delivered. She became the stunt double in Grinding to Win (1990), which is possibly the first movie to revolve around a female skater! Highlights for Lisa were skating in a demo with her hero, Cara-beth Burnside in 1992, and befriending Tobin Yelland who photographed her skating Jeff Kendall’s ramp.

Lisa Jak Wietzke ramp 1990s Santa Cruz. Photo by Kymberly Agresti.

Cindy Gorset from Seattle, WA is the most iconic northwest female skater with her mohawk, punk style, and skills skating the city streets and favourite park, Burnside. She received props in the June 1996 issue of Thrasher alongside Jaime Reyes and Alison Lee, and then by Heckler mag in June 2002 in an article called, “Letters to Cindy Gorset.” Cindy found contest success at the All Girl Skate Jam in 1998, placing 3rd behind Steamer and Reyes, Slam City Jam, again placing 3rd the same year, and then winning the Sound and the Fury contest in Seattle on several occasions. Cindy had a solid bag of tricks like inward heel flips and nollie hard flips. She eventually moved to Portland to be close to Burnside because, “it’s the best place to skate in the world. There’s no other place like it.”

Cindy Gorset in 1996 in Seattle. Photo by J Rose.

Cindy Gorset in Seattle at Sound Fury 1998. Photo by J Rose.

2000s

Skate Like a Girl (SLAG) is hands down one of the most critical organizations to ever emerge for women and non-binary skaters, replicated around the world. It all started back in the late 90s when skater Holly Sheehan moved from San Francisco to attend Evergreen College in Olympia where she met Fleur Larsen through the school’s snowboarding team. In 1999, there was a 6-day event called “Ladyfest” and the two skaters organized a workshop at Yauger skatepark, providing boards for the attendees, and encouragement. The event was so popular, with folks demanding more inclusive sessions that Skate Like a Girl was launched in 2000 and hasn’t stopped since.

This is just a hint of the rich history of women in skateboarding, and I hope you take the time to check out the website, follow the IG account, and show some love!

Special requests… if anyone has copies of these zines or details on these skaters, I would be so grateful. I’m looking for Other Girls: for rebel/skater girls zine (1994) by anonymous out of Lynwood, WA, and 50-50: skateboarding and gender (1999) by Zanna in Portland, OR. And, in 1992 there was a girl gang in Portland called “Happy Happy Love” who went to Reed College and wrote a kickass letter to Thrasher but no names! Help a skater nerd out.