Skateboarders from across the country grind and kickflip their way to Medicine Hat for Beat the Heat

Pritchard said that Beat the Heat wasn’t the first out-of-province tournament of her young career, having already performed semi-professionally in Phoenix, AZ.

Specializing in bowls, Pritchard said that she’s been grinding the rails since she was six, but that started taking it more seriously in the last three years.

She feels like the skateboarding community is for everyone.

“Skateboarding isn’t exclusive, anyone, any kind of person can do it, and that’s why I love about it, like, anyone can do it and everyone just welcomes you into it,” Pritchard said.

“Well, it’s a good way to push yourself, challenge yourself and also meet a lot of new people,” she said.

“It’s just super fun, and it’s just a really good way to push yourself and be good at something that not that many people do, so it’s super fun to be like, ‘wow, I’m a skateboarder.'”

Kristan Peltzer made the trip from Chilliwack, B.C. and said it wasn’t surprising to him that so many people travelled so far.

“In Canada, there’s not that many contests going on that are this big. So I think people are just stoked about it,” Peltzer said.

This is his second Beat the Heat tournament Peltzer has attended and said the trip was last minute, but definitely worth it just to see how you stack up against the competition and meeting up with old and new friends.

“It’s fun. It teaches you how to take a fall and get up. You meet tons of different people and it’s pretty accepting. Everyone’s pretty cool. It doesn’t really matter who you are. You can just go skate and you don’t need a team,” Peltzer said.

Beat the Heat will be running on Canada Day and will play host to bands and a bar-be-que.

by Adrian St.Onge

Skateboarders from across the country grind and kickflip their way to Medicine Hat for Beat the Heat

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