etnies

Sarah Whitmore’s First Team Journal

etnies Girl moto team rider Sarah Whitmore has been in Georgia since the end of December, getting ready for the upcoming May Nationals. She wrote her first team journal about her training and about her recent trip to Texas to race at Lake Whitney.

Two days after Christmas I loaded up my pickup and made the 22 hour journey from northern Michigan to southern Georgia. I left at 6 a.m. and arrived here at 4 a.m. the next day, driving straight through all by myself. I guess you could say I was trying to get away from the snow as fast as possible. Except for a couple of trips to California and Florida for races and media coverage, I have been right here in Cairo, Ga., riding and training every day.

The facility I’m staying at is set up like a campground, so my parents leave their motor home down here all winter for me to stay in. They have a supercross and a motocross track, though I mostly just ride motocross. They also have a track just for pit bikes, and I think that track gets almost as much use as the others. Besides a couple of mothers who stay here, I’m the only girl. Sure, it may sound fun at first being the only female with tons of hot motocross boys, but it gets old fast and my phone bill racks up from calling all of my girlfriends every night.

Before I tell you about my trip to Texas, I guess I should mention that for most of last year I had the Epstein-Bar virus, which is a form of mono. After passing out on the podium last year and then doing the same thing for the next couple of months, I called it a season and took six months off. So these past two months here at GPF (Georgia Practice Facility) have been my only preparation for this upcoming season. So my trip to Texas was merely a test to see if I was ready or not.

At Lake Whitney, my first moto of the women’s 99cc, 125cc and up class started off great. I had a good start, but while passing for second my bike seized. There I was pushing my bike down the hill and off the track, and along with it went my hopes of doing well that week. The rest of the week was spent trying to get the bugs worked out. I went a disappointing 5-4 in the pro class for fifth over all, and placed third in the second moto of my 99cc, 125cc and up race.

Sunday, after my last moto, we loaded up my motor home and headed 90 miles north to Oak Hill. I had never ridden this track before, but after walking it I decided I liked it much better. By the end of practice, and after two crashes (the first of five for the whole week), I finally had the track down and was ready to race. My first moto, I crashed right off the start and had to work my way up, and was doing a good job of it. I caught all the way up to third place and was gaining on second when I crashed again. After my women’s moto, I raced against the guys in the 125 amateur class just for practice. There I learned some new lines and my lap times improved tremendously. If I could get a good start, I would have a good shot at a moto win. Unfortunately, when it came down to it I rode terribly and got third. I put way too much pressure on myself to do well and I’m just not quite where I need to be yet. But the way I look at it is that I have two more months to get there. I learned a lot about what my weak points are on the track and now I’m back in Georgia working on them. So they better watch out in May.

Sarah Whitmore

Skate Team Report: Canada, Eh?

Lauren Perkins on the cover of the Vancouver Sun

Two weekends ago, Elissa Steamer and Lauren Perkins headed up to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to participate in “SkateOver, Not a Makeover 2,” an all-girls skate clinic at the RDS Skatepark. Aside from raining the entire weekend (which didn’t allow for any street skating), everything went smoothly. Saturday was spent exploring the city, shopping a little and checking out the skatepark, where the event would be going down the next day. Sunday was the actual day of the event, and there was quite a bit on the agenda for the day. The girls did six interviews in the early afternoon with everything from major newspapers to skate mags, and Lauren got the cover of the Vancouver Sun! About 70 girls were signed up for the clinic later that afternoon, so Lauren and Elissa skated with them, taught them how to do tricks and signed autographs. Thanks to the crew at RDS Skatepark and to etnies’ distributor in Canada, Timebomb, for making the event a huge success!

Since getting home, Elissa has been up in San Francisco skating in between rainstorms. She will be heading out to Arizona for the big Phoenix Am Contest this weekend—she isn’t skating in it, but wants to go check out all the young fellow shredders, plus the weather should be good there. She’ll probably be home on Monday, which will give her about a day to get ready for a trip out to New York with etnies. Stay tuned for more on this trip in an upcoming report.

Lauren has also been skating in between rainstorms. The weather is finally starting to look good in Southern California, so she’ll be skating nonstop. Lauren will also be heading out to New York next week, but as mentioned above, more on that later…

The Final Surf Team Report of March

Jodie (middle) with Taylor Cole ("Erika Spalding") and Jesse McCartney ("Bradin Westerly") from “Summerland”

Jodie Nelson filmed the last episode of the second season of “Summerland” a couple of weeks ago. Immediately after wrapping filming, she did a Nixon ad campaign photo shoot (right when the waves were going off—it always works out that way), and the next day she became an auntie again when her sister had a baby! Other than that, she’s been surfing a lot a Lowers and shot a couple of days in Oceanside and at Salt Creek.

Lovely Big Sur

Mary Osborne recently spent a relaxing weekend in beautiful Big Sur, on the central California coast. She saw llamas, elephant seals, zebras, horses, condors, waterfalls and so much more…and wishes she hadn’t left her camera at home! Check out the photo she took with her cell phone. Not bad, right? Mary loved her trip and says she can’t wait to go back to surf. Today, she left for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to teach at the Paskowitz Surf Camp.

Moto Team Report: 11th Annual Spring Classic

Sarah Whitmore recently traveled to Lake Whitney, Texas, to race in the 11th Annual Spring Classic, which took place March 8-13. In the Women's 105, 125cc & Up Class, Sarah did not start in the first moto due to some mechanical difficulties; however, by the second moto, her bike was running great and Sarah was able to take third. In the Women's Pro Class, Sarah again ran into some bad luck, crashing in both the first and second moto. She was able to shake it off quickly, though, and fought to work her way back to the lead, finishing fifth overall.

Meanwhile, teammate Tarah Gieger has been recovering in Florida from a broken pelvis. Over the last couple of weeks, she has been able to get up and around, even making it to the Orlando Supercross. Tarah has started training in anticipation of the upcoming Nationals in May and is looking forward to the racing season.

Deanna Templeton Photo Exhibit Opening April 6 in Paris

nº44 PARIS PRESENTS:

Photographs by Deanna Templeton

Opening April 6, 2005, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Exhibition from April 7-April 30

nº44 Boutique
59, rue Jean Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris, France
Open 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Enter the etnies Girl and The Donnas Golden Giveaway!

Enter the etnies Girl and The Donnas Golden Giveaway, and you could score an autographed copy of The Donnas CD, “Gold Medal,” along with an autographed limited edition black light poster, an autographed etnies Girl Script T-shirt and an etnies Girl outfit—including a pair of Premiere, a Speedster top, a Hershey skirt, a Shakedown jacket and an Amy Tote—handpicked by The Donnas. Two runners-up will receive an autographed copy of "Gold Medal," an autographed limited edition black light poster and a Script T-shirt. Just enter to win by May 6.

Enter the etnies Girl and The Donnas Golden Giveaway!

Enter the etnies Girl and The Donnas Golden Giveaway, and you could score an autographed copy of The Donnas CD, “Gold Medal,” along with an autographed limited edition black light poster, an autographed etnies Girl Script T-shirt and an etnies Girl outfit—including a pair of Premiere, a Speedster top, a Hershey skirt, a Shakedown jacket and an Amy Tote—handpicked by The Donnas. Two runners-up will receive an autographed copy of "Gold Medal," an autographed limited edition black light poster and a Script T-shirt. Just enter to win by May 6.

Win a Surf Trip to Cabo!

Just imagine: two months from now, you could be chilling in Cabo, learning how to surf from totally hot members of the etnies surf team and hanging out with Mary Osborne or Jodie Nelson from the etnies Girl surf team. Sound too good to be true? Well it's not! etnies and Journeys want to send you and a friend to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for an amazing three-day surf trip with the etnies surf team on May 20-22. All you have to do is visit the Journeys site, fill out the form and write three sentences explaining why you should win.

One grand prize winner will receive a trip for two to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and an etnies prize pack, which includes a pair of etnies sandals, a towel, a T-shirt and a hat. Plus, 100 runners-up will receive a free etnies T-shirt.

Hurry, because you have to enter to win by March 30, 2005. Good luck!

“My Bloody Valentine” Results and Photos

November 2004's etnies Girl of the Month, Felicity Corral

Julia "Juwels" Bauer grinds over the deathbox during the "Deathbox Challenge," wowing the crowd.

My Bloody Valentine,” the second stop of the Wicked Wahine Bowl Series, took place at the infamous Bellmar pool on Feb. 27. The event brought together 20 of the top female bowl skaters in a jam session format to crown the winners of the Longest Grind, Highest Air, Deathbox Challenge, Best trick, Most Stylee, Most Improved and the "My Bloody Valentine" award. The girls were split into three jam sessions, allowing each girl to rip the notoriously challenging pool to shreds.

Skateboarding legend Cara-Beth Burnside rips out yet another gnarly grind during the jam session.

This being only the second event of this new series (the first took place at the Glendale Skatepark in September 2004), spectators showed up in great numbers and included some of the icons of skateboarding—such as Christian Hosoi, Omar Hassan, Lance Mountain, Jeff Grosso, John Lecuro and Jimmy the Greek—who were there to show support for their female counterparts.

Much like the first event, “My Bloody Valentine” had a positive, fun vibe going all day. With the level of skating advancing as each event takes place, stay tuned for the next event scheduled for Cuatros Casa, Baja, in June!

Final Results

Longest Grind: Mimi Knoop

Highest Air: Cara-Beth Burnside

Deathbox Challenge: Heidi Fitzgerald (Frontside and backside grind over the box)

Best Trick: Cara-Beth Burnside (Les Twist, backside roll-in, feeble grind to fakie. She did three tricks that were really awesome.)

My Bloody Valentine*: Julia "Juwels" Bauer (For tearing her thumb apart trying to clear the channel)

* They almost had to give it to Cara-Beth and Nicole instead when Cara-Beth rolled in from the deck and Nicole dropped in on the roll in, nearly killing each other.

Most Stylee: Nicole Zuck (She just rips and does huge gnarly grinds all over the pool.)

Most Improved: Pamela Brodowski (The decision was based on improvement between the practice sessions and the jam session.)

Meet Elissa and Lauren in Vancouver!

Elissa Steamer and Lauren Perkins will be in Canada this weekend, attending “SkateOver, Not a Makeover 2,” an all-girls skate clinic that will be taking place this Sunday from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the RDS Skatepark in Vancouver, British Columbia. They will be helping girls learn how to skate and do new tricks, as well as signing autographs and doing some skating of their own for all the attendees. Call (604) 271-7275 for more details.

In other skate team news, Elissa just got home from Florida where she went to hang out with her family for a bit and also to enter the Tampa Pro, a contest held annually at the Skatepark of Tampa. The Tampa Pro is a contest for guys, but Elissa has been friends with the park owners for so long that they let her enter…which made sense, because she ended up qualifying for the semi-finals! Thirty skaters were taken from the qualifiers to the semis, and Elissa placed 30th. In the semi-finals, she ended up placing 27th, which is her best showing yet at this particular contest. Nice one, Elissa!

Seeing that Elissa beat three guys in the semi-finals at the Tampa Pro, which is just in addition to all of her other amazing accomplishments (check out her bio if you’re not familiar with them), we think it’s pretty obvious that Elissa is the best female skater in the world. If you think so too, please take a moment to vote for her for Check It Out Magazine’s “Best Female Skater of 2004.” You don't have much time, so hurry up and vote today!

As for Lauren, she has been home in Huntington Beach, enjoying a break from her usually hectic travel schedule, and skating a bunch since the weather has finally been nice in Southern California.

Stay tuned for next week’s report, as we’ll have an update on this weekend’s trip to Canada, as well as info on other upcoming events.

Meet Brooke, the etnies Girl of the Month

Brooke, March’s etnies Girl of the Month, doesn’t waste any time. She entered her first contest the same week she started skating, and after only three months of skating, she was already the first girl ever on the Skatelab Skatepark team. Now, a year after she first picked up a board, the 14-year-old Jacksonville, Fla., native teaches other girls how to skate every Wednesday night for free at Skatelab, and also manages to juggle working at the skatepark and keeping up with her honors classes. Brooke found time in her busy schedule to talk with us about her love of skateboarding, where she finds inspiration and what she does for fun when she’s not skating.

etnies Girl: So, Brooke, what are your interests?
Brooke: I love to hang out and skate with friends. A big shout out to my Skatelab crew and DBS (Don’t Be Scared) crew!

etnies Girl: What are your talents?
Brooke: Singing, cheerleading, running, skateboarding and surfing. I also love drama.

etnies Girl: How did you get involved in skating? Do you surf or snowboard?
Brooke: I first got into skateboarding through a boyfriend named Corey Harper. He built up my confidence to get involved. I didn’t want to be one of those girls who just sat at a park and watched—I wanted to skate. I surf a little, but I don’t love it as much as skating. Surfing is very overrated in Jacksonville.

etnies Girl: What do you like about etnies Girl?
Brooke: I like how the shoes skate—they skate really good. They fit your foot perfectly, so everything you do, you can feel it perfect.

etnies Girl: Why are you an etnies Girl?
Brooke: I am an etnies girl because I am very creative and have my own style. I am definitely myself, and I don’t follow the crowd because I want to be different.

etnies Girl: What do you do for fun?
Brooke: I hang out with my friend Chelsea Lau, and we just talk. I also hang out with some of my very artsy drama kid friends.

etnies Girl: Where do you find inspiration?
Brooke: I find inspiration through watching skateboarding. I just watch people’s style carefully and combine them all. I watch Ryan Sheckler all the time on TV. He is amazing and should be so proud of himself.

etnies Girl: What’s your biggest accomplishment?
Brooke: My biggest accomplishment is getting on the Skatelab team. I was the first girl ever on Skatelab. My other accomplishments are having all of my sponsors, skating contests and not having a care in the world, and just having fun with skateboarding

etnies Girl: You’ve only been skating for one year and you’ve already progressed a lot. Tell us about it.
Brooke: I have had a lot of bad days, and yet a lot of great days. It’s very hard for me to think guys aren’t watching and saying stuff. When I want to try something, I don’t want to look stupid—but when it all comes down to it, I have to progress, so I just go for it. Everybody falls, so I can’t be scared. That’s another reason why I ride for a crew called DBS (Don’t Be Scared). My first week of skateboarding, I went to a contest and competed in it. It was so nerve-racking, but it was the best time I had ever had.

etnies Girl: It’s great that you teach girls how to skate. How did you get started doing that?
Brooke: The owners of Skatelab, Brian and Kelly Christenson, and I decided we wanted more girls like me to start skating, and that we wanted to give everyone a good vibe. So I asked if I could do free lessons, because I remember how hard it was learning how to skate alone. So I started planning a regular night to do it after school and studying.

etnies Girl: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten?
Brooke: Brad Cantrell, a close friend who’s in the DBS crew, told me, “Girl, you rip, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

etnies Girl: What’s really important to you?
Brooke: My family and my friends. Without them, I wouldn’t be pursuing my dreams in skating.

etnies Girl: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself?
Brooke: I am just a fun, kooky kid who wants to have fun and skate. I also want to give a big thanks to everyone for helping me and pushing me through the hard times.

Brooke's Favorite Things

Place: Downtown Jacksonville, Fla.
Animal: Cats
Color: Green
Hangout: “My favorite hangout is at Skatelab with all of my friends: Cole and Clay Sones, Spencer and Chelsea Lau, Alex and Andrew Morrell, Joe Varella, Jakob Sykes, Matt Galardo, Corey Harper, Bo Bussey, Adrian, Brad Cantrell and Charles Porter.”
City: Jacksonville, Fla.
Song: “London Calling” by The Clash
Album: “Hot Fuss” by The Killers
Band: Mötley Crüe, Rolling Stones, The Clash, Eric Clapton, The Killers, The Police
Book: “A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket
Movie: “I like Flatline Skateboards’ ‘Not Even Here’ video and the ‘Zero: Dying to Live’ video.”
TV show: “I like FUEL and ‘MTV Cribs,’ because Ryan Sheckler was on it.”
Sport: Skateboarding
Game: Pool and darts
Food: Skaterade and Cheese Nips
Candy: Gobstoppers
Holiday: “Christmas, because I get a new complete.”
Smell: Vanilla
Hobby: Skateboarding
Guilty pleasure: “I stay up all night watching skate videos a lot.”
Athlete: Ryan Sheckler
Hero: “Brad Cantrell for skateboarding and Chelsea Lau for being there for me.”
etnies shoe: “I like the Floyd.”

Be an etnies Girl of the Month

Would you like to be the next etnies Girl of the Month? E-mail a paragraph describing why you should be our next etnies Girl along with a photo of yourself to etniesgirl [at] soletechnology.com, or send it to:

etnies Girl of the Month
c/o Sole Technology, Inc.
25422 Trabuco Rd., Suite 105 #235
Lake Forest, CA 92609

Don't forget to include your name, age, address and phone number.

Leanne Pelosi Wins Queen of the Mountain!

Sweet, sweet victory: Leanne (middle) accepts her award.

Congrats to etnies Girl and ThirtyTwo rider Leanne Pelosi, who snagged first place at the SG Queen of the Mountain last Saturday at Mountain High Resort in Wrightwood, Calif. The event, which benefited Boarding for Breast Cancer, took place on a beautiful, sunny day, so the snow was really slushy and the mountain was packed. The contest setup was an up-flat-down box and choice of three rails: the left one was a six inch wide metal rail that was between 25 and 30 feet long, the middle one was a 30 foot round rail, and the right one was a flat-down with a kink and then another down rail.

During the contest, Leanne really mixed up her bag of tricks, which included half-Cab boardslides on the round rail; a frontside 270 on the flat six inch rail; a Cab 180 in, Cab 180 out; a Cab 180 onto the kinked rail; and a couple of Cab boardslides on the kinked rail. She won by mixing up all of her tricks throughout the course and by landing all of her technical tricks, earning her a $5,000 check and a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar.

Leanne tree huggin' before the contest

etnies Girl and ThirtyTwo team rider Alexis Waite also competed, and landed a few great tricks, including a Cab boardslide, a couple of 50-50s, a boardslide on the kinked rail, and a 180 on, 180 off on the up-down box. etnies Girl and ThirtyTwo rider Laura Hadar, who is known for her speed and style on rails, rode well, too.

Final Results

1. Leanne Pelosi (etnies Girl/ThirtyTwo) – 29.2 points
2. Molly Aguirre – 28.2 points
3. Kirsten Sietz – 26.9 points
4. Emily Akerblom – 26.7 points
5. Alexis Waite (etnies Girl/ThirtyTwo) – 24.7 points
6. Isabelle Lalive – 23.8 points
7. Laura Hadar (etnies Girl/ThirtyTwo) – 22.8 points
8. Macy Price – 21.6 points
9. Jamie Anderson – 21 points
10. Dana Starr – 20.3 points

Enter the Dressing Up Sweepstakes!

Do you ever find yourself staring into your closet in the morning, wishing a wardrobe would magically appear? etnies Girl and Teen People want to make your wish come true! You could be one of five girls to snag a new outfit—including the Tuberose Tank, Shorty pants, Kristin Belt, Rica Wallet and Missy wristbands—through the Dressing Up Sweepstakes. No purchase necessary. Enter by April 1 by visiting Teen People.

Photo of the Day: Janna, Is That You?

Janna sure looks different…

Janna Meyen wasn’t on hand to accept her Gravity Games slopestyle gold metal, so her etnies and ThirtyTwo team manager, Eddie Lee, accepted the award for her. Silver metal winner Silvia Mittermuller, 28, of Germany, and bronze metal winner Izumi Amaike, 27, of Japan, seem to be wondering who the dude on the podium is...

The First Surf Team Report of March!

Mary Osborne (middle) hangs out with students from Ventura's Foothill High.

Mary Osborne went back to her old school, Ventura’s Foothill High School, last Friday. She was asked to attend the school’s rally and awards assembly as a surprise guest to judge a hula contest and hand out awards to students with high GPAs. This past week, she went to Robert August Surfboards to meet with her shaper, met with her agents at CAA in L.A., and tonight she’s attending an auction, to which she donated several items, at her former grammar school in Ventura.

Jodie Nelson spent the past week surfing and working on some future projects. She also went out on wave runners down in Oceanside, Calif., to practice doing step offs. On Tuesday, she filmed for “Summerland,” wrapping up the final episode of the second season, and yesterday she was in Los Angeles at a photo shoot for the new Nixon ad campaign.

Vote for Elissa and Lauren for Check It Out’s “Best Female Skater of ‘04”!

Last year, Elissa Steamer was awarded Check It Out Girls Magazine’s “Best Female Skater of 2003,” an honor she was thrilled to receive, not only because it came from a such a cool mag as Check It Out, but because the award was voted on by you, her fans. This year, we’re asking you to cast your votes (that’s right, you can vote more than once!) for Elissa and her fellow etnies Girl teammate, Lauren Perkins, for Check It Out’s “Best Female Skater of 2004.” The winner will receive the award next month at the third Check It Out party at the Key Club in Los Angeles. You don't have much time, so hurry up and vote for your favorite skater (or skaters) today!

SkateOver, Not a Makeover 2

In part with the SistaHood Celebration 2005, etnies Girl and RDS Skatepark are presenting “SkateOver, Not a Makeover 2.” This all-girls skateboarding clinic will take place on Sunday, March 20, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., at the RDS Skatepark in Richmond, British Columbia. Taught by girls, and strictly for girls, “SkateOver Not a Makeover 2” will give girls a chance to learn some new tricks, meet new friends and skate with some of the best female skaters in the world, including special guest instructors and etnies Girl riders Elissa Steamer and Lauren Perkins. The three hour clinic is $25 per person. Girls must bring their own skateboard, but helmets and pads are available for rent, and everyone who attends will get a gift bag for coming out! RDS Skatepark is located at Unit #150 - 14380 Triangle Road, Richmond B.C. V6W 1B1. Please call (604) 271-7275 for more details.

Enter the Chic Clique Giveaway 2!

Teen Vogue and etnies Girl are teaming up again to give you the chance to win an etnies Girl wardrobe. Five lucky winners will be chosen at random to receive three items from etnies Girl, including one pair of Lo-Qwan-Do, one Tuberose Tank and one Becky Satchel. You must enter the contest by April 11, 2005, and complete the Entry Form to be eligible to win. Good luck!

Snow Team Report: Contests Galore!

Alexis Waite, Leanne Pelosi and friend Natasha Zurek (right to left) at the Gravity Games

Greetings, fellow shredders…

It’s hard to believe, but the winter season is coming to an end, and spring is just around the corner. A lot has gone down for etnies Girl team riders this contest season. Some are on the inevitable injured list, while others are laughing all the way to the bank with their winnings from various contests. Here’s what our team riders have been up to.

Janna Meyen continues to dominate the contest circuit with confidence and consistency. She destroyed the slopestyle course at the Gravity Games on March 3 in Copper Mountain, Colo., throwing down an impressive run during the two hour jam session. Her final run included a backside 5 to a Cab 5, to an enormous backside 3 to straight air, to 50-50 air over the battleship, to a clean boardslide on the ledge rail, finishing off with a Cab boardslide on the final feature. Janna scored an 88.0, putting her in first place, 12 points higher than anyone else and $20,000 richer. Congratulations, Janna! You RULE!

Rock on, Leanne!

Leanne Pelosi recently got back from a two week trip to Iceland. That’s right, Iceland. She said the snow conditions weren’t all that great, but that she had a blast making the best of it with some good friends. She was covering a TransWorld story, so look out for details sometime in late fall or in 2006. She flew home for a day and then made her way to Colorado to attend the Gravity Games at Copper Mountain. She rode well during the two hour jam session on Thursday, March 3, but unfortunately she didn’t make the podium; however, she did end up getting fourth place and taking home $2,500. The next day after the men’s slopestyle, Leanne, along with B team rider Laura Hadar and flow/R&D rider Rachel Nelson, showed up to throw down some serious jibs at the Rail Jam in Frisco, Colo. It had a 45 minute jam format with a best trick prize of $1,000 every 15 minutes, and a grand total of $2,000 for the women’s contest—which, by the way, Leanne nabbed. Winning a total of $4,500 for a couple days of riding? Not bad. Congratulations, Leanne!

Alexis Waite is back in action! After a week of shredding in the backcountry in Utah, Alexis drove out to Colorado to compete in the Gravity Games. She rode well for having a broken wrist, but unfortunately didn’t make the podium. She placed eighth, which isn’t bad for an injured rider. She’s still up in spirits and will make her way down to Southern California, where she’ll be attending the Queen of the Mountain scheduled for March 12 at Mountain High. Welcome back, Lexi!

B team rider Laura Hadar represented at the Gravity Games in Copper Mountain on March 3 and 4. She rode well and stomped a few of her runs but didn’t make the podium. Nevertheless, she earned herself a little cash and placed sixth in the slopestyle event. She also rode her butt off the night of the rail jam and threw down a handful of tricks. Thanks for shredding so hard, Laura!

Lauren Perkins Signing This Saturday!

Enter the March Shoe Giveaway!

This month, etnies Girl is giving you the chance to win a pair of Lo-Qwan-Do and to be a future etnies Girl of the Month! Just tell us in 300 words or less why you or someone you know should be an etnies Girl of the Month. You can nominate yourself, your friend, your sister, your girlfriend...you name it. All you have to do is convince us that you, or the person you’re nominating, is a cool girl who knows how to be herself and follow her own path, whether she’s into skating, surfing or snowboarding, or making her mark through art, music, fashion or other creative pursuits. The writer of the best entry will receive a pair of Lo-Qwan-Do, and they, or the person they nominated, will be featured on etniesGirl.com this year as an etnies Girl of the Month. Two runners-up will also receive a pair of Lo-Qwan-Do. You must enter by March 31, 2005, and complete the Entry Form to be eligible to win.