1. Beyond deciding to wear a helmet following your head injury, have you also modified your style of skating since the injury? If so, how would you describe the change?

I put a lot more thought into my rollerblading now.

2. The process of rehabilitation after an injury is just as much psychological as physiological. How would you describe the highs and lows of coming back after a serious injury? Was this process much different for your head injury rehab than for previous injuries, how so?

Oh my! I’ve never had an injury that can even compare to my head injury. Usually it’s been “my body feels better, I’m ready to blade.” The physical part of my healing process was luckily deleted from my memory and there’s not much to talk about there, other then I heard it was a very rough road, not only for me but everyone around me.

The mental healing is what I’ve been dealing with since the injury. It’s been a very new and confusing ride I’ve been on.

After the injury, my mind was set on never blading again. Nine months of having that mind set was a very depressing time for me. I’ve never been as low as I was during that time.

My mom noticed I was missing something in my life and needed to change the way I thought. I don’t know the exact words she said but it went something like this, “Cameron you need rollerblading in your life, take what happened and learn from it.”

Since then I’ve figured out a few things I needed to change: Never get frustrated with a trick, the moment I’m not enjoying the act of rollerblading is the moment of going against the reason I do it. If I have to hit something or bang my head to get juiced to do the trick I’m not calm enough to be as focused as I would like. Any doubt means I shouldn’t be trying the trick. As long as I’m mentally capable of trying a trick then I know I’ve got it. I don’t push past the signs of getting hurt. I’m also able to stop trying a trick without worrying about it. Those are some of the way’s I’ve been able to mature from my injury. […]

Check the full Cameron Card Interview on Archive.org.

We at Shock finally got to sit down with the founder of world famous crew / jeans / clothing label Inri. Interview was conducted in January 2010. Skate footage preceding the interview captured on the same day. Filmed and edited by Kevin Yee, Paul John, Patrick Lennen and Sean Sea.

Video on Vimeo: PLAY

Photo: Jeremy Stephenson (Jero, 2008)

I have noticed that in blading there is a heavy imbalance between the amount of males and females. A female on blades is the exception; men seem to rule the sport in every aspect from shredding to company ownership to sheer numbers. I take this to be a supreme bum-rush. What are we doing wrong?

One time Frank Stoner and I had a conversation about this and I think he put it best. In sports like surfing, skiing, and snowboarding, there is a strong female following.

Granted they are still male dominated sports, but the ratio of male to females in those sports out weighs rollerblading. Anyways, those activities are more family oriented and I think that’s one reason the females are plentiful there and not in rollerblading. Families with little girls will go on a ski trip every winter, exposing that little girl to the snow, balancing her skis, witnessing demos, etc.

That type of exposure at a young age makes all the difference in the long run. But, the rollerblader girls get pretty spoiled for sure. […]

• Interview on Stabyourselfintheface.com: Link Down | Archive.org backup.
• Shock Video featured in the Interview: PLAY (Vimeo). Featuring Skatings, skits and fun clips.

When most people think of Vegas they think of the Strip, neon lights, gambling… the asshole of America. Is this an accurate picture? As a local, how do you relate to this picture?

The area that consists of Las Vegas is huge (the strip being a small fraction of the city), and this isn’t counting the surrounding cities of Henderson and Boulder City. It’s like a 50 square mile island surrounded by desert instead of water. There are a considerable amount of skate spots that have been found and even more uncharted territory to be conquered. So physically, I would say no…

As far as the caliber of people, I would say that “asshole of America” is a fairly accurate description. Fortunately, the niche of people that I am blessed to be involved with on a regular basis is very down to earth. Outside of that, I find it difficult to meet people here that don’t trip my douche bag alarm some way or another. My particular favorite is the mutated-westcoastern-guido breed that seems to be ever prevalent in these parts.

Being a local in the city that never sleeps has its advantages though. Since it’s a 24 hour city, we have no last call. Most bars don’t even close. It rarely rains, hence it being a desert. If out-of-towners visit, we have a wide variety of goofy attractions to offer (i.e. Bellagio water show, Helicopter rides to the Grand Canyon, Rooms with wall to wall trampolines.) It’s kind of bittersweet; I love and hate this place. […]

• Check the video on Vimeo: PLAY
• Full Interview on Stabyourselfintheface.com (link down)

Visiting Friends in the Bay Area in May 2009. Featuring: Brendan Tidd, Sylvain Chaussee, Kevin Yee & Sean Salazar.

Video on Vimeo: PLAY

Filmed and Edited by Greg Freeman. Additional footage from Luke Bender, Mykel Fatali, and Jeremy Spira.

Video on Vimeo: PLAY
Video made for Stabyourselfintheface.com (link down).