Mini skatepark with big tricks: Fingerboarding competition slides into London this weekend

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 04, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 4

A skatepark implicit with ramps, handrails and a staircase is coming to a London brewery this weekend, acceptable to invited competitory riders locally and from arsenic acold distant arsenic Toronto.

How volition it fit? The skatepark lives connected apical of a table, and the skateboards acceptable close into the palms of competitors' hands. 

It's called fingerboarding, and it involves radical utilizing their fingers to thrust and bash tricks connected miniature skateboards.

"Physics-wise, it's each precisely the same, but the execution of it is simply a small spot antithetic due to the fact that you're translating from feet to fingers," London fingerboarder Dylan Salomons said. "If you privation to fig retired however to kickflip retired of a manual connected a fingerboard, you ticker idiosyncratic bash it connected a skateboard due to the fact that it's the nonstop aforesaid way."

An all-day fingerboarding contention is happening astatine London Brewing Co-Op Saturday, which its organizers accidental is needed to amplify London's increasing fingerboarding scene.

"There's radical who fingerboard successful London, but there's thing bringing the fingerboard assemblage unneurotic close now," said Salomons, who is 1 of the organizers. 

Saturday's lawsuit volition impact 2 fingerboarding competitions, which some emulate skateboarding competitions. 

The champion instrumentality competition, which is sanctioned by the United States Fingerboarding League, volition inquire competitors to onshore their champion instrumentality successful 45 seconds. The 2nd contention uses a Street League Skateboarding format, wherever riders accumulate points from their champion 4 retired of 10 instrumentality attempts. 

The events volition hap connected a custom-built skatepark by Ryse Fingerboards, a fingerboard platform and obstacle store located 30 minutes southwest of London.

"All our obstacles are either cement, alloy oregon woody and they're each replicates of skateboarding obstacles that you spot connected a regular ground astatine skateparks," said store proprietor Adrian Teles, who is besides organizing the event. 

He said helium hopes to support gathering the fingerboarding assemblage successful southwestern Ontario done his store and the upcoming competition.

"The London country is growing. What we're moving connected is gathering the country up truthful there's much of a assemblage retired here," Teles said. "We're trying to get it to the constituent wherever the London country has a bigger beingness truthful determination volition beryllium a batch much events and possibly adjacent a [brick-and-mortar] fingerboarding skate store tin unfastened up."

An alternate oregon summation to skateboarding

Salomons got into fingerboarding 4 years agone aft fracturing his wrist skateboarding, and receiving a fingerboard arsenic a acquisition from a person portion healing. He started by utilizing integrative Tech Decks, which tin beryllium bought astatine artifact and big-box stores, earlier buying amended instrumentality and getting into the trade much seriously. 

"It's insane however aggravated the fingerboarding country is erstwhile you get into it," Salomons said. 

Meanwhile, Teles grew up arsenic a nonrecreational skateboarder and spent clip moving connected the video crippled Skater XL, but got into fingerboarding arsenic a mode to assistance negociate his anxiousness aft helium and his woman experienced a stillbirth. 

"I find it's bully for radical who person anxiousness and things similar that due to the fact that it keeps their hands going," helium said. 

Both fingerboarders said determination is overlap betwixt the skate and fingerboarding communities, with Teles adding that radical are drawn to the 2 activities for the aforesaid reason. 

"Skateboarding is evidently the motherland and wherever it each comes from, but fingerboarding is simply a batch similar it erstwhile it comes to the feeling you get erstwhile you onshore a instrumentality aft trying for hours," helium said. "There's the feeling of gratification."

The fingerboarding contention astatine London Brewing Co-Op successful Old East Village is happening from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. connected Saturday, and is escaped to some participate and watch.