Les Robertson joins Skate[Slate] as President

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“Proud to announce” and “stoked” are words that are thrown around quite often nowadays. This statement is used in all sorts of situations, from promotions to winning awards, to launching new products and/or joining a new teams.

Not too long ago, before moving to Japan, I was living in Vancouver, skating and stoking out the scene with Coast Longboarding. It was back then that I met Les Robertson, before he was “Papa Les” to so many now. He was new to Rayne and the Vancouver scene, but from my very first encounter with Les I was impressed with everything he represented. To be honest, we talked on and off throughout the years about Les joining the Skate[Slate] team due to like-mindedness on so many ideas. The future looked great with someone like Les by your side. Skaters that have worked with Les know exactly what I’m talking about.

I spent this past summer in Vancouver and there was no question Les has had an impact there and from what I can see, wherever he goes. We’ve featured Les on Skate[Slate] in videos from Rayne over the years, but we’ve also heard what he has to say more candidly in print editorials on legal skating. We’ll never forget the proud feeling a lot of Vancouverites shared when Les went toe to toe in live radio debates with politicians and media alike. When tragedy hit the community a few summers ago, the pitchforks came out and the non-skateboarding community was attacking downhill skateboarders all over Vancouver. Les handled this period of time with amazing ambassadorship skills better than anyone I had heard in the past. I know first hand this is not an easy task and Les murdered the mic as the entire community there cheered him on. Hell, even my Mom called me up and mentioned how thoroughly impressed she was with the man (Les) on the radio. He has skated and made friends with so many people around the world by sharing his stoke for skating, traveling and enjoying life.

With that, we’re stoked and proud to announce bringing Les on board and adding him to our team as President of Skate[Slate]. Over the coming months, Les will be working with our existing team of incredibly talented people to help bring you more diverse coverage from around the world of skateboarding, inside and in-depth coverage of the people pushing the boundaries, and working with the best shops and brands to bring you some really fun gear to play with, and events to play at.

Follow Les on Instagram @the_papa_les to keep tabs on what he’s up to and be sure to check back to SkateSlate.com for all the goods.

Thanks for letting me rant! Now go skate.

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