Vert skating can be best described as an acrobatic skating sport. It is a version of agressive inline skating. The objective of the sport is to perform various acrobatic moves on a modified half-pipe while wearing inline or roller skates. It is an extremely challenging sport that requires a great deal of skill.
Vertical skating is done on specially designed skating ramp, called a vert ramp, which is a half-pipe with about 6-24 inches of vertical portion on both ends of the pipe. Both roller skates and inline skates can be used, although most riders prefer the inline skates. Other protective gear like helmets and knee guards are also used.
Each rider individually takes to the ramp to perform various moves like flips and spins during their run. In competitions, each rider gets a fixed amount of time, usually less than a minute to complete their routine. The runs are judged based on difficulty of flips and turns, landing, creativity of the entire routine, flow, consistency, and the overall style of the tricks performed and are awarded points.
The landing is a very important aspect in vert skating, where if riders performing more difficult moves don't land well, they will score lower points than riders performing tricks with lower difficulty and land well.
Vert skating as expected is a part of the annual X-Games since its inception in 1995.
Similar Sports
- Vert Skateboarding — an acrobatic sport in which athletes riding a skateboard perform various tricks while being airborne.
- Aggressive Inline Skating — involves grins, airs, cess slides, to/heel rolls and other advance skating techniques.
- Inline Skating — also known as roller blading, a variety of sports performed while wearing skates with two to five polyurethane wheels arranged in a single line.
- Skateboarding — a rider balances and performs tricks using a skateboard.
Related Pages
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports