Beginner’s Luck: How To Become A Skating Pro (sort of)

• When you’re learning to turn and break, you’ll almost certainly fall. Make sure to wear protective gear such as knee/elbow pads and a helmet

• To keep your speed down, try your balance on a soft surface such as grass first

• Use your back foot as a brake, dragging it gently across the pavement
  

What’s taking off in the world of travel right now?

when Abbot Kinney came up with the idea of creating a “Venice of America” on the Los Angeles coast back in 1905, he brought as many elements from the Italian city to LA as he could. The idea was that, save for the palm trees and year-round Californian sunshine, you could almost be strolling in La Serenissima, with canals cutting through the city to the lagoon, hand-crafted gondolas steered by singing gondoliers, and beautiful Italianate architecture.

But LA’s Venice of America proved to be a troubled project: by the 1920s the canals had become polluted and most were filled in to create roads because residents preferred to travel by car than boat. In the subsequent decades the area went downhill – so much so that, by the 1950s, Venice was known as the “slum by the sea”. Shortly after, cheap rents started to attract artists, hippies and outsiders, and a decade later, Venice Beach began to flourish as a colourful, diverse area that lived by its own rules.

Never was this more apparent than in the 1970s, when skateboarding as we know it was born. The conditions were just right: new urethane wheels meant boarders could go faster and turn harder; groups such as the Z-Boys were impressing others with their aerial tricks; and a drought that dried up most of LA’s swimming pools meant that skateboarders were blessed with the very first makeshift skateparks. Venice Beach, of course, made for a pretty dreamy setting.“The uniqueness of Venice has to be the combination of different elements,” says photographer Franz Steiner, who has just finished a dynamic project focusing on Venice Beach’s 21st-century skateboarders. “It’s one of the few real beach communities in Los Angeles. You have those amazing sunsets, palm trees and ocean, but then in contrast to that beauty you have graffiti, concrete and urban structures.”

Attracted by the arty vibe and excellent surf, Franz moved to the area in 2009. He quickly found that his favourite place to hang out was the skatepark on the Venice Beach Boardwalk, which cost £1.6 million to create and was unveiled the same year he arrived. “It makes for a great scene,” he says. “The concrete waves catch the light beautifully. The skaters always have plenty of styles. I also like to visit the basketball courts – that’s another good spot to get a great shot. The concrete walls offer very versatile backgrounds for any photos.”

Fancy giving Tony Hawk a run for his money? Maui and Sons (mauiandsonsretail.com) offers skate lessons, and you can rent a board for as little as £4 an hour. After that Franz suggests: “Head to the shopping and cafe mile along Abbot Kinney Boulevard, where you’ll find high- end boutiques mixed with some classic hippy shops, as well as great food and coffee. At the other end of Venice is the Boardwalk. It’s a little bit edgier, but it gives you an idea what it was like in the 1970s when skateboarding first took off.”