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How Do You Sk8!
From Street Skating to Competition Organizing: Marshall Brame's Colorado Skateboarding Journey
From street skating as a 12-year-old to founding his own skateboard company and organizing competitions across Colorado, Marshall Brame embodies the entrepreneurial spirit thriving within today's skateboarding culture.
"No matter what you do out here, it just seems like one big family," Brame says of Colorado's vibrant skateboarding scene, which he describes as "pretty hectic" with skaters constantly pushing each other to new heights. This communal progression forms the backdrop for Brame's dual ventures: Terminal Skateboards, the company he founded in 2021, and the Colorado Ampro Skate Jam competition series he currently organizes.
Terminal Skateboards started with a simple idea during a skating session and has grown into a legitimate brand with products in several local shops including Blue Car and Careful, with ambitions to expand distribution both within Colorado and beyond. Meanwhile, the Ampro Skate Jam series showcases Brame's promotional skills and determination despite the inevitable challenges of weather disruptions and logistical hurdles.
The competition circuit continues on June 28th in Colorado Springs at Memorial Skate Park, followed by events in Englewood and Boulder. With entry fees of just $20 and support from sponsors like Denver Spot, Colorado Skate Scene, Dream Fiend, and numerous skateboard shops, these competitions create accessible opportunities for skaters of all skill levels. Brame even plans to incorporate technology like drones and live scoring displays to enhance the competitive experience.
Check out previous competitions on Rumble by searching for "Colorado Ampro Skate Jam," and visit coloradoamproskatejamdotcom for more information about upcoming events. Whether you're a competitor, spectator, or just curious about Colorado's skateboarding community, these events offer a window into the passion, progression, and family-like bonds that make skateboarding culture so enduring.
Hey there, Welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate destination for all skating enthusiasts. We cater to everyone, from beginners to pros. Whether you love inline and ice skating or prefer quads and skateboarding, we have it all covered, and we bring you exclusive interviews with professionals, talented amateurs and influencers in the industry. So sit back, relax and get ready for an exciting journey into the world of skating.
Speaker 2:Welcome to this week's episode of how Do you Skate. I am your host, Sean Egan, and my guest today is Marshall Brame, who is a skateboarder and holding some events here in Colorado. So how are you doing today, sir?
Speaker 3:I'm doing good. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm doing pretty good. So now, when was your whole beginning of skateboarding and what started you in skateboarding?
Speaker 3:Brent's mom ended up buying me a skateboard for my birthday when I was like 12, and that's how I got started in it.
Speaker 2:And did you start off with the?
Speaker 3:parks, or? Yeah, we started street skating first. Then the park got built at 112th off of Madison. That's the first park I ever skated besides the north glenn one. So but I mainly skated street before I skated the parks okay, and then how long have you been skating now?
Speaker 2:uh, I stopped for a bit in 2020 and just started back up in 2022, so I've been skating for about five years okay give or take eight and now have you done competitions with your skating or I have not done competitions, but my friends have okay, and now? From what I understand, you've organized a whole entire, what would you call it like a skating series, or yeah, skateboard series contest okay, and what made you decide to start that?
Speaker 3:Well, we started Terminal Skateboards back in 2021. And then we started doing contests with Mammoth, and that led up to us branching out and starting our own contest area. I think Okay.
Speaker 2:And now you have your own skateboard company too. Yes, and what's the name of the skateboard company? I know you mentioned it, but uh, it's terminal skateboards terminal skateboards. And how is that going? What made you decide to start your own skateboard company?
Speaker 3:uh, just to help get boards, like with a distributor, and then get it out there. And basically I was just thinking about it when I was skating one time and me and my friends this was like, all right, let's probably start one up. So we just started one up and then next thing, you know, I just kept it going okay, and how has that been working for you?
Speaker 2:has it been pretty good, or? Yeah, that's pretty good right now, so and do you just sell through a website or do you have distributors or uh?
Speaker 3:we sell the shops like blue car. Uh, we got careful. I'm working on getting more shops out there, like 303, I'm trying to get into satellite, I'm also trying to get into loco. So there's a bunch of shops I've been trying to get into and outside of the us uh, outside of the us as well, there's a bunch of that you've been looking at, and same with outside of colorado.
Speaker 2:So okay, and now like what's your story? So are you a colorado native? Then yeah, I was born and raised here in denver okay, and then mostly in the skateboarding scene through your teens and stuff and yeah. So I'm still relatively new to Colorado and my whole thing is like skate city and speed skating and going to Washington Park. So what's like? What's the skateboard scene like out here?
Speaker 3:It's pretty hectic, honestly. You got a lot of crazy skaters out here that try to keep Pete with and, you know, try to stay steady with, and they just get progressing and progressing. So you got to progress with them and it's fun to skate with your friends sometimes because you always learn off them too, and that's definitely one of the things I've noticed about the skate community. No matter what you do out here it just seems like one big family.
Speaker 2:There's less problems than going to a bar. True that, unless you bring your skateboard to the bar and drink, then now you might have problems. So are you in the North Glen area?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I live in Thornton area, North Glen.
Speaker 2:Okay, because I'm near you. I'm right off of 104th and fox run. Okay, yeah, I'm just in woodland area, so so right down the street okay, and I know you've had a few of the competitions already, so can you tell us about how each competition went and who our winners are for those competitions, and do they move on to the next one or uh?
Speaker 3:so basically how it goes. It's just like whoever comes to the contest, there's not really like a standing so that where you like, go to the next contest, you don't have to worry about that. You just come when your prize is money. Then you don't have to really worry about coming to the next one, unless you want to, okay, but they go. Basically, we got a stack of judges. Last event we kind of had issues with the judges, which is on me, so that's, stuff happens like that. So well, we'll get everything situated, but like, basically, we got judges that have a format. We're about to put up a TV screen that shows the scores so people can see the scores live, and we have drones that fly around that record as well nice, and now can people go back and watch the previous contests.
Speaker 2:Yes, and how would they do that? Uh, through rumble, rumble, okay, and is there anything they look up when they go to Rumble?
Speaker 3:They usually look up the Colorado Ampro Skate Jam. It should pop up there.
Speaker 2:Okay, and this is the first year you're doing it right.
Speaker 3:Yes, first year we started this, and how does it feel being a promoter? It's pretty hectic, honestly, trying to plan and keep all these permits going and just, and then you have to have insurance too, don't you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I I've. I've worked with promoters and other avenues of athletics, so it's some of the most stressed out people I know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a pretty stressful events when you're trying to do everything, get everything straight and then make sure everything goes smoothly.
Speaker 2:And now we're looking at. June 28th is the next event.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:And that's in Colorado Springs, yes, so what's the game plan for that? One of the things we talked about before we came on air was that the weather this weekend was not very cooperative.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I'm hoping better weather, for sure.
Speaker 2:At least in June you should have. Yeah, at least in June, you should have yeah. So now tell us a little bit about, like, what would happen? Like, let's say, if the rain started earlier on Saturday, would you have postponed it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we would have had to postpone it because that park is kind of slippery and we don't want to take the risk of anybody getting injured, because just trying to turn on that thing was like an ice rink for sure oh wow.
Speaker 2:So now, being a skater myself except I have skates on both feet and I've seen skateboarding it seems like you guys take way more falls than than normal skaters. Quad skaters are in line, or even ice yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, they try to do some hectic stuff out there, like try to grind rails, ledges. I'm not saying rail blade. There is some roll bladers that like to grind stuff too and fly high off stuff, so I ain't gonna downgrade them either. But skateboards do take some falls, that is for sure now, have you had any serious falls yourself, or yeah? I've had points where I hit my back on rails and stuff like that and how bad were the injuries?
Speaker 2:are you?
Speaker 3:I've never broken yeah, I've never broken a bone, but like definitely sore to the point where I couldn't skate for a few weeks.
Speaker 2:Okay. So are you on a first name basis with the ERs around here? No, so now I know you have a kid. Is your kid into skateboarding or not old enough yet?
Speaker 3:She's about one and a half. She likes stepping on the skateboard, riding it on her butt, but she has not like fully stepped completely on it and try to push okay, so she's definitely into it though well, that's good.
Speaker 2:So now what's? Uh?
Speaker 3:are you planning on next year doing another pro-am event or are you just kind of seeing how this year goes and uh, yes, yes, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna keep this going, but I'm also looking into like venues for like our indoor stuff as well okay we'll see about that in the future okay, that definitely works.
Speaker 2:And now is there like an after party for these events, or is it just kind of uh?
Speaker 3:there is no after party but we might think about in the future reference yeah, I got some bands for you, if you need them. Okay, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:So now, how many more events are there for the rest of the season for you guys?
Speaker 3:We have three. We got the one in Colorado Springs, englewood and then Boulder is the last of it.
Speaker 2:Okay, and then usually like, is the cash prizes based on the entry fees or do you have sponsors that work with that, and how did you get the sponsors?
Speaker 3:The sponsors help with the prizes, and sometimes I go help pay for them too, so they're not just losing money, just helping me out, you know? Yeah, and then also the cash prize comes from some of the turmoil earnings, so that's how we get that okay so basically, turmoil helps us out with the cash prize nice.
Speaker 2:And then who are some of your sponsors for the event? Well, give them a shout out on here, yeah we have a bunch.
Speaker 3:We are Denver spot, low locator, and then we got colorado skate scene okay uh, loco, careful blue car, satellite skate shops, board shops. Um then we got dream fiend fricks and three eye art collective as well okay, and now with the events gp skate skate park, which they're in the springs as well. They give out free passes to their skate park and shirts as well okay.
Speaker 2:Is that where the next event's being held? Is that that?
Speaker 3:no, I would love it to be there, but it's at an outdoor park, at memorial skate park, so, okay, it's a pretty big park, nice. And now, um, and we have mirage skateboards as well okay cool fire team skateboards as well.
Speaker 2:I feel like I'm forgetting somebody, but hopefully not you're gonna text me at 3 am in the morning because you're gonna remember yeah, it's usually how it works.
Speaker 3:So if I'm gonna say dream thing, they're in there as well yeah I believe I did, though I think you did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, I can go back and listen to it and find out, yeah, so so now, um, and you said you've never competed. Why have you not competed?
Speaker 3:Well, I've been to events. I've been to the Zoomies Couch Tour demos. I've seen those. I've been to the contest they held at the Apex but I never joined it. I've watched it but I never thought I was good enough at the time because I was still a kid learning. That's why I was like I'm kind, still like a kid learning yeah, that's why I was like I'm kind of nervous to compete, so that's why I never did. But I should start now. But we'll see. Going to see the reference.
Speaker 2:I'll probably start hopping into other contests just not your own, because if you win, then it's kind of like it's rigged.
Speaker 3:So that's the problem yeah, I won't hop into my own contests.
Speaker 2:Now, do you still have that nerves? Because I know I've got a race coming up this weekend and it's my first race since 1992, I think.
Speaker 3:I bet your nerves are crazy right now.
Speaker 2:They are. It's an 11-mile race and I'm nervous about it, but then at the same time, it's just one of those things where it's like I'm not doing it to win, I'm doing it because I want to accomplish it oh yeah, so it's just for like basically yeah. Now, if you do decide to compete, is it just because you want not to prove anything to anybody else, but just basically prove something to yourself that you can do it, or yeah, I basically prove something to myself and your daughter will be proud that is true so when you do cool stuff, the kids are are pretty cool with it.
Speaker 2:But, like, if you work at a lab or something, your kids are like yeah, my dad's a geek, so, so what are some of the prizes that that, uh, the competitors can win? Oh, I remember. What I was going to ask you is like is there age categories? Or like how does that work?
Speaker 3:uh, basically there's not really age categories, it's just basically amateur. Basically is beginner, amic, intermediate, kind of. Then you got the advanced and expert in the pro basically do you get several pro skaters there? We have sponsor skaters that are basically kind of like pro skaters but not like big-time pro skaters out there like Chris, jocelyn or Nigel not like that.
Speaker 2:Just keep working at it. As it grows, you'll probably start getting them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, maybe.
Speaker 2:So now, what kind of? I like to ask this question because what's your setup? Like what board?
Speaker 3:probably your own board, but like trucks, bearings, wheels uh yeah, there's trucks, wheels, bearings, there's clothing, there's lanyards well, what's your, your personal setup like?
Speaker 2:what bearings do you prefer? What wheels?
Speaker 3:bearings will be like bronson, for sure okay, and then trucks. I like to ride crooks okay yeah, I basically ride turmoil skateboards, so and what about wheels? Uh, I usually ride OJs.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's very cool. Now, who was your biggest influence for skateboarding? Like, what got you into? Like the main guy you looked up to Like. I want to be like him.
Speaker 3:Honestly, probably like Ryan Sheckler, honestly Okay, and Chaz Ortiz for sure.
Speaker 2:Sweet. And now advice to people that want to skateboard or want to get into it and want to compete.
Speaker 3:What's your best advice now that you're a promoter, so you have a different insight than other people.
Speaker 2:Basically, just not to be scary to go out there and give it your all shot, your best shot, to be honest. Okay, out there and give it your all shot, your best shot, to be honest, okay, and then how can my listeners follow you and find out more about you and your contest?
Speaker 3:uh, they can. At that colorado and pro skate jam, they will find out everything. Then there's also colorado and pro skate jam website dot com. So if you want to go, look at that too.
Speaker 2:Okay, and I know there's like an entry fee, what's like the entry fee for a contest?
Speaker 3:The first two we were doing free. These next ones will be only $20 entry fee, so it's not too bad, that'll be awesome.
Speaker 2:And then, like you said, it's Rumble where they can follow you, the previous contests and then you gave the websites and any, any, anything else you want to add so people know uh, I think I'm good, but I hopefully we'll see somebody someone else new out there next comp. So okay, cool. Well, I appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 3:I appreciate you for having us and look forward to being.
Speaker 2:Me and my girlfriend are going to make it out to the next event, so we're looking forward to seeing some there. Better be some good action. I'm just saying.
Speaker 3:We'll look forward to having you out there, so well, definitely, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.