What Soap model are Nate's shoes?
ha, he's actually wearing my spikes. he didnt have any shoes with him that day.
I would have never guessed....
Who are these kids riding rails, ledges, and curbs in those funny shoes? They're Soapers - named after the pastime's most popular brand of footwear, Soap. We know so much because we hung out with these cool guys in Molin, IL.
By Sara Lyle
By Sara Lyle
See that heavy-duty arch in Nate's shoe? It allows him to "freestyle walk" - the technical term for Soaping.
Nate, 16, Monmouth, IL
How long he's been soaping: Four years. "My brother, Nick, saw a kid wearing Soaps. I was like, 'Yeah, right.' I wasn't able to picture shoes you could grind with" ("Grinding" is Soaper-and skater-speak for the scrapey thing they do while sliding on stuff.)
What made him a believer: "We went to an extreme sports store and bought pairs."
His favorite trick: The fahrvergnugen (taken from Volkswagen ads; it means "satisfactionin from driving" in German). "It's when you roll your ankles over in the same direction you're sliding." In this photo, Nate's performing a sweet "fast slide," not a fahrvergnugen.
How to identify posers: By their too-clean kicks. According to Nate, Soap guys usually travel in packs and have black scuff marks on the tops of their shoes. If a kid is walking around the mall wearing spotless ones, Nate and his friends will ask whether he Soaps. "If he says, 'What's that?,' we'll be like, 'Are you stupid? You have the shoes on!"
How long he's been soaping: Four years. "My brother, Nick, saw a kid wearing Soaps. I was like, 'Yeah, right.' I wasn't able to picture shoes you could grind with" ("Grinding" is Soaper-and skater-speak for the scrapey thing they do while sliding on stuff.)
What made him a believer: "We went to an extreme sports store and bought pairs."
His favorite trick: The fahrvergnugen (taken from Volkswagen ads; it means "satisfactionin from driving" in German). "It's when you roll your ankles over in the same direction you're sliding." In this photo, Nate's performing a sweet "fast slide," not a fahrvergnugen.
How to identify posers: By their too-clean kicks. According to Nate, Soap guys usually travel in packs and have black scuff marks on the tops of their shoes. If a kid is walking around the mall wearing spotless ones, Nate and his friends will ask whether he Soaps. "If he says, 'What's that?,' we'll be like, 'Are you stupid? You have the shoes on!"
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