Co-organizer Katy Johnson and photographer Steve Steinmetz bring a field report from the Snowbowl, a new pool skating competition for inline and quad skaters in San Diego. Created to bring the two communities together and strengthen the skate scene in the greater SD area, check out who showed up to represent and rip the City Heights Skatepark bowl…

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Snowbowl is a quad and inline pool competition held at City Heights Skatepark in San Diego, California. There were nine skaters competing between both quad and inline that travelled from as far as New York and the San Francisco Bay Area and as close as down the street. Our main goal was to bring two communities together, as well as strengthen the community of skaters in the greater San Diego area. We wanted to create a competition that was fun but challenging, hoping to push skaters out of their comfort zones. We noticed a lack of community in San Diego and realized not a lot of events were happening down here, so we thought up Snowbowl — we figure if you want to see a change in your community you have to be the change. If we want our industries and communities to grow, we have to put the effort in to showing up and being present. Although it is a competition, our main goal was to have fun and show everyone that we can support each other’s communities—when one of us wins, we all do. Just the fact that this competition was able to happen so successfully was a win in our books. — Katy Johnson

After a last-minute shift in my work schedule, I arrived at the Snowbowl — San Diego’s first bowl-oriented competition — just as the finals were getting underway. I’d seen a few Instagram posts from organizer Katy Johnson, and knew friends like Ronnie Bautista and Oli Prado were judging, but with the event landing on a Friday, I figured I’d miss it altogether. Luckily, plans changed and I was able to carve out an hour to photograph the uniquely shaped bowl while roughly 50 people gathered around to celebrate shredding on whatever wheeled setup they rolled in on.

The Snowbowl crowd was as varied as the lines bladers and roller skaters chose during their final runs. People from all walks of life filled the deck, watching these skaters piece together creative paths through the bowl that ultimately landed them second and third place. In the end, youth played a role, as a young roller skater from New York, Silvia Kambouridis, took the top spot on the podium.

What stuck with me most wasn’t which wheeled sport anyone chooses to ride. It was the fact that people showed up and enjoyed themselves. They stepped a little outside their comfort zones and took their chances in the deep end of a local skatepark bowl. The kind of bowl or pool you and even this writer would usually avoid—the one with the steep vert face that’s just waiting to show you what it feels like to ride a wave of concrete.

Miguel Ramos took the day off work to drive up from Santa Ana, showcasing his artful approach to the deep end of City Heights Skatepark with this sad plant.

Miguel continued linking lines with confident control, demonstrating his mastery of pumping the curved, traditional pool coping with a clean royale.

Echo’s newest pro rider, Hayden Ball, is no stranger to the City Heights bowl. He floated effortless airs like this stale grab in the deep end, reminding the crowd why he’s regarded as a true technician in bowl blading.

Hayden kept the momentum going, seamlessly mixing switches and natural tricks while riding the bowl in both directions—a style shaped by years skating alongside friends like Erik Burke and Pat Lennon while growing up in Reno, Nevada and refined even further in San Diego.

Opie Tran, a staple of the San Diego blading scene, laced up between runs to revisit his grinds after a two-month hiatus due to a sprained knee. Welcome back, Opie—heal up soon.

Logan “2raw” Fowell capped his run with a solid stale grab. A hard fall on a topacid in the deep end ultimately ended his push for a finals spot alongside Hayden and Miguel.

Quad skater Silvia won the event with smooth, lofty moves like this Grab Layback. Way to go!

And that was Snowbowl! The organizers did a great job getting the event together and I look forward to seeing everyone at the 2027 event! — Steven Steinmetz

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Words by Steve Steinmetz and Katy Johnson

Photos by Steve Steinmetz