Garden State Skate gaby ponce

We met Gabby Ponce one day at Woodward Skatepark, in Bensalem, PA, Bucks County. We took a few moments of Gaby’s time for picts and vids of this girl and she ripped.

Name: Gaby Ponce
Hometown: Tenafly, NJ
Age: 17
Level: Professional
Stance: Regular
Began Skating:
When I was about 10 yrs old
Began Competing: 3 Years ago.

Favorite music? Alternative, Emo, Techno, rap, hiphop
Favorite skate location(s)? Woodward
Street, Vert or Ramp? Vert
What are some of favorite NJ foods? Subs or Pizza
Favorite places to skate in NJ? Tenafly Skatepark
When did you start skating? When I was about 10.
What was your first board? A toy board from Toy’s R Us.

What first drew you to skateboarding? And what keeps driving you? I thought it would be fun to try. I like to challenge myself by learning new tricks. Skating with other people motivates me to become a better skateboarder.

Which skaters do you look up to? Anyone that has a positive attitude towards skateboarding. Someone that skates for fun without anything getting in their way.

What was your first trick? What’s your favorite trick? Have you invented any of your own? My favorite trick is anything I can land consistently. My first trick was a manual. I have not invented any tricks.

How long do you practice? I practice for 2 hrs. 4 days a week. I drive 2 hrs. to go and skate at Woodward Philly because it’s the closest vert ramp to my house.

Ever Injured? How bad? I haven’t broken any bones. I sprained an ankle once when I was about 13.

What kind of safety gear do you use? 187 Knee/elbow pads, Smith scabs, Pro-tec helmet

Are you on a team? Do you compete? If so, what was your best competitive showing?
My sponsors are Sk8grl Clothing, Bones Wheels, Motto griptape, and Gatorade.
X-Games 2008 I got 5th place for Women’s Vert
X-Games 2009 I got 3rd place for Women’s Vert
Dew Tour Boston ISF 2009 I got 2nd place for Women’s Vert.

Would you like to compete at a scholastic level? High school, college etc?
Skateboarding isn’t big in my area so I do it independently.

What are your skate aspirations? Keep having fun.

Do you have other interests that you are passionate about like skating?
I am currently a senior at Tenafly High school. I like graphic design, film editing, drawing, and painting.

What do you do with your time when you’re not skating?
Shopping, graphic design, Facebook.

What’s the best part of skateboarding?
The feeling you get when you finally land a new trick after trying it for months or sometimes even years.
What’s the worst part of skateboarding?
When your equipment breaks and you don’t have backup supplies when you are away from home.

What advice or message do you have for other skaters reading this?
Just have fun.

If you had the power to change one thing in this world, what would it be?
Get rid of processed foods and fast foods. Make everything all-natural.

Could you complete this sentence: Skateboarding is...
Skateboarding is an art, not a sport.