Elissa Steamer

Elissa Steamer

Personal information
Born	(1975-07-31) July 31, 1975 Ft. Myers, Florida, U.S.
Height	5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m)
Weight	121 pounds (55 kg)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Skateboarding
Medal record Summer X Games Representing  United States Gold 2004 Los Angeles Street Gold 2005 Los Angeles Street Gold 2006 Los Angeles Street Gold 2008 Los Angeles Street Silver 2007 Los Angeles Street Bronze 2009 Los Angeles Street

Elissa Steamer (born July 31, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder who is acknowledged as the first woman to have attained professional status in the history of skateboarding.^[1]

History

Early life

Steamer was born in Ft. Myers, Florida, United States (US), and began skateboarding in 1989. Steamer lived on Ricardo Avenue and used to practice skating in the parking lot of Allen Park Elementary in Fort Myers. She attended Fort Myers High School. ^{[citation needed]}

Although she received a concurrent offer from Real skateboards to ride the company's decks, Steamer first began receiving skateboard decks from Lance Mountain in 1995, who was running a company named "The Firm" at the time.^[2]

Professional skateboarding

Toy Machine

Steamer's first official skateboard deck sponsor was Toy Machine, founded and owned by professional skateboarder, Ed Templeton. Professional skateboarder, Chad Muska, then a leading member of the Toy Machine team, facilitated Steamer's sponsorship; at the time of Steamer's acceptance, Toy Machine consisted of Templeton, Muska, Mike Maldonado, Jamie Thomas, and Brian Anderson. Steamer subsequently filmed for her Welcome to Hell video part, a project primarily driven by Thomas, who temporarily resided with Steamer in Fort Myers to undertake the camera work for Steamer's section in the video. Steamer remained with the company following Thomas and Muska's departure and contributed a video part for Toy Machine's next film project, Jump Off A Building.^[3]

Bootleg

Following the departure of numerous co-riders from Toy Machine, Steamer informed Templeton by telephone that she was also leaving and joined the Bootleg brand which was founded as a sub-division of the Baker skateboard company. Bootleg was distributed by the NHS, Inc. company (Independent, Creature, Santa Cruz) and Steamer's involvement was a progression of her personal connection to skateboarders such as Andrew Reynolds and Erik Ellington. Bootleg was founded by Jay Strickland, who also cofounded the Baker brand with Reynolds, and was a short-lived, month-long venture that ended following a video release, Bootleg 3000.^[4]

Zero

Steamer was provided with a three-month paycheck following the demise of Bootleg and Frank Gerwer, a professional skateboarder who lived with Steamer, attempted to negotiate sponsorship from the Anti-Hero brand that he also rode for. Thomas, who had by this time founded his own skateboard company, Zero, telephoned Steamer a year following the demise of Bootleg, and asked her to ride for the brand.

Following Steamer's transition to Zero, she filmed a shared video part with Thomas, who had not amassed enough footage for a full-length part. Steamer never filmed a full-length video part while she was a member of the Zero team (Thomas has stated in an online interview that Steamer never released a full-length part due to insufficient involvement with the company's filmers and a tendency to lose momentum due to outside distractions).^[5]

Professional status

Steamer attained professional status in 1998 when she won the women's street section at Slam City Jam in 1998 (she won the same section in 1999).

Gnarhunters

In late September 2013, Steamer launched a collaboration with the FTC skateboard shop/brand entitled "Gnarhunters." Steamer explains in the promotional video that, as of the FTC collaboration, Gnarhunters is a "project," but will eventually become a brand. Steamer received artistic support from professional skateboarders Brian Anderson and Frank Gerwer, as well as professional artists.^[6][7]

Awards

In 2003, Steamer was voted "Female Skater of the Year" by Check it Out Girls magazine.^[8]

Video games

Steamer appeared as a playable character in the first 5 games in the Tony Hawk series. She was the first female pro to appear in the series.

Videography

• Welcome to Hell (Toy Machine)
• Jump Off a Building (Toy Machine)
• Baker Bootleg 1 & 2 (Baker)
• FM1 & 2 (Rob Hoovis)
• Bootleg 3000 (Bootleg)

Contest history

2008

• 1st place, X Games, Women's Street, Los Angeles, California, United States (US)^[9]

2005

• 1st place, World Cup of Skateboarding, Women’s Street, Melbourne, Australia
• 1st place, World Championships of Skateboarding, Münster, Germany
• 1st place, X Games, Women’s Street, Los Angeles, California, US
• 1st place, Malaysia X Games, Women's Street, Malaysia

2004

• 1st place, Gallaz Skate Jam, Melbourne, Australia
• 1st place, Triple Crown, Women’s Street, Cleveland, Ohio, US
• 1st place, X Games, Women’s Street, Los Angeles, California, US
• 1st place, Gravity Games, Women’s Street, Cleveland, Ohio, US
• 1st place, Triple Crown Finals, Women’s Street, Huntington Beach, California, US
• 1st place, Slam City Jam, Women’s Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

2003

• 1st place, World Cup of Skateboarding, Women's Street, Melbourne, Australia

1999

• 1st place, Slam City Jam, Women's Street, Canada

1998

• 1st place, Slam City Jam, Women's Street, Canada

Personal life

As of September 2012, Steamer resides in Richmond, California.^[1]

References

External links

• Gnarhunters official website
• Elissa Steamer at the Internet Movie Database