Meet Isa Ruiz, of Santa Fe, one of the top slalom skateboarders in the world

Born on a skateboard? Not quite. But Isa Ruiz learned how to skate not long after learning to walk; her father and coach, Joe Lehm, owns and operates an indoor skateboard park in her native Santa Fe.

Ruiz was skating competitively by the age of 10 and continued to do so for another year or two.

Then, well, she stopped. For some 15 years, a skateboard was only a means of transportation or a way of socializing with like-minded friends.

But look at her now. At 31, Ruiz is a member of USA Skateboarding’s slalom team.

Her 2023 résumé:

A bronze medal in giant slalom and sixth overall at World Championships in Salem, Oregon;

A silver medal in giant slalom and a bronze overall at US Nationals;

Seventh place overall at the European Championships;

A No. 5 world ranking — down from No. 3 because of inactivity late this year due to a shoulder injury.

Now, a highly successful season behind her, she’s pointing toward the 2024 World Skate Games in Rome, scheduled for September.

“I’m very glad to be back,” she said in a phone interview.

So, what’s slalom skateboarding? Essentially what one might think.

Competitors navigate, at dizzying speeds but with great precision, a course lined by cones. Places are determined by time, not by judges as in most skateboarding events. Knock over a cone, take a penalty.

There are several different events, with cones set at different intervals.

Though competitors race simultaneously in some events, Ruiz said, “It’s just you and your board and the cones. You’re not really worried about anyone else.”

Courses generally are quite short, typically traversed in 30 seconds or so.

“One of my favorite things about slalom,” she said, is “you don’t have time to think about anything else. You’re processing four or five cones per second, so you don’t hear the crowd around you. You aren’t really aware of the person next to you.”

The technicality of slalom, she said — as well as the discipline required — does create nervousness. But the nerves are gone, she said, once the race begins.

“Race day, I’m super nervous,” She said. “Always, and right up until you’re on that start ramp.

“But once you’re on that course … your body just kind of kicks in and knows what to do.”

During Ruiz’s hiatus from competitive skateboarding, she graduated from Santa Fe’s Monte Del Sol Charter School and left New Mexico to attend Puget Sound University in Tacoma, Washington. She launched an ongoing professional career; while living and training in Santa Fe, she works in marketing for an Arizona-based firm, Calroy Health Sciences.

Her competitive flame began to re-ignite in 2018, but the relative scarcity of slalom events, followed by COVID, made progress slow.

Then, last year, things picked up in a big way.

“They announced that slalom would be included as a discipline at the World Skate Games for the first time,” she said, and she learned there were three open spots for women to be on Team USA.

“I heard that announcement and I was like, you know what, I want to try to do this. So we kicked training into high gear, and I actually qualified for Team USA in March 2022.

At the 2022 World Skate Games in Argentina, Ruiz won a silver medal in giant slalom and placed sixth overall.

She’s now assured of a trip to Rome next year.

And beyond? Ruiz notes that U.S. teammate Lynn Kramer, a 17-time slalom world champion, is 54. Judi Oyama, another high-ranked U.S. racer, is 64.

How much longer Ruiz plans to compete, though, is undetermined.

“I’m really just enjoying being a part of it,” she said, “and also helping the younger generation, getting kids involved to help grow the sport.

“Our biggest goal right now is to get slalom added as an Olympic sport.”