Under The Radar: Nikki Moore – Montreal - Roller Skating’s New Playground: Grow with Us

In the spring of 2022, Montreal skater Nikki Moore originally thought she would skate around the park and learn cute dance moves, but after she and a friend discovered that people were shredding on roller skates in skate parks, her plans changed. Today the 25-year-old is very involved in the local community. After winning first place in the 2023 Montreal Cup, she decided to help organize this year’s event. And as if that wasn’t enough, Nikki just dropped her first video edit, filmed in Spain and France. Reasons enough to catch up with Nikki and talk about her local scene and how the Montreal Cup brought quad and inline skaters together.

Nikki, tell us a bit about your skating journey. How long have you been roller skating?

This past spring marked two years of roller skating for me. It’s crazy to think about how quickly it’s taken over my life.

Who inspired you to start skating?

I have to give the credit to my best friend, Jory. Jory and I became really close during the pandemic, and it was when we were actively sick with COVID-19 in the spring of 2022 that we had the idea to learn to skate. We originally thought we would skate around the park and learn cute dance moves, but after we discovered there were people out there shredding with roller skates in skateparks our plans changed. Jory and I spent most of that summer at our local skate park, just messing around together in our skates.

You live in Montreal, Canada. What’s the roller-skating scene like in Montreal?

The roller skating scene in Montreal is so, so beautiful. All different kinds of roller skate culture flourish here. We’ve got a lively roller derby scene, lots of roller dance classes and events, a group of recreational skaters who lead night rides, a super sweet group of park skaters (obviously my favorite), and an awesome local skate shop, Lowlife, that is here to support it all.
Our park skating community is relatively small, but I consider its size to be one of its greatest strengths. The bigger a community is, the more it has a tendency to become divided. I truly feel that the community here is all one big group where everyone knows everyone else, but where new skaters are always welcome.

This year you’ve been on the organizing team of the Annual Montreal Cup, Canada’s largest inline and quad skating competition. How did the idea come about?

It was all because of the impact that the last Montréal Cup had on me. Competing in the intermediate division of the Cup last year totally changed my relationship with skating and the skate community. It was my first ever skate competition and, to be honest, I didn’t want to compete. I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and signed up at the very last minute. I’m so glad that I did. The atmosphere was so friendly. I had so much fun competing, I met so many amazing skaters, and I somehow ended up taking home first place. I left feeling really motivated to push myself, really connected to the skate community, and really grateful to the organizers of the competition… so this year I decided to help organize.

What makes the event so special?

For me, the coolest thing about the event is the course. The competition takes place in the middle of a walking street on a skatepark that’s designed and built only for the event, which means that you get the chance to skate a unique course that no one has ever skated before.

The fact that you’re skating in the middle of a busy street also makes it special because it gives the event exposure to people outside of the skating community. It’s heartwarming to see the reactions of people who have never seen street style roller skating before, just so impressed and excited by what’s happening in front of them.

How did the event contribute to the growth of the community?

Pretty much anyone in our community would tell you that the Cup was what brought quad and inline skaters together. Before the Montreal Cup existed, quad and inline skaters didn’t skate together much. Now, it’s hard to find a quad session where there isn’t an inliner and vice versa. And the creation of that connection has been really beneficial for the community – not only has it given us more people to skate with and to learn and take inspiration from, but it also helped to make skateparks feel like a safer and more inclusive space for everyone.

This spring you also ventured on a skate trip through Europe and visited Barcelona, Montpellier, and Marseille where you filmed for an edit. Was that the purpose of your trip?

It wasn’t exactly the entire purpose of my trip, but it was definitely the highlight of it. I’m currently a PhD student and I travel to France often to work with researchers in Montpellier. When I was there in the fall, I went to Barcelona for a few days and ended up meeting Amanda (@croissany_), a super sweet skater who has started organizing events for the community there. We got on so well and talked about going on a little skate trip together during my next visit to Europe.

We both stayed excited about the idea of a trip over the winter and I’m happy to say we made the vision happen this spring. We were able to squeeze in a week or so to travel and skate together when I was back in Montpellier last May.

Did you have a precise idea of what you wanted to film at which location?

Not at all… which was so fun. The trip was more about exploring the cities and having good times together than checking shots off a list. We wanted to keep the edit light-hearted and happy, to just see what we could make together. We had lots of spots to choose from. Amanda had been scoping them out in Barcelona, and I had been in Montpellier. We ended up going to a few and seeing what we could do there.

What was your favorite spot or memory on that trip?

I absolutely loved spending the day with Amanda’s friends at Agora skatepark. Her friends were super sweet, and the skatepark was so unlike anything we have here. It was right on the Mediterranean, filled with palm trees, and had a beach club right inside the park. It felt just like what I expected Barcelona to feel like.