Ross Kuhn

Ross Kuhn - Click to see larger image

RW Staff Writer K Steez the Don recently hooked up with RW Team Rider Ross Kuhn. This is how it went down…

K Steez: Hey Ross, how is Oregon treating you?

Ross: Oregon is home. A lot of my good friends and family are here so I’m usually treated pretty well.

K Steez: Tell us about your extended stay in nor cal

Ross: Nor cal is my home away from home. After visiting a couple times, i found that i really enjoyed it there. So in an attempt to skate more, meet some new people and to escape the few months of rain that Oregon gets annually.. Sapata and i moved to norcal. Everyone in norcal is very welcoming and humble, so we just kind of slid into the routine of norcal life. Where everyone works the usual 9-5 every week day gets off goes skating for a few hours and then kicks back and enjoys a few beers. On the weekends it was almost always some sort of skating trip, which were always a great time. I went to school almost full time and worked part time down there so in between that and skating i was pretty busy.

K Steez: Yeah so what was it like working for Rollerwarehouse and skating for Rollerwarehouse?

Ross:Well Andy Johnson who was my roommate down there got me the job, and it worked out really nicely. Gill, Rick and Andy have been doing it a long time and are really committed and professional about running the place. Which is defiantly how our industry needs to be run right now. It really was a good environment working there since a lot of my friends worked there too. I always enjoyed talking to the kids since it was nice to actually hear from people who were excited about skating. Gill always had some outrageous story or joke and Howard Stern was constantly playing up front so it was a pretty comical place most of the time. As for skating for them it has always been a pleasure since they are always helping me out and are so involved in the local blading community.

K Steez: Congratulations on riding for Valo, how long have you been on the Valo team?

Ross: Well thanks. Since i first tried the skates which was almost a year ago now.. i was in love. Jon (Jon Julio) just recently put me on flow and i am really excited to be a part of a company who i believe is doing by far the best job in the industry. The skates, team, concept, marketing.. everything about Valo is amazing.

K Steez: I understand that fellow RW rider Sean Keane came out to Oregon to skate with you, tell me about that

Ross: Yeah it has been quite the crazy summer as far as skating goes. Sean came out here for about a week to film for the upcoming valo video. Then i went down there for a week.. Then Steve, Casey and Sean came back up here for another week…. The week after that a bunch of Socal guys came up and stayed at my place. In between people coming out and staying.. an old friend of mine who took a 4 year break from skating is now back in the game. We all call him “coach” because he is always acting as the older more mature one and his main concern is skating and motivating his team which he calls the “valoteers”. So it has been kind difficult this summer to work a lot and save some money but i have no regrets.

K Steez: Your section in Humble Beings was amazing, how was it working with Casey Baggozi and Steve Kerr to produce such a sick section?

Ross: Thanks i appreciate it.. Casey and Steve are both fantastic guys and defiantly know what they are doing behind a camera so of course it was nothing but enjoyable. If you like the video just wait until the clothing line drops and be sure to check out www.humblebeings.com

Ross Kuhn - Click to see larger image

K Steez: What is your current skate set up right now?

Ross: the Valo Brown Fashions with grey 50-50 balance frames, salomon liners and antirocker.

K Steez: Where can we expect to see some hot new Ross Kuhn footage?

Ross: We Are Valo 2 coming out soon, as well as the first JSF video which should coming out sometime in the next year.

K Steez: Is there anything else you would like to say to all your fellow skaters out there?

Ross: Keep on keeping on.. Remember there isn’t going to be any shortage of concrete in the years to come so i don’t think that rollerblading is going anywhere. Find something in skating that you can have a good time with and when you get hurt think positive and try to heal yourself. I would like to give a shout out to all my sponsors Valo, Rollerwarehouse, Humble and Budget Threads for supporting me thanks guys.

Ross: I would also like to thank: My parents, my brother Adam and my sister Ali, my coach Bobby, my friend Sapata, all my Juiced Sucka Foo’s and all these people that have helped me out Jon Julio, Andy Johnson, Sean Keane, Rob Inks, Casey Bagozzi, Steve Kerr, Dustin Dixon, and Mike Martinho.

Ross Kuhn - Click to see larger image

Photos by Nic Kytlica