Julio Memba Puente

Text provided by Julio Memba in August 2004.

Rider: Julio Memba Location: Madrid Vertical Indoor Trick: Stale Air Photographer: Esteban Velarde

I was born in Madrid in August 20, 1976 and I started skating approximately 12 years ago.

It all began one good day, when I went with some friends to a roller rink-discotheque that there were in Madrid in the old days. Then I took for rental a pair of rollerskates … and that is how I entered in the world of rollerskating.

Rider: Julio Memba Location: Madrid Vertical Indoor Trick: Invert Sad Photographer: Esteban Velarde

In the early days, I used to skate alone in "El Parque Sindical" (an old public skate park in Madrid, with concrete bowls and a Tim Paine's vert ramp). From time to time, some veteran rollerskaters such as Marcos Longares or Gerardo Cañizares came to the skatepark. It was funny because I used to ask them so many questions related with skating that they were a little sick of me.

Alejandro Loscos and David de la Vega also skated there sometimes. They really were a couple of geniuses. David owned the most elegant style I've ever seen on a half pipe. Alex was pure aggressiveness on wheels.

Rider: Julio Memba Location: Madrid Vertical Indoor Trick: McTwist Photographer: Esteban Velarde

One day, while I was skating with Alex and David in "El Parque Sindical" a thin guy, with a black helmet and a black eye came up (he probably doesn't remember that day). Later on, that guy called Marcelo Curto Nates (Nelo) became one of my best friends and a good vert rollerskater.

Afterwards, we lived very good times in "El Parque Sindical" (aka the Sindi). We were a lot of rollers joined as a true family in championships, tours, airs, tremendous falls-down, all kind of injures and a lot of stories to tell …

Rider: Julio Memba Location: Madrid Vertical Indoor Trick: Japan one-foot Air Photographer: Esteban Velarde

In 1999, the vert ramp of the Sindi was definitively disassembled and we had to move to another vert ramp in the nearby city of Coslada (in the Madrid area). The vert ramp was layered in steel and it hadn't had maintenance, so it was very spoilt. It was dangerous to skate there. After two years skating that ramp, we made a dream come true: we settled the "Madrid Vertical Indoor", our own indoor vert ramp.

I've always skated as hard as I could, and those who have met me know that I've never kept anything left. My style has always be much more than aggressive, but after numerous injuries, I've had to give up rollerskating. A serious injury on my right shoulder and its operation separated me from the ramps.

Rider: Julio Memba Location: Madrid Vertical Indoor Trick: Crossed straight Legs Air Photographer: Esteban Velarde

My favorite rollerskaters

Holger Sander: I skated with him in 1995 and 1996 in Laussanne, Switzerland. His airs, style and brutal McTwists mesmerized me.

Alex Loscos: we shared a lot of sessions before he took up in line skating (I think it was a wrong decision because he could never get his incredible style again). I clearly remember his method airs, the best methods I've ever seen. In my opinion, he reached perfection on his tweaked airs.

Nelo: what can I say? Lip tricks, airs, inverts … I sincerely believe that there is nobody with such a bag of tricks. You can see him skating for hours without repeating any trick. I like his highs McTwists and his 720 McTwist.

I have always tried to learn from every one of them throughout my career, but I must say that I haven't succeed … ;-).

There is also some other rollerskaters with a very good "flow" such as my friend Adrián Miranda or Nicolas Brouze, and many others that shared sweat and hard sessions with me.

My favorite trick is McTwist-method, and one thing I've always loved, is the sound of my trucks grinding along the coping!!

I want to salute those who still skate, maintaining alive the legend of vert rollerskating, our legend.

Julio Memba's skate