Vicki Vickers
oil paint on canvas, 2018, 24” X 24”
In the mid-'70s when very few girls skated vert, Vicki Vickers was right there tearing up the pools and pipes with the boys. Vicki was as bold in interviews as she was when skateboarding. She continually spoke out about women in skateboarding not getting their fair share of prize money and accolades (gotta love that!!).
Beginning her professional career in 1976 Vickers was brought out by Pepsi Cola, which resulted in her promptly signing with Hobie. In addition to this, she also rode for Kryptonics, Sims and Alva.
Hailing from Houston, Texas and emerging into the Californian skateboarding scene in the late 1970s, Vicki Vickers was a vert skater. Winning the title of “Female Skateboarder of the Year” in 1978 and even getting her own six page “Revealing Interview” in Skateboarder magazine. In 1978 she was recruited to be the female lead in Skateboard Mania. Along with this she also rode the Pepsi Plexiglas halfpipe in the Rose Bowl Parade with friends like George Orton, Paul Hoffman, Steve Rocco, Doug Saladino, and Steve Cathey and Cindy Whitehead. Then, in 1978 she got her own “Who’s Hot!” article in Skateboarder magazine. Unlike other female skaters of the time Vickers was different. Although she was a girl, people often said that she “skated like one of the guys”. With accomplishments like being one of the first women to do handplants, “catch air” and being one to want to skate against the guys—Vicki Vickers was an outspoken female athlete who wanted “Equal pay for equal skate.”