At least once a week, you can find Jazmine Duncan roller skating at a Skate Moab event. Duncan is a founding member of the nonprofit Skate Moab, which offers skating nights throughout the spring and summer.
“All of us that were involved in it, and are still involved in it, just love skating,” she said. “We found that it’s a lot of fun to bring the community together that way.”
Skate Moab hosts three types of events: Friday and Sunday Family Skate; 18+ Disco Night; and Free Locals’ Skate. Family Skate nights are $10 for adults and $7 for youth, but $5 if you bring your own skates; Disco nights are $15, or $10 with your own skates; locals’ skate is free.
In the past, the events have been wildly popular, garnering a crowd of up to 200 people, Duncan said. But participation plummeted during the pandemic, and this year, Skate Moab is slowly gearing back up—all of its events are outdoors, either at the Sun Court on Center Street or at the Old Spanish Trail Arena down Highway 191.
“I look forward to every single week,” Duncan said.
This year, Skate Moab is offering a new Sunday afternoon family skate. Duncan said there’s been a lot of interest from local DJs about disco nights—all disco night events will have live DJs, she said, playing a variety of music genres, and Duncan said DJs may come to other skate nights throughout the season too.
“We’ll have a few surprises for people,” she said.
In July, the organization will offer a Jam Skate Camp, led by a certified skate instructor, Melina, who can be found on Instagram @anybody_killher. She’s a roller derby player and dance/rhythm/jam skater with a certified move, the split spin, which she calls #melinasplits.
The camp, which runs from Friday, July 22 to Saturday, July 23, will include a skate dance class, roller disco night, overnight camping with fellow camp members, and a 9 a.m. “Wake N’ Skate” event the next morning.
Duncan said she’s seen more people coming to Skate Moab events with their own skates, showing the growing popularity of the activity.
“It’s something you can do outdoors, it’s something you can do anytime,” she said. “And it’s joyful and healthy.”
A full schedule of Skate Moab events, and registration for the skate camp, can be found at www.skatemoab.com.
