Catching up with Richie Eisler (Q?s by Oli B.)

Catching up with Richie Eisler

A few sessions with Richie Eisler from dick rich on Vimeo.

Richie Eisler is arguably the nicest guy in rolling. If you haven’t met him before, he is the guy with the biggest smile in the room. He is also one of the most technically brilliant skaters in the world, combining stunts with precision switch ups with his signature smooth style. Richie really is the complete skater, and has been making friends and admirers worldwide. He is also a perfect example of professionalism in this sport.

Hey Richie, it’s been a while since we’ve seen/heard from you… What have you been up to lately?

Welllll… I moved to Australia last year, so I have been living the dream over here. I moved from the coldest, most land-locked place on earth to a sub-tropical beach, so life is pretty good at the moment. Skating wise, I have been laying a bit low. I had a major problem with my ankle and it has been really tough on my skating.

How was your skating affected by this injury? What exactly was the problem and how does it feel be be “fixed”?

My skating was affected 100% by the injury! It started when I sprained my right ankle a couple years back and complications ended up forming a bone spur that prevented it from moving properly. Basically, I had this bony growth that got in the way of every movement. Skating isn’t too fun when you can’t bend your ankle/leg properly! And then, to make matters worse, I kept skating and ended up breaking a piece of the bone spur off! So at this point, I had a sharp little piece of bone floating around in my joint. The combination of this chip and a sharp spur grinding around in there was a real treat! Haha it felt like there was a piece of barbed wire in my ankle every time I bent it in any direction. I kept skating, but it wasn’t the same….

So anyways, it took forever, but I finally got everything fixed up. In August I went back to Canada to have surgery to clean it all out. The doc took out my sweet little pebble and shaved the spur off.  So now I’m back in Australia, healing on the beach! It shouldn’t be long before I’m skating again. Richie v.2.0! haha

How is life in Australia, right now? Do you have any upcoming plans or projects?

Life here is fantastic. It’s a paradise. The skate scene here is just right and I’m really trying to make the most of living near the ocean. I think this is going to be an incredible summer and I’m really looking forward to it. My upcoming plans are just to blade a lot and enjoy each day. I will be filming plenty, so I guess you can watch for future parts.

Your first pro skate just dropped in stores everywhere… How do you feel about this? How did you come up with the design?

I feel like the happiest boy in the world! “It was all a dream….”

I actually came up with a ton of different color schemes, but felt like this one was the most unique. I didn’t want to do a typical black or white. The original colors were inspired by a pair of Nike’s, but I especially liked how they had a bit of a cold, wintery feel to them; reppin’ blading in Canada!

Thanks Richie! We look forward to seeing more from you, soon….

No problem! It won’t be long…

Hopefully this edit from a few sessions before my surgery will tide you over for now… haha take it easy.