Who?
www.powerblading.org was started by Oli Benet in December 2011.
Oli Benet was born in 1981 and by 1989 he had already initiated his life on skates after he was given a second hand pair of Roces Quads at the age of 8. A couple of years later he purchased the Bauer Turbo Quad skates, which already came with a metal bar to “grind” with.
In around 1995 Oli bought a pair of Roces LAX off a classmate; his first pair of inline skates. By this time inline-skating was booming, and stair riding and modifying skates was the thing to do for teenagers worldwide. Oli purchased some CDS Grindplates and Fr wheels along with “Some Free Advice 2″ VHS and proceeded to learn how to grind before finally purchasing his first aggressive skates in 1997, the Roces 5th Elements.
In 2002 Oli received his first sponsor, “Switch Up Skate” and also his first magazine appearance in Unity Magazine. Over the next few years Oli competed in a number of contests including Winning the largest street contest in Spain at the time, the “Battleground Madrid”
Shortly after Oli filmed and directed “Los Elegidos”, the second skate video to come out of the Spanish scene.
Oli Benet UC profile 05 from OliBenet on Vimeo.
Since then Oli has travelled Asia, Europe, Africa and America and skated as a rider for a number of companies including Razors, Ground Control, Reign, Catalyst, Switch Up Skate, Stygma, Sifika, Deshi, USD, UC, Kizer, X-Mini and Inercia. Oli also received a Pro wheel in 2005 from UC, as well as being voted “Skater of the Year” and “Most influential on the Spanish Scene” in the same year at the Za-Patina Awards. Oli has also starred in commercials and billboards for Stimorol Gum in 15 countries, a commercial for Fiat Automobiles and a Theatre production in Madrid’s largest Theater.
Oli Benet has now been working for Powerslide for the past 8 years, and his life passion remains skating. In 2010 he started Freeskating around Barcelona, and noticed the potential in riding an 80mm set-up.
In 2011 Oli combined with visionaries Richie Eisler, Dustin Werbeski and Powerslide to create a reinforced, more aggressive option for freeskaters worldwide: Powerblading.
Powerblading hardware allows the skater to grind and gap with confidence, thanks to the creation of wheels with stronger hubs, reinforced nylon fibreglass frames for grinding as well as soulplates on the skates.
Powerblading is a fusion of styles and an evolution in rolling.
