Over the past year, Adelaide Norris featured in the Vans Credits video, Shari White’s Portal to Melbourne and Maximum Flow vids, and the 22-year-old’s killer kickflip landed her on the cover of The Skate Witches zine. Together with her inspiring New Gen interview in issue 227, these achievements saw Adelaide Norris take the NGOTY title.

Thanks to everyone who voted and to our presenting sponsor, Converse Cons.

Check out Adelaide’s full New Gen interview from our 2020 Spring Edition below.

PORTRAIT: WADE MCLAUGHLIN

Hey, Adelaide. What’s been happening today? 
Damn, I just got home from work. My body hates me today, so I’m about to take a magnesium bath. Lockdown has been the weirdest six months of my life. For some reason, I’m kinda happy slowing down. I’m going a bit crazy but it’s OK. I feel so privileged being in a country like Australia. It’s crazy out there for a lot of the rest of the world. 

You work at Hemley Skate Shop, and word has it that you just got a promotion. How’s your new role going?
It’s pretty fun. I feel like I’m the only one to have gotten a promotion during the pandemic. I’m doing all the design work, social media and stock stuff. It’s a lot more responsibility than I have ever had in any job role. I’m feeling the pressure, but stoked ’cause work goes super quick. I get to finish at 3pm each day, so I can skate after, which is so good. 

Did you grow up in Melbourne?  
Yep, I grew up in a beachside town called Carrum, which is right near Frankston. It was so nice growing up near the beach. I loved the skatepark in Frankston. There are so many lil’ ledges and stairs and wallrides. It’s still one of my favourite parks to this day, but I never really felt super comfortable hanging out there. Some people weren’t that nice to me. I feel like it’s chill now, but back then, I guess I felt like I needed to prove something to skate with everyone.

While attempting this slappy noseslide, Adelaide’s board flicked up and smacked her in the face, which resulted in a trip to the hospital, a couple of stitches and a smashed tooth. Two weeks later she went back and rolled away with a satisfying slide. PHOTO: BRYCE GOLDER

What are the best and worst things about Melbourne?
The best thing about Melbourne is that it’s the easiest city to skate through. There are so many ledges, and I really like the culture and that there’s so much going on. The worst is all the Kiwis [laughs]. Nah, kidding, they’re all right. The worst thing is probably getting stuck at IMAX.  How did you get into skateboarding? Three out of my four parents will argue that they got me into it, but from my memory of it, my stepdad got me my first board. He brought home a Big W board when I was 10 or something. I had no role models at the beginning. I just loved messing around with it in the car park behind my house. 

You just got surprised with the cover of The Skate Witches zine. Congrats! Tell us about copping the surprise.
I’ve been taking a lot of Zoom calls lately for heaps of random “business” meetings, so I didn’t think much of it when Zoolz [George Kousoulis] messaged me saying that we had one. It was Mexican night at my house, so I was two margaritas and three tacos deep when I took the call. I got into the call and saw a few more familiar faces than I was expecting. My first thought was, “Oh yeah, another Zoom dance lesson with Nao [Oka],” so I was like, “What the hell you are guys doing here?” Everyone gestured to look up, so I started looking around my room and Sheridan, my partner, passed me the mag. My jaw dropped. I still can’t believe it. I’ve been reading it from issue one. Those guys can do no wrong. 

For those who don’t know, who are The Skate Witches and what’s your involvement with the crew and zine? 
Skate Witches is run by Shari White and Kristin Ebeling up in the Pacific North West [of the USA] and Canada. It’s for anyone and everyone. They started a zine, making clothing, and filming videos, and it’s grown ever since. They now release videos and a whole bunch of different stuff. It’s super inclusive and they have a real sick vibe. It’s a good community.

Adelaide’s not really into DIYs, preferring to stay in the streets, even if it means getting stuck at IMAX all day. But this switch pole jam at Preston DIY was too stylish to be overlooked. PHOTO: CURTIS HAY

Are you tight with Shari White?
I’d like to say I’m tight with Shari White [laughs]. She’s been my hero forever. I think we were long-term Internet friends because she’s also Australian and we’d been following each other skating, and there weren’t many girl skaters in Australia back then. She has since kept hassling me to come to Vancouver and Seattle for different events. Then she did a trip here in February 2019. It was the first time I’d met her in person, and we did the Portal to Melbourne trip and video for Skate Witches. Eventually, she got me a paid trip as part of the media crew to Seattle to skate and film at Wheels of Fortune. 

That’s sick, how was Seattle? And for those who don’t know, what’s Wheels of Fortune?
That trip was so good. I got to meet so many incredible people because everyone was in town for Wheels of Fortune. It’s this event the Skate Witches put on annually. It’s based around women and everyone in between. It’s a three-day event. On day one, there were talks from people like Jaime Reyes and Leo Baker, who talk about what it’s like in the industry. Day two is the comp and day three is the Witch Hunt, which is practically a five-hour King of the Road-style event with heaps of challenges all around Seattle. People get into teams and then each filmer makes a video and submits it, and the challenge videos are then judged on points and style.After the event, I drove up to Vancouver with Shari and Norma and crashed at their place. Shari even took us up to her and her partners’ property in Squamish. A bunch of crew from WOF had a big bonfire and camped underneath these snow-capped mountains. Those are some of my favourite memories.

You also went on the Vans Credits trip with Shari. That must have been fun.
It was a lot of fun. I can’t even describe it. It was a surreal experience because they’ve all been my heroes for years. I was so honoured when Shari hit me up to be the spot guide for the trip. I just wanted to push myself more than I ever have with them, but I also felt so comfortable around them the whole time, just like skating with my friends. Every single person from that trip is so sick.

The ground is cracked, the run out is narrow and it shoots you straight into Nicholson Street traffic. Adelaide flicks a stylish kicky, putting the East into Brunswick East. PHOTO: BRYCE GOLDER

Did you get up to any mischief hanging out with them?
I don’t go to many drag shows but one night Breezy [Breana Geering] took us to one in Fitzroy, and I’m pretty sure we all had one too many wet pussy shots. I somehow ended up being grabbed by one of the drag queens and enjoyed a slow dance on stage. It was so wild and very surreal being placed in a video with so many amazing skateboarders. It’s still one of the things I’m most hyped on, and I’m really happy with my two tricks. 

You also made your own video last year, Appointment, which was a strong representation of the women and non-binary skateboarders in Australia right now. Are you passionate about giving women a platform for their skateboarding?
I don’t think I’m doing it for giving women a platform. In my eyes, I just wanted to see those people on the screen. I wanna see my friends up there, and if that’s giving people a platform, that’s a bonus. I wanna go to a prem with all of my friends up on the projector, and get people involved who would probably never have a chance to do that. I love pushing my friends and seeing them so hyped, and a prem is just one big party. I think that’s what I like the most – a big party with all my friends. No one ever misses that invite. 

You’re an all-rounder, you film, you edit, you take photos and you obviously skate really well. How do you manage all of these things? 
I don’t think I manage it. I honestly just enjoy it all so much. I like that you can be so creative with it all and it intrigues me. And I’m so inspired by everyone I see in the industry. Editing and filming means you can keep being involved even when you’re not skating. 

Is there one that gives you the most satisfaction?
I can’t compare. They bring me different types of enjoyment. 

Who are your favourite people to skate with in Melbourne or elsewhere? 
Anyone who wants to go to a good spot, everyone from Appointment and anyone who’s at Edi kerbs. And Zoolz. 

Between endless Zoom meetings, getting a promotion at Hemley and her other corporate obligations, Adelaide gets zen with a hippie jump in the streets. PHOTO: BRYCE GOLDER

Speaking of Zoolz, he said you smashed your face on the slappy noseslide. What happened? 
I was being a bit of a bitch. I bailed out on a few attempts, then on one of them my board bounced up and the truck hit me in the nose. I think I blacked out a bit. My first thought was, damn, blood. I thought I just had a bit of a bad blood nose and a chipped tooth, but now that I think back, I felt pretty delusional. I was like, “Nah it’s just a blood nose,” but Zoolz confirmed that it was best to go to hospital. In reality, he saw the huge gash through my nostril, which I hadn’t noticed yet.

Zoolz drove us to the hospital, and they stitched me up while I was still awake, which was insane. I would not recommend. Tobi [Stanley] got to watch the whole thing – she even recorded the student doctor botching it with the scissors and the legit doctor having to take over. The dude hadn’t had to stitch up a nose before and he got nervous – so funny. 

I took a week off work, which was a plus, and was laid up in bed all week. I had a black eye and my face swelled up to a balloon. It hurt too much to do anything. I had to eat soup for a few days. Then I got my tooth all fixed up, and I had to take my own stitches out because I don’t have a Medicare card. Then, as soon as I was skating, we went back and got [the slappy noseslide]. It felt amazing. And I’m so stoked on the bail footage.

This pole jam had been on Adelaide’s bucket list for a while and during the filming for the Credits video, she got hyped up enough to jam onto this beast. She said, “I don’t think I’ve seen another girl do it, which gets me stoked too.” PHOTO: BRYCE GOLDER

How come you don’t have a Medicare card?
My wallet got stolen a few years ago, and I would like to say I’ve been too busy to organise getting a new one, but a lot of other people will see that as laziness. Either way, it hasn’t really affected me too much because every time I need to go to the doctor, it’s usually an emergency, so I go to the hospital, which has better service anyway. 

You got pulled over by the cops the other day while you were scoping out spots that are within your five-kilometre radius for this feature. What’s the story?
I was racking my brain for ideas for spots and couldn’t think of anything, so my partner and I drew a circle around our five-kilometre radius on Google Maps and just went down pretty much every street. But on one dead-end street in Alphington, we passed a cop car. We didn’t want to just turn around and leave, so we parked. I told Sheridan, “Let’s just walk away from them.” She thought that was dumb, but by the time we looked up, the cop car was parked behind us. These two manicured lady cops harassed us for IDs and for reasons we were outside of our five-kilometre radius, even though we weren’t. Long story short, Sheridan’s rego was out, and she got an $800 fine, and I got away scot-free with heaps of spots to skate.

Tell us about the Vans Showdown. What’s the deal and what’s your involvement? 
Vans is doing this big showdown event in China next year sometime with a bunch of skate shops being flown in. People have sent designs for this crazy obstacle and everyone is going to skate it. I’m one of the judges for the obstacle challenge.  And what’s the likelihood of it actually happening at this point? Man, I hope it happens. It would be fun to skate all the marble ledges and the Showdown event. You never know with this virus though.

With minimal run-up, bevelled edges and two big cracks, this Hubba was always going to be a challenge. Adelaide even spent $40 on Knead It to fill the cracks. But it was a worthy investment to roll away with this long backside 50-50. PHOTO: BRYCE GOLDER