The First Kidney Shaped Pool
Why do skaters care about kidney shaped pools?
Kidney shaped pools are perfect because of their shape: it’s shape allows you to
easily pump, do grabs and aerials, transitions, and grinds on the tiles that act as
coping(a metal pipe on the rim). The pool has two parts, one more elevated than the
other. Going down the first part allows you to generate speed for the next trick.
The first ever kidney shaped pool, built in 1939 by Alvar Aalto, is located in the
backyard of the private Villa Mairea, Noormarkku, Finland which is not the place you
might expect this historical pool to be. The pool has tried to get skated before with no
success. In 2016 a group of skaters tried their own chance to skate the legendary pool.
These skaters took a large risk and tried to enter the area that is the most protected and
surveyed of all Finland.
The group of skaters planned accordingly and arrived at the spot at 5 in the
morning before sunrise to assure no-one to be awake. The skaters did face a few
challenges: they travelled a distance of 300 kilometer,they had rain from the previous