Gabriel Vigliotti is an up-and-coming skater, who's been crushing it lately. This year already, Gabe has finished second in the Grind for Life Series three times and finished first in the most recent stop in Michigan! He also, just won the Hot Wheels Junior Series stop in New Hampshire. Gabe is on fire, so we caught up with him to get the scoop! 

Hey Gabe, how's it going?

Hey Olivia! Doing great, just got back from a big skate trip to Detroit, Ann Arbor and Bowling Green.

Tell us what you recently won? 

I recently won 1st Place in Advanced Street 11-16 yrs at the Hotwheels Junior Series at Rye Airfield Skatepark in Rye, NH. The following weekend I won 1st Place Street 13-15 yrs at the Grind for Life Series contest at Ann Arbor Skatepark in Ann Arbor, MI.

How does it feel to podium two events in a row? 

To be honest it feels pretty amazing! This is the first year I’ve begun joining the advanced division in the contests I skate so it’s a tougher competition for me. And being 13 years old I’m now back at the bottom of my age group competing against kids who are older and have more experience than I do. But I feel like I have a lot of support from Monster Army and my other sponsors and that helps give me the confidence that I can go in, skate against the best and come out on top.

What did you learn for the next contest? 

After nailing a three minute completely flawless run in both competitions I’ve learned that my daily practice and consistency with my skating is what sets me apart from most skateboarders. I’m also not afraid to go big and try a really hard trick in my runs.... figure I have a 50% chance of landing it so why not? But always, the most important thing about competing is to always have fun. Some kids take it too seriously and it takes the fun out of it. I love what I do and keep it fun at all times.

What can we expect from you next? 

Next up I have a 9 day trip starting in Niagara Falls, NY with stops in Ann Arbor, MI, Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI where I’ll be competing in four Zumiez Best Foot Forward contests. This is an open age contest series with some really tough competition. Not a lot of kids compete at this level so my competitors are going to be quite a lot older than me. I have a whole new set of tricks I’m working on perfecting and am thinking I could pull off a win or two on this trip.

Thx again for everything. You guys rock!

>> Gabriel