etnies

Lake Forest, CA - $30,000 Donation to Offset Costs and Keep Park Free in 2005

February 3, 2005 (Lake Forest, CA) This week, Pierre Andre Senizergues, owner and CEO of etnies, presented the Lake Forest City Council with $30,000 to keep the etnies Skatepark free of charge for another year. Senizergues also made a generous donation to the City in 2003 to make the park free to all guests during its first year of operation.

In addition to this donation, Senizergues is continuing to work with public and private community organizations to provide kids with a safe place to skate and ride BMX bikes at no charge.

”We are really proud of the continued popularity of the etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest,” said Senizergues. “It is my passion to provide kids with a park to skate at no charge. The etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest is truly about giving back to the kids in the community, and we look forward to working with the City of Lake Forest to continue making this a reality.”

The etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest is currently one of the largest skateparks in the nation with over 40,000 square feet of terrain. The park was created by etnies and the City of Lake Forest with strong community support and input, and is currently skated by more than 1,500 visitors a week.

Skatepark Construction:

California Skateparks

California Skateparks is one of the most widely recognized and respected skatepark construction firms in the world. Responsible for some of the finest skateparks ever built, California Skatepark has built a reputation of excellence by integrating the creativity of the design with the artistry of the concrete.

Owner and President Joseph Cingula and principal designer Wally Hollyday have earned recognition as “concrete masters” in the realm of skatepark construction. Mr. Ciaglia has over ten years experience in construction and has acquired a wide range of expertise in all of the trades involved with building successful skateparks. Mr. Hollyday’s hands-on approach, from personally conducting design workshops to shaping the concrete, ensures that the vision of the design will be translated to the finished concrete.

Design Architects:

Site Design Group

One of the most recognized names in skatepark planning, design, development and construction, SITE Design Group was created to achieve the goal of designing and building the most functional, progressive skatepark facilities in the world.

SITE Design employs the most knowledgeable, skilled staff in the industry for concrete parks and offers a diverse, full-time staff that includes Master Ramp Designers / Builders, Concrete / Shotcrete Specialists, Construction Managers, Registered Landscape Architects, Park Planners and Professional Skateboarders.

Pierre André Senizergues:

As President, Owner and CEO of Sole Technology, Inc., Pierre André Senizergues runs one of the world’s best and most successful skateboarding footwear companies. Born in France, Pierre spent much of his youth skateboarding around Paris. After winning several European championship freestyle skateboarding titles, including the 1982 European Championships, Pierre moved to California in 1985 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional skateboarder in the U.S.

Sponsored by major skateboarding companies such as Sims Skateboards and Tracker Trucks, Pierre made a name for himself endorsing products and winning the World Freestyle Championship. In 1988, he went on to design his own pro model skateboarding shoe called the Senix (an abbreviation of his last name) for a new brand called etnies, originally started by a French shoe company called Rautureau Apple. After retiring from professional skateboarding the following year, Pierre went on to distribute etnies in the U.S.

Pierre was actively involved in the creation of innovative designs for etnies, including the Lo-Cut, Rap and Intercity. Around this time, etnies also began branching out into similar action sports like surfing, snowboarding, BMX and Moto-X by sponsoring riders in each of these categories. In 1995, Pierre also started a new athletically inspired and technologically superior brand of skate footwear called éS, as well as a brand of incredibly advanced and lightweight snowboarding boots called ThirtyTwo. Catering exclusively to the core skateboarder (those that eat, live and sleep skateboarding) Pierre created another skateboarding footwear company in 1996 called Emerica, a core skate brand embodying the individualistic, non-conformist attitude from which skateboarding was born.

Around this same time, Pierre took his four brands--etnies, éS, Emerica and ThirtyTwo--and organized them all under the Sole Technology umbrella. Hiring professional footwear designers and many other employees with veteran experience in the action sports world, he was able to focus more on overall vision, company structure, production and distribution. In 2001, Sole Technology took things even farther and established the first-ever biomechanics research organization dedicated to the study of skateboarding and action sports called the STI (Sole Technology Institute), and, in 2003, opened an on-site biomechanics laboratory at Sole Technology’s Headquarters in Lake Forest, California.

Today, Pierre André Senizergues is one of the most widely admired and respected entrepreneurs in the action sports industry. Beyond the incredible achievements of Sole Technology, Pierre’s other personal achievements include winning the 1999 Orange County Entrepreneur of the Year Award, being honored at the 2003 California Immigrant Achievement Awards, as well as countless interviews in high profile magazines around the globe. Though his life has become quite demanding, Pierre is a skater at heart and still finds time to skate, snowboard and surf throughout his incredibly busy schedule.

etnies:
Originally established in 1986, etnies started out by designing the very best skateboarding shoes on the planet. From the creation of the very first pro model skate shoe ever, the Natas Kaupas, to expanding that innovation to include other action sports like snowboarding, surfing, BMX and moto-x, etnies has always been there, crafting footwear of the utmost quality, style and function--changing the face of the action sports footwear industry forever.

Always two steps ahead of the rest, etnies is responsible for many incredible innovations in action sports footwear that have become commonplace today. Besides releasing the first pro model skateboarding shoe ever, etnies designed the first low top skate shoe, the first exposed ollie protection, the first shoe with extraordinary durability (400 NBS outsole), the first shoe with hidden lace loops for increased durability, the first shoe utilizing technology derived from skateboard biomechanics research, and is also solely responsible for many of the firsts that have now, and will, become industry standard.

In addition to the years of quality and innovation in performance footwear, etnies represents some of the most incredible athletes in action sports. Skateboarders like thirteen year-old Ryan Sheckler (one of the youngest professional skateboarders to ever win a pro skateboarding contest, 2003 Gravity Games Gold medalist, 2003 X Games Gold medalist, 2003 Slam City Jam winner), skateboarding icons Arto Saari and Stefan Janoski, as well as veteran vert pro Rune Glifberg (2003 X Games Silver medalist, 2002 Scandinavian Open winner, 2002 X Games Silver medalist, 2001 Gravity Games Gold medalist).

Other etnies riders include moto-x rider Brian Deegan (the first rider to ever land an off-axis backflip in moto-x history, 2003 X Games Gold medalist), BMX superstar Mike “Rooftop” Escamilla, surf legends the Malloy Brothers, and young and upcoming snowboarding prodigy John Jackson.
etnies' continued commitment and passion for quality footwear and apparel promises to take action sports performance and fashion footwear to incredible new heights.