
Photo by Friedjof Feye
Introduction by Guy Jones
Interview by Denny Pham
Photography by Friedjof Feye
Something we’re always proud of when featuring such talents as Lea Schairer is not only their output within skateboarding but their productivity outside of it as well. Lea definitely has no shortage of this and, if you look at what she has already produced, it is always executed with the utmost of style. Working on this interview with Denny Pham gave us an insight into Lea’s seize the day attitude and progression within her life. Combined with these beautiful photos from Friedjof Feye, the results are a very proud magazine. Thank you Lea, Denny and Friedjof for this piece, we’re unbelievably stoked on all of it.

Lea Schairer – Boardslide ~ Photo: Friedjof Feye
How are you at the moment? How is life in Munich? It hasn’t always been your home, right?
Life right now is a good mix of being busy, but also being able to take some time off. I’m trying to balance work and life a little bit more than I did last year, so I’m home sometimes but I’m also travelling for fun. Munich is nice for me because I have my social life there and it’s nice to come back to something familiar where you feel at home.
I grew up in Heidelberg, which is a smaller city in the southwest of Germany close to the French border. It’s a beautiful old city with a big university and a lot of academics and students. The city of green academics, I call it. But it’s a little bit more edgy than you would think. We had a really good cultural scene, really good clubs, a really good music scene – a lot of German hip hop is rooted there. For me this place meant a very secure and easy childhood. My parents are both academics and wanted my brothers and me to get a good education on the one hand, but they also gave us a lot of freedom and always supported us. It’s nice but it’s small and I definitely wanted to get out there after I finished school, which is why I went to Munich to go to university.
Sounds like a good move! Munich doesn’t seem like the most edgy place though. What is your impression of skateboarding there now and how do you feel about its scene after living there for so many years? Is it something that still sparks you, gets you out filming clips and stuff?
It’s true, it’s not the most edgy place. The skate scene is of course bigger than it was in Heidelberg and it’s a good vibe, everybody seems to get along. But does the skate scene spark me to go out? Probably not as much as I wish it would. There are always people coming up, younger crews that bring in a new vibe and it’s cool to see these young kids ripping and producing things. We also have some good street spots, but they’re all pretty scattered and it’s not that easy to go out and have a day where you go from one spot to another filming. Most people my age have a lot of responsibilities and not a lot of people just have free time to do whatever during the day.
My impression over the years of coming through Munich was that it was a hot spot for talent. There was this generation, Mario Ungerer, Daniel Ledermann, Joscha Aicher and many others, who would constantly push progression and put out a bunch of videos. I recently drove through Munich and there were so many spots.
I totally agree with you. Regarding the mentioned generation of guys, I feel like everyone hit a certain point skate-wise where they’d be like, “OK, either I’m moving away from here to have a skate career or I start working somewhere.” Because for one it’s expensive here and for the other they are probably missing that spark. Like you said, there are spots that you could skate, there’s potential, but you need your crew and someone who films you, who’s hyped to go out and skate some of those spots. Luckily I have a bit of a crew like that, but it’s still not always easy.

Lea Schairer – Frontside Tailslide To Fakie ~ Photo: Friedjof Feye
So how does that actually work for you, being a sponsored skater? What are you working on currently?
Like I said, luckily I have a small crew I go out filming with from time to time, especially Chris Bradl who I film with a lot and Conny Mirbach who’s a really good friend and also takes photos. I think what also works best for me is getting out of the city sometimes and going to Berlin, Barcelona, Majorca or somewhere to film. I feel like as a skater nowadays we are all so connected and it’s easy to just travel and go to different places, you’ll always know someone.
That’s also kind of how this project came about. I was in Berlin for a couple of days filming with Juli Lopez and ran into Friedjof Feye, he was taking photos and said it would be cool to do something together. He came through Munich in the summer and stayed at my place for a few days. It wasn’t all super smooth, it was raining a lot and during that time I was kind of worn out from travelling and working a lot. I didn’t have a lot of energy and that’s something that I sometimes struggle with; being on trips where I don’t skate myself much, but which cost me a lot of energy because they’re work and responsibilities. But Fidi had those photos ready, he sent them to Vague and now we’re here!
I’m also working on a video part which I started a very long time ago, but it got interrupted due to back-to-back-to-back injuries. Now I’m really close to finishing it, only three or four more tricks and I hope we’re done! I have a full-time job and my filmer does too so it’s not easy to find the time to go out and stack clips, but I’m super happy it’s going to be finished.
So your job title is National Coach, you’re my coach! We’ve been travelling quite a bit for the past few years. How has that journey been? Did that push your skateboarding in a way, has it changed your perspective on skateboarding? How do you manage your coaching job with your actual skateboard passion?
There are a lot of questions in this question, haha. First of all, I was on the team myself. During that time my skating improved, I got more support from sponsors and more attention. I was asked to join the team and I think my skateboarding profited from that as well. Going to contests where you know you have to perform, you had to have certain tricks and you couldn’t back away from it or procrastinate because it was outside your comfort zone, it pushed my skating for sure.
But I realised when I was on the team that maybe it wasn’t the pressure I needed for skating, maybe it wasn’t the skating that I want to pursue and even now I’m trying to separate it – one is work and one is my own personal skating. During that time I felt like I also found my own style of skating, also forced by injuries. But I liked it, getting to know what suits you best, what you’re good at and how you want to express yourself on a board. That also comes with age and knowing yourself better, I guess.
Due to those injuries I eventually switched positions to coach. That shift wasn’t super easy. Not because I didn’t feel up for it or didn’t feel respected or anything, but I had to groove myself into this kind of position and find my way of coaching. Get to know everyone on the team better, feel out what kind of things that are theoretically smart I am actually able to implement. There are so many things that you think could work, that on a scientific basis should make sense; working out, mental training. But working with people always means adjusting, nothing works the same for everyone. People are more or less open to stuff, they have their own lives, their own skating with sponsors and responsibilities. I really had to learn what’s possible. In which way does this work best? How do I motivate people? How do I build a team? How do I manage to create an environment where people feel comfortable and open up to each other and to me? How do I create an environment where everyone performs at their best? Out of the five years I’ve been doing this, the past two years I feel that this has paid off. They’ve been the most rewarding ones, I kind of found my way and I feel like it’s the same for you and the rest of the team. I’m super happy to see that it kind of worked out. It really motivates me and makes me happy.

Lea Schairer – Wallie Backside 5-0 Grind ~ Photo: Friedjof Feye
I totally agree! You’ve been doing a great job with the coaching. So you have a couple more events coming up before the Olympics happen, and during that qualification process you have seen the women developing, but even though there are more and more women in skateboarding you are still one of the few compared to men. Are there any young girls coming up in Germany?
I feel like there might be a misconception about this sometimes. You know how hard it was for women in skating, and I have to say that I’ve always been lucky enough to be in surroundings where I’ve felt supported by men, not disrespected or unwanted. I’ve always had a support system around me. I’m not saying that this is true for most women and I’m definitely not saying that the support includes the industry worldwide. Getting sponsored took me a very long time, I never thought it would ever happen.
Now brands are super aware of it and it’s also seen as a business opportunity. For some brands it’s super important to have women on their team. Nowadays every aspect of skating and every group in skateboarding gets supported and that’s super cool! In Germany there aren’t that many young girls coming up though, I really don’t know why the whole thing hasn’t had an effect here yet. I mean, looking at those contests it’s insane how fast the girls progress. They’re doing new tricks every time, stuff that no woman has ever done before! There are really good skaters with a bright future. But I think I’m still waiting for that critical mass of young super talent here… maybe I’m aiming too high there, but maybe it will eventually come!
I always thought that you were really good at finding your place in situations dominated by guys. You would go on trips with only guys, so I guess it’s good that you never had trouble with that.
I never felt like I needed to push my way in. I was just accepted and it took me places and I learned a lot and I’m happy about that. But I also feel like now it totally makes sense to be in a girls crew, because if I go on trips with guys we go to spots and I’m like, “Yeah I’m not gonna skate this!” Vanessa Konte who I hang out with a lot has a really good crew of women or female skaters. I feel that was missing for me sometimes. It’s also different from what everyone knows already so it’s also visibly interesting and nice to catch in videos and photos. Like everything, there are advantages and disadvantages. Yes, I was lucky enough to always be in a guys’ crew, but the best thing is when it’s a mix, a real integration of guys and girls. I think everyone profits from that.

Lea Schairer – Wallie Backside Tailslide ~ Photo: Friedjof Feye
Over the past few years while we’ve been travelling we’ve got to hang out a lot and I haven’t met too many skateboarders that are so active outside their skateboarding careers. You’re surfing, biking, climbing, snowboarding, you completed your studies and are active with your education during work. I think that makes you so relaxed in a way with your skateboarding career, because there are so many other things going on in your life. I’m almost jealous sometimes! What or why or how…
How do I answer that?! Skateboarding is so important to me, but I feel passionate about a lot of things and I want to make time for those, too. My boyfriend surfs and I want to spend time with him, so we’re in Portugal to go surfing together and I can also go skate here. I picked up climbing when I couldn’t skate. Snowboarding I started even before skating, with my brothers. I started surfing when I was finishing school because I didn’t have many friends that skated and it was also a time where skateboarding didn’t have that support system that I was talking about.
Getting older now also means I can’t skate every day anymore, my body just doesn’t take it. I had a period where I was told I might not be able to skate for another year, because of an injury where I was already out for a few months. At that point I was like OK, I’m not going to sit here and try to get back on my skateboard as soon as possible because it just stresses me out. When I hurt my knee I was so focused on getting back into skating because I was at a really good level during that time, and then I hurt my knee again and then I dislocated my shoulder and it was depressing knowing that I couldn’t skate for another half a year and not be able to get back to that level. I had to distract myself and do different things that brought me joy. And I think that’s exactly what it comes down to, what you said before. Now I’m more relaxed about it, because it’s still really important but it’s not everything to me. I think for my mental health it’s important to know that. I enjoy my life as much doing other things.

Lea Schairer – 360 Flip To Fakie ~ Photo: Friedjof Feye