by Margarett Dykstra
by Margarett Dykstra
Donna Vano is going to be 43 in June, but you'd swear she's in her 20s. She recently won nationals in women's snowboarding! She remembers the first guy she ever saw skate, Bob Daily. "He was older and I was blown away watching him skating vert. I was trying to figure out what was going on with these things (the skates)." After watching Bob she decided that she had to try it. She'll never forget what he said to her: "Girls don't skate they get hurt." And that was it. She had to prove him wrong. She went over to this guy's house, he had a half pipe in his back yard, and knocked on the door. He let her give it a try and she was hooked. After that she went out every day and practiced.
Donna describes herself as a soul skater--"I just get out there and do what feels good." She believes that if you keep with what you know in your heart you will pull it off. Donna was a sales exec for 5 years at a multi-billion dollar corporation. She became sick and almost died. After she recovered, she made a few lifestyle changes. She left Los Angeles and moved to South Lake Tahoe in northern California. Now she skates for a living. "This is God's country. I can go up into the mountains to snowboard and while riding up the chair I can see the most beautiful lake, 99% pure and crystal green. Then, I can come home and skate if I want to. I have the most wonderful husband and a beautiful lifestyle." Her marriage to pro-skater, Alan Vano was a part of this fairy tale vision. They were married 2 years ago on their skates on a ramp in Hawaii. As they said "I do," a double rainbow magically appeared above them as they dropped into the half pipe and performed an over/under to tie the knot.
"I have to admit, it's really hard being a women in this sport. A lot of us skate as hard as we can, and get very little publicity. So how can the women's division grow when no one knows we're out there?" 
Many of the women that I spoke with have the same complaint: The promoters always push the girls' events to the end of the day after the TV crews have gone home. This continues to discourage them, but they hope that with the increasing number of women in the sport that the times will change. Donna gets a lot of respect as a snowboarder, because "the women are on fire and the guys are stoked on the women. So, sometimes I wonder why I am fighting such a battle with in-line skating. I am trying to be an inspiration to other women. But sometimes I'm afraid that I get so passionate about the sport that maybe I come across as abrasive."
Donna loves the kids in the industry. "They treat me like gold, so respectful and so nice." Donna doesn't have any children by birth, but feels like the kids she skates with are her adopted children. She meets underprivileged kids skating in LA and brings them up to her place. She skates with them, teaches them snowboarding, takes them on hikes, whatever. Usually she has someone staying with her one week out of the month. "I have gotten so much from this sport, I want to give something back." Although she loves and respects the younger generation of in-line skaters, Donna worries that her age works against her. And while she knows that the industry's need to appeal to the younger crowd is nothing personal, it is still frustrating. "The kids will keep the sport growing. Someone like me won't sell products." It's hard not to disagree with her as I am thinking: "--a 43 year old women who has the guts to pull flips on an eleven and a half foot half pipe -- I'd buy what she's got any day!"
Donna Vano On Film (2mb): vano.mov , vano.avi.
