Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

'Sliders': Racing Down Berkeley's Steep Hills

Cliff Coleman, left, and Jim Cluggish bomb down Strawberry Canyon in the hills above the University of California Berkeley.
Alex Chadwick, NPR
Cliff Coleman, left, and Jim Cluggish bomb down Strawberry Canyon in the hills above the University of California Berkeley.
Tools of the trade -- blocks of plastic cemented to leather gloves.
Alex Chadwick, NPR /
Tools of the trade -- blocks of plastic cemented to leather gloves.

Alex Chadwick travels to Berkeley, Calif., where he's introduced to "sliding" -- a form of skateboarding unique to the city. Riders speed down steep hills wearing special leather gloves, which they use to turn and slide sideways to reduce speed while they race.

Cliff Coleman, 55, is one of the "founding fathers" of the unique home-grown sport. He and fellow sliders started sliding back in the 1960s, and now the sport is international, with enthusiasts hitting steep roads in Europe, Asia and South America.

The sliders wear heavy gloves, with hunks of plastic glued to the palms. To assist the slide, they drop their gloved hands down, braking against the pavement -- leaving S-shaped skid marks on the pavement.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Alex Chadwick
For more than 30 years, Alex Chadwick has been bringing the world to NPR listeners as an NPR News producer, program host and currently senior correspondent. He's reported from every continent except Antarctica.