She Has Rolled Her Way to the Top of Charts

Cara-Beth Burnside has never been shy about going after what she really wanted.

When she turned 10, her grandmother bought her a pair of roller skates, but Burnside had her heart set on a new skateboard to use at the skateboard park that had just opened near her home in Orange. So Burnside took her birthday money and bought one.

And those roller skates?

“I don’t think I ever used them again,” she said. “They just sat there collecting dust.”

The same could not be said of the skateboard, which helped propel Burnside to a prolific career in skateboarding and snowboarding. She has a gold medal in each discipline at the X Games, including the inaugural women’s vert competition in 2003. She finished fourth in the halfpipe competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Burnside, 37, isn’t satisfied with being considered a pioneer in her sport and having a signature line of Vans footwear. She is driven to help increase opportunities for up-and-coming skaters such as Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins, the defending champion in women’s vert.

Burnside is pushing for bigger purses and more exposure for female skaters in existing events. She also is spearheading an organization called The Alliance, which she hopes will launch a series of contests and demonstrations. An event is already scheduled for the end of this month in Vancouver, Canada.

“My mission now is just to help get our project off the ground so there’s a future for girls in skating,” Burnside said. “I’d like to see it grow.”

Burnside, who lives in Encinitas, also is nurturing a rivalry with the 15-year-old Adams Hawkins.

“We’re pushing each other, and that needs to happen in this sport,” Burnside said. “I can’t be the only good one out there forever. The girls are stepping it up, and that makes me want to work that much harder.”