Goodlife People: A Q+A with Matheo Cañas From Kuska Ramps
Next up, in our #GoodlifePeople Series, we are featuring Matheo Cañas from El Salvador. He is the creator of Kuska Ramps, a pioneering ramp company dedicated to bringing the joy of skateboarding to every corner of El Salvador! The full Q+A below.
Hello! I’m Matheo Cañas, a 26-years-old, Salvadoran, hotel management and tourism student, ramp builder and skater by passion. I specialize in ramp building and design of skate spaces. Kuska Ramps began at the end of 2020, combining my skills and talent with some friends, with the purpose to create spaces that are always open to enjoy skateboarding and improving the way El Salvador sees skateboarding.
Tell us about Kuska Ramps — the inspiration for the business and the name?
Kuska Ramps is a ramp company that creates structures for the practice of skateboarding. We’re trying to bring it to the next level and create new spaces for everyone to skate on them. We found the need for spaces to practice skateboarding because not all the skate parks are always open, sometimes they’re closed by the municipality. We wanted to see ramps everywhere we went — restaurants, next to soccer fields, in parking lots, bars — wherever we could. The name comes from “Kuzkatán” (a nahuatl word) that means “Land of Precious Things.” I speak in our local language which is Nahuatl and wanted to keep part of our history with us, that’s why we called it Kuska Ramps.
What keeps you inspired, and then, what is the most challenging part of this project?
The inspiration comes from the idea of sharing everything we love in one package that we now call ramps — like the good times that we share with our friends, moments that we want to keep for longer, skate, music, food, art and our friendships. The most challenging part of the project would be the construction side, the testing of the materials and knowing the screws you need to get, find the right tools for the construction, find good suppliers… because we need the best of everything to make a ramp work.
Tell us about your team and how you met them?
I didn’t do it alone, I started with my best friend Bejo (Jose Andres) and one of my good friends Javier, but we called him Mr. Ramps. Bejo is a very good skater with a long trajectory in the skate scene of our country and Mr. Ramps and I used to work together. He is a carpenter and together we started this project.
A big challenge for Kuska Ramps?
A big challenge for us is that we’ve been in three world cups of surf — last year’s and this year’s longboard championships and the shortboard championships that were taking place here in La Bocana and El Sunzal last year with our ramps. It was a challenging time with logistics and teaching athletes and showing them techniques and how to improve their skate, because they’re high elite performance athletes. At the same time they were willing to learn how to skate, and finding yourself in a place where you can give tips of improvement is hard but at the same time the challenge keeps you focused and helping them.
What’s you favorite space or concept to design?
My favorite space or concept to design would be half pipes which are two quarter pipes put in front of each other. You can design different types of half pipes. You can put a quarter pipe and a bank in front, you can do waves, you can add different heights on different sections of the ramps… so it’s very fun. You can design the flow for what you want in each ramp.
If you could share one message with the world about El Salvador what would it be?
A message that I would give to the world about El Salvador would be that El Salvador has its own magic. It’s beautiful — lifestyle in the tropics with all this nature, the strength and beauty of the ocean, deep connections with our people and tourists. At this time our country is developing very quickly so we’re trying to bring the future that we want to see for ourselves.
You’re more than welcome to visit our beautiful country and be part of that change.
Why you choose skateboarding in El Salvador?
I choose skateboarding in El Salvador because it gives me a sense of belonging and freedom and it helps me to meet people from everywhere. The skate community is amazing.
Rapid Fire, Vamos!
One word to describe El Salvador?
Forest
One community/town you’d recommend visiting
Punta Mango
One of your favorite hotels?
Roca Sunzal
One of your favorite restaurants?
Garage Burgers (best burgers in town at El Tunco)
A local brand you are loving right now?
Yaguah
One item you can’t live without?
My hammock
One thing you want to try in 2024?
Bamboo constructions
When you come to El Salvador test out your skateboarding skills on one of the Ramps that Kuska creates! Here are Kuska Ramps social platforms:
Instagram: @Kuskaramps
