Karmen Lee is a 38-year-old skateboarder who has been a staple of the Western Australian skate scene since the ’90s. These days, she works with Skateboarding WA, GMTA and has also formed her own skate company, Panda. Karmen has been through all sorts of ups and downs, battling injury and addiction, and helping plenty of other skateboarders along the way.
WA in the ’90s
When I was a grom skating in the ’90s, there were no other girls around, no mobile phones, no social media, no skate lessons and no skateparks, aside from a couple of indoor ones that weren’t close to public transport. There was a lot of running from security and police – my fake name was Elissa Steamer if we got caught. Weekends consisted of
