Blading is sick as fuck and very similar to freestyle skiing, but in terms of the practical appeal of the sport to freeskiers, skateboarding has got it beat by a long shot, and I don't blame skiers for going with something different for the sake of these factors.
Most skiers choose to skateboard because:
a) skateboarding has not only a much bigger community, but one that freeskiers can relate to way more. Most freeskiers are betwen the ages of 13 and 30, and there are a lot of teens and young adults who also are into skateboarding, whether it's due to trends or passion or both. Meanwhile, in the aggressive inline community, everyone is like 27 or older. They're chill guys for sure, but nonetheless it's nicer to have people in the community who are your age, both in real life and on the Internet.
b) skateboarding culture is actually cool, in a way freeskiers like. Not in the eye of just the mainstream, but in terms of the brand aesthetics and vibe itself. All of the truly cool aesthetic/advertising/media/etc. in aggressive inline is DEAD. Everything in blading that was as fundamentally cool as Thrasher, Spitfire, World Industries, Baker, DGK, DC, etc. has been out of business for years. Everyone in the community reminisces about how awesome and influential those brands (Mindgame, Senate, 4x4, Daily Bread Magazine, Juggernaut, Rise Above) were, but nobody even makes half an effort to replicate the energy that they brought forth to the table..
Nowadays, the dads in the community unironically scoff at modern fashion trends, rap music, footwear, baggy clothes, etc., and yet they wonder why skateboarding is so popular compared to blading among youth.
c) the general philosophy between aggressive skaters and skiers is different right now. Skiers and bladers have much different concepts of steeze, and what is "cool". Skiers are a lot more critical and a bit more negative, which honestly isn't as bad as it sounds. The general mentality among aggressive skaters is "just let people have fun" which sounds great, but at the same time, it probably doesn't push people as much. Also, bladers will call you closed-minded if you prefer the older styles to the newer styles, whereas skiers will applaud you for saying that the thugged-out "golden days" of park skiing were better.
Unless bladers acknowledge and remedy these issues, aggressive inline won't get anywhere near as popular as skateboarding, BMX, or stunt scootering.
I blade because I think the sport and tricks are cool, but I'm not going to pretend these issues don't exist. I wish more skiers chose to blade, but until the aggressive community gives even 0.5 shits about fixing these issues, I completely understand why skateboarding is more attractive to modern freeskiers.
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