Editorial

A global skate icon clawed his way back from the edge. The kids I came up with in Egypt were escaping the same thing with none of the same net — and not all of them made it. A reckoning from inside the scene.

Some of the scene pushed back on the Top 10 — that skateboarding shouldn't be ranked at all, and that the results were wrong. Here's our answer, and the eight criteria in full.

Skater of the Year 2025 goes to Saif Wael — Cairo local, Zamalek-raised, eighteen years old, with style and consistency you can't teach.

Photo of the Year 2025 goes to Ahmed Nabawy (slomosk) — SAHARA co-founder and chief photographer, behind so many of the images that became the memory of Egyptian skateboarding.

This round of the Spot Challenge goes to Nour Ashraf — the rider who read the spot best and landed the clip that settled it.

SAHARA's Skater of the Year for 2024: Ayoub Shebl — style, consistency, and a year of setting the standard for Egyptian skateboarding.