Our german friends wanted to do a little surf tripping as the swell forecast was kind of huge. They went further west, to Asturias, where they had some good reef spots in mind, and Katja and I were happy to join.
On the second day of our travels we passed by this cool looking street spot in the town of Aviles, Asturias. Despite the rough grounds, it was pretty sick just pumping down the streets and doing little carves as it felt like surfing the concrete…
After quick stop in home camp Zarautz, we went further to meet our friends in St. Vincent de la Barquera, Cantabria.
Cantabria is next region from Basque, if you travel west, and it really is a whole different country… the culture, the people, the scenics, everything changes when you pass Santander and you enter a lot more quiet and lonesome realm of Spain.
After the “mandatory” surf session with Basti and Benno, we had to go check the local skateramp. It is under the old castle ruins by the river, surely the most beautiful setting so far, but sadly the ramp sucks… no real coping to get a lock, few metal plates sticking out and sort of slippery… yet we had a fun session with the local soccer kids, who seemed to enjoy skateboarding as much as they like kicking the ball around, so not all is lost, haha.
There is a little city, called Irun, right at the border between France and Spain. No big deal… if they would not have the greatest skatepark in the whole Basque!
This thing is amazing. It consists of the street part, which is really well rounded, lines flow nicely and it has something for every type of skateboarders.
But the real deal is the pool part. Trannies of all shapes and sizes, from bowls, spines, boobs, walls, extensions… you cannot really imagine until you see it!
And it is not all!!! They also have a legit pool, meaning real concrete coping, blue tiles at the vert part of the tranny and 2.5m big. Yes, that is legit!
Katja and I have left Hossegor when the WCT surf competition ended and headed for Spain. Before we made a short stop in Labenne, France.
Our friends recommeded checking the beach, while there is a little skatepark with a brand new bowl. Its is simply amazing. Two depths and a thick spine in between make this tranny really shreddable. Some quick lines and relaxed session with the local kids was a good break and a nice motivation before we went on with the trip…
Biarritz, France, has the rainy days covered.
Alai Skateboards have a big, mostly transition orientated indoor skatepark, just across the street from the train station. It has multiple miniramps, roll-in, quaters of all sizes, walls and the list goes on… Twelve to sixteen year old grooms are poping 540s and front blunts on the biggest trannies and the level goes over the roof if you are lucky enough to catch some of the french top riders dropping by.
For more photos go to the Alai skatepark page.
Next stop was Hossegor, France.
Nights under the pinetrees, surrounded by squirrels and the smells of nature. The area is filled with beautiful parks like that and there is no shortage of skateparks either.
Almost every sizable beach has a little bowl or few trannies, like this one at La Penon. It is nothing much, yet so fun to ride…
Ujusansa surf camp has finished with the end of September and my work there is done, yet photographer Katja Pokorn and I are staying in the “area” for few more weeks on a skate/surf trip.
First stop was Biarritz, France.
We found this new age architectures museum, Cite de la Ocean, which has a vert ramp shaped roof. The grounds are rough as hell, but the tranny looks pretty easy thou.
It is waiting… for someone with big wheels and even bigger balls, haha!
Five or six years ago I went on a surprise skate trip with some Swiss guys I met in surf camp in France. They told me we will hit some cool skatepark in Tarnos with lots of pools which they seem really into…
Well, they sure knew what they were talking about, because the place is a paradise! It is the smallest park imaginable but it has two pools that connect with a spine, a miniramp with an extension and a curved bowl end and another mini which has one curved side and the other with a hip break. To make things even better they built a short snakerun last year that can be ridden both ways if you know the right lines.
We had a blast, skated for at least four hours, since you just could not get enough of the trannies. The locals are a bunch of mellow guys and totally shredding, so go check the place if you are passing by…
This time I went a little further out of Basque, to Aquitaine in France. Last year I saw this sick wooden pool in an old pirate ship in front of Carhartt outlet store. Unfortunately I did not have my skateboard at the time, so I was really looking forward to curve this beauty this summer.
As it turns out, the pool is under construction or getting shut down… sadly it did not look like they were rebuilding it thou… all I can say it was a bummer… just imagine the lines with the oververt bowl, haha.
When I started to skate, the culture was all about punk rock and hardcore. It engulfed riding, music and attitude and that will probably stick with my perception of what skateboarding should be forever. And I will be a skateboarder forever. Period!
Past weekend we had an unique opportunity to see and hear a handful of punk rock legends and heroes of our youth at Punk Rock Holiday 1.1 in Tolmin. Bad Religion, NoFX, Strung Out, Hot Water Music, Real Mckenzies, Bouncing Souls… to name just a few, plus some great less famous bands (Street Dogs, Total Chaos…).
It was just ragging three days of beer, grill, eye-patches, water diving, midnight boxing punch-outs and all around shenanigans! It was one of thoose vacations you get home more beat up than before you left. And I mean literary, haha!