Route One in Copenhagen
The skateboarding community descended on Copenhagen Denmark last weekend for the annual Copenhagen Pro Open.
We decided that this event is something that cannot be missed, so we packed our bags and headed off to Stanstead airport.
Just traveling from the airport to the Airbnb, you could already start to see the extent of how many people were out there for this event, with skateboarders on every corner and at every coffee shop.
The Thursday started off with us shooting an interview with a professional skateboarder, unfortunately we cannot divulge that information just yet, but it’s a big one. After the interview, it was a swift bike journey through the city to the Lithauens Plads, where a comp was already going down. With some of the world's skateboarding elite walking around, it felt very odd just hanging out and looking round to realise you are stood next to the likes of Tom Penny and Arto Sari. After the jam finished, everybody headed towards the Meat Packing district, with a few street spots along the way. The journey down was carnage, 3000+ skateboarders all heading the same way along the streets, it began to look slightly like a riot, with cars being held up and people looking quite concerned about the mass of people headed their way. The comp at the Meat packing district consisted of a large vert wall, and people hucking themselves up and across it.
The following morning was a bit of a wash out, so many people used the day to go to see some museums, get some nice food, or if you are us, get some people in front of the camera. The day was very productive for us, but again we cannot tell you who we interviewed, you will just have to wait.
After cycling back and spotting a drenched Wes Kramer cycling the opposite way, we buckled down to hope the rain would not be around the following day, and get some much needed rest.
Saturday was the big day, with everything kicking off at 3pm at the Planetariet by the Lakes, with a picnic table, flat bar and a large set of stairs. After this, we all headed down to the Copenhagen skatepark, this was the big one that the whole week had been building up to. After everyone piled in and got comfortable, the Finals began.
With so much good skating going down, it's hard to remember what exactly was landed, especially when Kevin Bradley was rocking a full purple basketball kit, which made it hard not to get distracted every time you saw this purple flash shooting down the hand rail.
After Ishod cleaned up and stole the show, the high adrenalin death races started, with unofficial filmmaker Eric Koston following the riders around the course.
Next began my favourite jam, the Barrel jump. Boards got snapped, people got hurt, and barrels got jumped over. Blake Johnson from Santa Cruz took the win on this one, taking home a nice $2000.
The whole event was wrapped up with a bump to bar challenge and an award ceremony, where Ishod was crowned the winner of this amazing competition, before everyone partied through till the small hours of the morning. (Blake Johnson and Kevin Bradley however went through till the following day).
Copenhagen Pro Open was a whirlwind experience, with so much going on. If we can give you a single piece of advice, GO NEXT YEAR!