Get the teas on for this one as 45 minutes of thought provoking goodness on our passion for what we love the most with Greg Hunt, Chris Mulhern, Chris Fireoved, Arto Saari, Pontus Alv and more. Take in the individuality, limitation, and knowledge learned from a constant evolving culture.
You would imagine that Ben Raybourne was probabaly invited to about 20 Halloween events. He’s managed a couple of th best so far though including this radness with friends at Burnside Skatepark in Oregon. Even the cops put on a display worthy of arrest but big shouts out to whoever managed to paint the place. Incredible.
Ph: Chris Cope indy back smith by Joe Hammeke
This crew were only going to deliver evil. Thrasher’s Halloween Hellride at the Diamond Mine is always top draw. Dive into this elite carnage!
If you’ve had the pleasure of skating the House of Vans Bowl in London, you will know that it’s an unforgiving masterpiece that can destroy you and elate you within the same session. Only those with the fastest feet are able to master its curves designed by Line, who have managed to pack in a vast array of skateable wall space into such a small area. The thought of 45 invited riders descending on Waterloo’s Old Vic Tunnels on Saturday to detonate the first official jam session in here was finally a reality – and it did not disappoint. The majority of the invited guests had never skated this beast before, but they burnt it to the ground and left a legacy that will remembered for years.
Whether you made it down there or viewed it from the live feed, watching this lot battle it out in open jam sessions to pick up the 10,000€ on offer was simply amazing. There were too many highlights and obvious notable mentions: Mason Merlino’s front blunt and Alain Goikoetxea’s fakie 5-0 on the same vert wall, Giorgio Zattoni‘s ollies into monster frontside smiths in the deep end, Robin Bolian and Daan Van Der Linden’s overall energy and creative trickery – oh, and talking of trickery, it was an honour to see John Magnusson’s skills grace this tunnel. His skating is incredible to see in the flesh and witness the fastest feet in the business. With people flying in from the USA, Spain, France, Belgium, Sweden and other European countries, the Great British presence was there to welcome our visitors with open arms. OGs such as Andy Scott, Sean Goff and Lucian Hendricks were present and shredding alongside Benson, Kris Vile, Alex Hallford, Reese Johnson, Carl Wilson, Rob Smith, Ross McGouran, Manhead, Trevor Johnson and so many more. It may have been a freak 23′ outside, but the real heat was underground in this gaff derived from this lot. What a sesh!
Thanks to Vans for hosting this for us, to Danny Wainwright, Justin Sydenham, Wingy, Seth Curtis, Dan Cates and Jacob Sawyer for judging, and not to forget Mark Churchill and Joe Habgood for ripping everyone apart on the mic. Good banter lads! I’ve probably missed people, and tricks, so apologies in advance as i’m still dying from a force 8 hangover as I type this. The evidence from this debauchery is live below in official edit and enjoy these exclusive photos shot for us by Maksim Kalanep. Thanks to everyone involved.
Cates took a break from his Butt Weekend updates on insta to judge this one.
He spent his afternoon watching men’s backsides instead.
Chav Dan took the dough in 2012 and was back for more for the Lovenskate fam.
And he’s still smelling the glove.
Mason Merlino flew in from California and ripped this place apart. Animal blunt steez, Oregon style.
Ross McGouran had a great sesh but took home the best swellbow of the day as a present. It was like seeing a hamster sitting inside a duck egg.
Park ranger Rob Smith has grown with this bowl and knows it better than most.
Trademark moves from Death’s Northern pro went down all afternoon and into the finals.
Lyon’s Robin Bolian is relentless for a 15 year old and one to watch out for. Remember the name.
Thanks to all 7 artists who exhibited gore in the gallery, ‘Walk Among Us’. Incredible work went into this from all of them.
Nassim Guammaz took best Frankenstein shadow of the day. Truly awesome ATV.
Some of the best shit that went down was Off The Wall. The first to name this man in the facebook comments below wins the internet.
Trevor Johnson took many a scooby snack.
When Giorgio Zattoni grinds, you can hear it a street away.
Marc Churchill was bang on form with the psycho banter…
“Insert your own quote here. Best one wins the internet”
Dogger in thought as the session explodes…
Even Lee Blackwell graced us with his presence. It’s time to run that prison interview…
McGouran’s speed and thought process is one we all crave for.
Blink and you will miss him.
Always good to see Carl Wilson pottering about on a warm Saturday afternoon.
Nothing stale about this Creature. Wait until you see the party pics though, he had one hell of an outfit!
And you know he always brings the crack to the party.
Alain Goikoetxea brought his own man hammers to this hellride. Top tool box full of radness.
Strike that…
Classic Nicky Geurrero in the house!
Bullet and I had a little coping wager on the winner and went home with the Queen.
The judges called Daan Van Der Linden for 1st place, Mason Merlino in 2nd and Alain Goikoetxea took 3rd. Well deserved.
Beers were on this lot tonight.
This smile says it all. Thanks to everyone involved in making this happen.
Follow us on instagram, facebook, twitter and tumblr to be social and tag your own photos with #crossfirehalloweenmassacre. The footage from the official edit will be embedded into this article as soon as it drops.
Watch all the action from the House of Vans live…
The annual Halloween edit from the Majer crew in the US is live with Jason Park dressed as a fairy, Ninja’s, Superman and many more getting tech at their local park. Pick a winner.
Lifeblood ripper Cody Lockwood has dropped a killer part from the Service For The Sick full length in time for Halloween.
There’s so much amazing footage in here filmed on huge transitions, in bowls and ditches, to kinked rails and more on the streets. All terrain shredding should always be appreciated and this hell fest has the lot.
Skate Edit of the Week for us. Enjoy.
Bonus footage from Brad Cromer‘s Outliers part for Transworld has been posted today by Chris Thiessen. Imagine if you had footage like this that didn’t make the cut? Masterful once again from the Krooked ripper.
Last Friday I found myself packed into a skatepark full of skateboarders drinking and cheering to the third installment from the Get Lesta crew. It was the premiere of Callun Loomes’ ‘G3T’, his new DVD, released this week, that packs in over an hour of great skating featuring a number of heavy hitters from across the Midlands.
Following a lively intro montage fueled by Eddie Murphy’s ‘Party All The Time’ tune, James Bush kicks off the show in style with the first part and unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, this should come as no surprise. The brilliant eighties soundtrack fits perfectly with his questionably good dance moves and incredible technical skating and great pace. Without giving away too much, Bush executes perfect nollie late flips, ghetto birds and switch front boards (on handrails) – but nothing can prepare you for his ender which can only be described as an absolute banger. The baton is then passes over to Eric Thomas, who doesn’t slow down. Eric graces us with tricks on huge hubbas and wall tight handrails but also ticks all the other boxes with his fast and raw style to heighten the hype.
Coventry’s Lucas Healey continues the rampage. The inclusion of bowl footage really emphasises his ability to skate anything and everything. A highlight trick was the nollie late flip 180 – a trick not typically seen. At eighteen he is definitely one to watch for the future. Next up is Mike Simmons, a key component of the Leicester skate scene who brings perfectly executed frontside 360’s and heelflip variations to another solid part. He is, perhaps, one of the few skaters that can actually make an airwalk look great, especially across big gaps.
Midlands’ finest, Kris Vile, once again delivers another top quality part. Well and truly cemented into the British skate scene, he shows no signs of taking his foot off the pedal – and why would he? Blessing us with switch crooks on handrails and stupidly big gaps, Vile’s sick ender leads nicely into Matt Clarke‘s footage and left everyone in the premiere with a smile on their face. Everyone knows that Clarke kills it behind the camera, however, when put on the other side of the lens, he lays down some amazing stuff to deliver a solid part. Victoria park locals, Shehzad Jaffer and Shumba King have a joint section that’s nothing short of stylish, followed by Will Golding, who reminds us that his technical skating knows no limits and can be executed in any stance.
The friends montage includes a a few of the Milk team but also draws attention to local home-brewed talent such as Finley Kirkby and Jim Spencer. There are plenty more faces featured here too, reminding us just how far the Get Lesta crew has expanded and remained as tight as ever.
Kelley Dawson and Luke McManus also share a part as their finessed style certainly compliments each other well. Powerhouse, Joe Marks (fresh out of the gym) gets straight down to business, popping beautifully high nollies and switch ollies over and down anything in his path. The penultimate part goes to Mark Stern, but I don’t want to drop any spoilers apart from that he has filmed the most legit inward heel manny you’ll probably ever see – it doesn’t even scratch the surface of how good his part is.
Curtains were always going to be saved for something special and Charlie Munro stepped up to the challenge across two songs-worth of pure Munro destruction. Effortlessly nollie-ing onto handrails, Charlie’s casual but precise lines ends G3T with footage that can be simply described as mind-blowing.
Get Lesta’s latest production is a true independent skateboard video that won’t even take up a spot in your skate DVD collection – as it’ll be playing on repeat for ages. It’s also most likely give you a strong urge to leave your front door for a skate too. It’s out now on DVD in your local skate shop or order it online for about £10. You will not regret it.
Tim Hines
Karim Bakhtaoui showcases his trademark road gap knowledge, massive pop and ledge skills in this Piff Sticks promo today. Piff are looking for a shop distributor out there right now so if you are keen or know someone hooked up then contact them.