20th May 2007
Images by Andrew Vost, Zac and Josh Knox
On Saturday 19th June, Cantelowes skate park in London hosted the UK qualifier for the Quiksilver Bowlriders. The event was electric thanks to a fantastic seletion of established and upcoming names shredding the fresh crete that opened just over 8 weeks ago.
Duffs and Consolidated ripper Ben Raemers will be joining the elite on the plane to Malmo on June 9th where the finals will be held at the incredible Stapelbäddsparken. His energy, lines and constant bag of gnarly tricks such as inverts, airs, lip tricks, tech steez and grinds gave him his deserved ticket. Ben has just recovered from an injury and to be back on form like this should get him anywhere he wants to go in skateboarding. You have to raise a glass to this kid.
Crossfire Clothing rider Kevin McKeon was picked in a deserved 2nd place with firm, bolshi lines that included lien tails, back lips, bonelesses, airs, cradle burn and transfers but he must have just nicked his spot from Sam Beckett who came 3rd. Sam is a Globe sponsored rider who has cleaned up on most vert jams over the last year. His attitude to skating is second to none and his endless trick rate can leave you stunned. He pulled a kickflip fakie off the vert extention and so much more it’s a joke. The UK has a hidden talent here that is about to be unleashed to the rest of the world, watch this guy fly in the next year or so.
Scottish skater Benson proved he is yet another face that the scene will be seeing more of alongside his travel buddy Div Adams. The mohawked ginger machine ate this park for brreakfast and then washed it down with Motorhead as his request at the after party. He deservedly won the best trick comp with an ollie over the roll in to FS Five 0 on the vert wall and then backside disastered the cradle! Napalm Jeff will be stoked. Sickness..
But that was not all. Another face we keep seeing purely on merit is Chris Oliver. The Blind Skateboards shredder blindside kickflipped to fakie over the channel the opposite way to how most people take the line. It took a while but as ever he was determined and bloody well took it once the comp had finished! With combinations of huge kickflip melons and pounding lines, Oliver’s name once again reaches your doorstep.
A session from Quiksilver riders Daniel Cardone and Javier Mendizibal went down well with the crowd. Cardone really knows how to fly, no wonder Christian Hosoi has a vested interest in his wings. Awadh Mohammed was back for more once again. His technical prowess is building perfectly as he gets older, expect his steez to rise further this year. Brighton’s Stevie Thompson was also amongst the names on everyones lips with a sick beanplant on the cradle and his usual self styled madness on a board. He was joined by Sparrow Knox who has a mean backside air. UK skate legend Pete Dossett still rules the coping with his hands and his trucks. It’s always amazing to see him ride transition with his grace. Sorry to leave others out here but many more local up and comers from the UK who skated this place to death made this event just as special as those who have been mentioned above. It was a great day out for everyone not to mention the running commentary from Big Bob – Birmingham’s finest.
With the weekend of June 9th coming fast, this was just a taster of what is to come and you can gaurantee that Crossfire will be representing Europes online skate mag community in Sweden to cover just how well Ben Raemers gets on.
You can see more on this event at www.bowlriders.com
We just got a mail from friends at 
While the southerners are wetting their whistle to the 
Duffs and Consolidated ripper Ben Raemers will be joining the elite on the plane to Malmo for the Quiksilver Bolwriders finals after winning the qualifier at Cantelowes Skatepark in London.
In honour of Go Skateboarding Day on the 21st June, Nike SB have teamed up with 
Girl and Chocolate Skateboards team riders hit London’s Southbank this Saturday on their EurOK European Tour.
Europe’s biggest skate, surf and music festival is returning to Newquay for it’s 26th year bringing you the best of two prolific pastimes, running from the 6th-12th August.