Category: Skateboarding News

The premier UK Distribution company, I-Five has been busy for the New Year and announces the arrival of plenty of new faces to the team.

Firstly, media mogul Toby Batchelor has taken up the position of Team manager for all I-Five companies, whilst maintaining the role of Rep for Duffs and Innes.

Elsewhere, Kevin McKeon a.k.a. meanwhile Kev has caught everyone’s attention as he adds Karma Skateboards to his new list of sponsors. And finally, Rob ‘Womp’ Smith will be rolling even faster thanks to his FKD bearings.

www.fkdbearings.com

Keeping it sweet in Switzerland- and taking full advantage of the mild winter weather wafting through the Alps – 5th District have loads of sick videos for you to download from their site, notably the new Summer Holiday edit (35mb).

More good news to get Heidi singing is the addition of local upstart Jan Hofer to the team.

www.5thdistrictskate.com

You might remember a while back, a review for Modern Love, a Canadian production well worth watching.

Well, the man behind that is a staple to the scene and he’s about to drop another big gem- The Green Apple family tree 1992 to 2007, a 2 disc boxset. Ryan McGuigan is his name, and this is his promo.

www.ryanmcguigan.com

Whilst everyone rushes to get one last skate in Barcelona before Macba falls into the sea, those in the know head further north to Europe which boasts more than its fair share of untapped spots.

Well the capital of France just leaped up to the top of the league table when the city unveiled plans for the 3545m2 Espace Glisse de Paris a.k.a. Paris’ new skatepark.

After many heated debates, re-thinks, re-adjustments and set-backs, the plans are done and a finishing date is set for end of 2007. Situated in the Stade de Fillettes of the 18th arrondissement, this fun-zone boasts a massive and modern street course, an array of indoor and outdoor bowls, a beginners area, bleachers, pretty girls strolling by, the best coffee and croissants – the works!

skateparkdeparis.fr

The Belgians have an acute sense of humour, but they also have a sick skate scene that comes together as a community and makes things happen regardless.

The B&W Zine that is Life Support are hosting the first ever Uphill Skate Contest in the Provinciehuis Carpark in Leuven on Saturday 20th January from 2pm.

Be there or be square!

www.myspace.com/lifesupportzine

If you thought it was hard enough travelling a few miles to skate, imagine what it would be like if there was only one ramp in your entire country!

Thanks to the initiative of one Ugandan and one South African, Jack and Shael, Uganda had it’s one and only skate ramp built in April 2006, in Kitintale, a working class area of Kampala, Uganda’s capital. With one ramp and two donated boards between them, Uganda had its first skate scene!

Today, the community needs support in raising funds to ship donated material such as boards and protective gear into the country, as well as pay to pave a section next to the brick and mortar miniramp to enable some street skating to go down.

For more information about how to help, visit their website : http://www.terriblyfabulous.com/kitintalecontents.html

Cheers to Cliché for pointing this out!

Crossfire wasn’t the only group to celebrate Christmas. Unit 23 Skatepark in Dumbarton, Scotland, held their own festive jam and it went right off! The overall winner for the day was Shaun Allison.

Scottish lensman, Perry Kruger got down and dirty and came up trumps with this footage of the day’s skating.

Part 1
Part 2

www.unit23skatepark.co.uk

A new video is about to drop from the Northern shores of Sweden entitles Skeleven. If you are not familiar with Scandinavian skaters and the ripping scene they have going on up there, I suggest you grab a copy of Neighbours or visit Tackyworld.com .

In any case Skeleven is going to drop soon so you can freak out on the stylish skills of Johan Florell, Ola Löwbeer, Koffe Hallgren, Daniel Spängs, Günes Özdogan (switch flip ph. Micke Johansson), Jonas Dalesjö, Henry Viitanen, Erik Petterson, Danijel Todorovic, Petter and Christian Ingelhammar, Alvaro from Malaga and many more.

Watch a couple of trailers here and here.

Damn son! Skateboarding done gone global, yo! Peep these promos hand-picked from around the world. Repping Slovakia, the Slatna Skejta skate crew are busy busting out. Filmed by Kornholio, featuring the S.O.S. team, Jaka “yoc” Hrepevnik, Jurik “Kornholio” Turnsek, Matej “Strah” Strasck and introducing Neso.

PJ did it, so why not someone else. Peter Vlad and his crew from Arizona jump on the wagon with style. Filmed by Dave Rosenbaum and Buster O-Shea, featuring Peter Vlad, John Motta, Jaws, Robbie Brockel, Jaystay, Evan & Spencer Okeson, Nick Fiorini, Brandon Walker, Ryan Lay, Justin Yoder, Jeff Trish, Aric Blattner, CTC & more.

The SPF Media guys do the South African scene proud. They’re busy gathering footy for the new video entitled Project Mayhem, featuring Deon Fourie, Simon Stipch, Christi Wiehahn, Alan Marola, a friends section, Philly (cliché flow), Alan Adams, and the Toy Machine comp winners. Read about it here, and in the meantime peep Christi Wiehahn‘s part from SPF TV video magazine.

www.pvwhl.com

Probably the most aesthetic company out there, the Sovereign Sect that is Alien Workshop has launched a new website to accompany the build up towards their forth audio-visual experience. Good shit.

Meanwhile, the Habitat team expands with the addition of another pro to their ranks- Raymond Molinar.

www.awsfilmworks.com