france
Let's jet over to France with Mike
McGill for the European championships
in Rouen, Not but a half hour from famed
Normandy Beach where D-Day was
declared by stormtrooping aflied forces of
World War II. (That was back in the
forties for some of you whose fathers are
even too young to remember).
Now to put things in perspective we
can't come right out and say the ramp is
bio, perfect, state of the art or killer. As a
Claus Grabke
IMAN
Last month we called him Burner, it's actually Robby Butner, either way, he
burns up ramps when he skates.
Danny Webster,
contorted spectation
PH
OCT. 13-14
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
ROUEN, FRANCE
matter of fact, at 12 feet wide (or 3
meters, something like that) with nine
foot transitions just to vert and sections
of several broomstick handles as coping,
McGill couldn't say any of those things
either. Especially after he held on to a
540 McTwist, so as not to hang up on the
vertless, and ended up mctwisting his
knee. But that's not the point and thank-
fully Michael is recovering nicely, tanx!
No, the point is this: the ramp is located
in a recreation park facility, and
sanctioned by the government. Each
year the Euro champs are held in a
different country and this year the French
Skateboard Association held the hosting
honors. The whole thing was adminis
tered by Dr. Skate (Bob Merrilow), a sixty-
year old priest with a compassion for
skating, who saw to it that the skaters
received restaurant prepared meals and
accommodations in the local youth
hostel.
The skaters: Europe's best amateurs..
many of them ranking right up with-
America's best. Claus Grabke, the much
talked of contortionist from Germany,
Bruno Peters from Belgium, the girls love
him; Shane Rouse, Englands' crown
prince of freestyle; Danny Webster, back
in the saddle after being sidelined with an
injury. Plus a whole lot more.
Mike managed to stay five days at the
site and was later joined by stateside
counterparts John Lucero and Big Steve
Keenan, who had been knocking around
Europe for months before. As a matter of
fact, our photoman Keenan, was found.
wandering, bewildered, through the
streets of Rouen by McGill and Claus
Grabke. They, of course, were just
looking for something to eat. Lucky for
Steve, after 20 hours on the train he had
no idea where he was.
As for the championships, well it all
started with a parade down the main
street of Rouen. Everybody was bussed.
into town, given a flag of their country and
told to take a hike, Olympic style, while
their countries' anthems were played."
Lucero and Keenan thought it was so
much fun that they paraded with five
Martin Van Doren with a securely clutched
Inside mute.
different countries before it was all over. Nicki Guerrero, looking a lot like, well... you
Oh, the contest. Well a quick run down
of the one, two, three, gives you an idea
of the diversity of world skating. In the
Open Freestyle division it was Fren-
chmen Jean Marc Vissit and Pierre
Andre in first and second while Shane
Rouse slipped to third. Over on the.
slalom course Swedes Jani Soderhall
and Martin Willners were dominating
despite bad conditions
On the ramp things were a bit slippery
due to the misty weather so what are ya'
gonna do. Well the Dutch pour coca-cola
on their ramps for extra grab. "It gots all-
over everything," says Mike. When the
coke settled Claus had "Grabkied" first
while Danish Skater Nick Guerrero
ripped second. In third Sean Goff from
England and fourth, Martin Van Doren,
Germany. Also present and skating for it.
Robby Butner (Am Dam), Bruno Peters
(Belgium), Danny Webster (Eng.) and
Massimo Van der Plas (Amsterdam).
On behalf of McGill and the rest of the
skaters we'd like to thank the French
Skateboard Association, Dr. Skate,
Benz, Bruno, Christian Bastaien, and at
the French skaters. Ciao for now.
take a guess
Master of ceremonies, Mike McGill,
enjoying the French air.
japan
From page 25
GOING WITH THE FLOW
IN TOKYO
by Rodney Mullen
There are so many people in the
streets that it becomes impossible to
drive a car. On to a store demo in
Harajaki and it was no different. There is
no room in the streets to just practice. I
only skate a few minutes before the flow
of street people break through the circle
of skate people surrounding me. There
are a lot of people in Tokyo.
Steve found some new toys in the
shops, a lens and a video camera. After-
dinner I feel energetic and skate at this
sort of public gathering place. Every one
is real loud and energetic as they gather..
around. Some start to throw
money...that's nice.
SKATE LESSONS AT YOYOGI
8/25 7:00 AM We wake up to the
abrupt ring of Eugene's call. In minutes
we were crammed packed into a train
with our tons of skate equipment. Noxt"
stop Yoyogi skatepark. It's not exactly
what Steve imagined but better than
anything so far. One huge steel halfpipe,
one smaller steel pipe, a pool and small
freestyle area. The Japanese skaters in
the park were great Shino, Kame and
Sumo all ripped. After a while I'm off to a
public park for a demo and am surprised
at the number of good freestylists there.
Later, in Eugene's room Steve has his
new video camera and is trying to make it
look as used as possible for customs.
MURASAKI CUP CONTEST
AT KIYOSI
8/26 Back in Tokyo we go straight to the
skate park and straight into a demo first-
thing, no warm-up. Steve is incredible.
He handplants on the extension of the big
halfpipe, his hand about two feet above
the lip and there's no roll-out deck or
anything to catch him if he went over.
The contest went real well, Japanese
skaters go for it so much though that
there were a few injuries. The crowd is so
much better than we were used to,
pushing the skaters much harder than in
the U.S.
During the last few days we weren't
quite as busy and had a chance to check-
out some of the culture that surrounded
us. Like Steve said Tokyo is a fashion
city, every different style from punk to
rockabilly to new wave to heavy metal.
You name it they dress like it. Discos are
big here, so is surfing
LAST DAY SIONARA
8/27 We demoed at a department store
where we met up with ex-freeformer
skate star, Bryan Beardsley who now
lives in Japan teaching English. That
night was special as the Japanese
skaters threw a party for us and we said
farewell to all the friends we had made
there. We both agreed it was the nicest
country we had ever visited. The people.
are so kind. After the party I did some
demos at the train station for fun.
Everyone seemed to have a good time, I
know we did.
We would like to say thank you to all
the Japanese skaters, Hasco and
Murasaki Sports. We hope to go back
again soon. Sionara!!
27