Before long, I'd made contact with Peter
Kiss, a Czechoslovakian native who would
later organize a series of skate demos that
included myself and English freestyle ex-
pert Shane Rouse. Shane was beside him-
self upon learning of the project, showing
much enthusiasm.
Now, Czechoslavakia isn't a country like
yours and mine...to get in you must ac-
quire a visa, and that's not too easy ol' boy.
For me it was in fact pretty hard. I had to
drive to the Czech embassy myself (a three
hour excursion, mind you, two days before
my scheduled Nov. 20th departure date)
just to find the embassy closed on that par-
ticular day. I wasn't impressed to say the
least, but still repeated the drive the next
day and payed my 10 dollars for the visa.
I was now officially allowed to go into this
Eastern block state. The whole night I didn't
sleep. Not that I was nervous, but I had so
many things to do. There was no time for
shut-eye. The next morning I left early for
Düsseldorf Airport, but not early enough.
Picture me running, with all my luggage,
through the different halls of this giant build-
ing, trying to find my gate. I had given up
all my hopes of ever leaving for Czecho-
slovakia when all of a sudden there it was,
Gate A-81. Sweatin' like a pig I checked in
and was soon flying toward my final des-
tination... Prague, the capital city of
Czechoslovakia.
I arrived at 11:00 in the morning and as
I stepped out of the plane I was greeted by
the shouts of approximately 20 skaters. I'm
stoked. I then proceeded in a direction the
policeman in grey dictated to me. I must
wait for half an hour on a staircase in the
midst of 134 more passengers. I then have
to change 60 dollars for the 6 days of my
stay. After the final body-check I can, for
the first time in my life, touch real Czecho-
slovakian skateboarders. An hour later
Shane arrives and is greeted with roses
and a kiss from a Czech girl...could this
be the start of a romance? Well, we'll see...
Our small group, consisting of Ludek
Vasa, Peter Kiss (our tour guides) Shane,
his new-found female fan and I, headed
towards Prague to eat, rest and meet up.
with other people. It has to be said that
cars over there look pretty funny. They're
all driving the same type, a "LADA," which
is a very small and weak looking object.
Anyway it does its job and we soon find
ourselves at Ludek's place, where Shane
and female fan make actual plans for
marriage!
It is here that I see my first self-moulded
trucks. They're quite heavy.
During the 3 hour drive to BRNO, a big
town further east, I noticed that there
seemed to be quite a lot of advertising in
this country. All the light-signs are written
in Kirillic lettering so I ask Peter what they
advertise for, and find out they actually say
things like, "For peace and liberty with our
Soviet brothers!", "Work hard and be hap-
py!", "Communism is great!", etc. As one
of Peter's friends puts it, "It is O.K. when
companies advertise for their products, but
when the state advertises, there must be
something wrong." How true... Anyway, we
stopped at a parking place and had the
time of our lives teaching the Czechs what
streetstyle is.
We arrive in BRNO in the dark and many
people are waiting for us. The ramp looks
mean. It is 14 feet high with two feet of vert
leading to over-vert (95 degrees), 12 feet
wide and has 11 feet of flat bottom. I notice
there is no platform on it and the whole
thing is made of metal.
Shane starts ripping up the concrete with
some hot freestyle lines. The people are
freaking out, they've never seen anything
like it before. I decide to give the ramp a
quick transition check and put on my pads.
The ramp is scary. I do a couple of tricks,
but suddenly hang up on the platformless.
lip and fall down all the way to the flat part
of the ramp. I can't move or breathe...my
right hand and my knee hurts, but nothing
is major.
Later, we decide to head to the local
youth-hostage and meet the rest of the
skaters. We arrive, check into a room,
Shane gives more freestyle demos and
makes even closer contact with his lady. I
talk with the Czechs about their country
and their problems getting skate equipment.
You can't buy skate stuff in Czechos
lovakia and it is impossible to order it since
their currency is worthless in Western coun-
tries, so they make their own boards and
mold their own trucks. The wheels they get
are from rollerskates, as used for roller
hockey. Czech skaters usually skate with-
out or with only a few pads. Very few skaters
over there have "real" pads and boards from
America, which they get from relatives who
live abroad. We talk and goof around until
very late in the night or rather morning.
The next day starts with a great breakfast
and the brutal fact that my hand is still
aching too much, so I decide not to skate.
Shane, however, does skate, almost too
The BRNO crowd contemplates the things they've
never seen before.
good to be believed. He is a real show
talent.
During the first day of these Czechos-
lovakian championships we witness on-
lookers up to 4000. The whole thing starts
off with slalom and high jump eliminations.
After a mid-day break the finals of these
disciplines followed. Ludek Vasa sets a new
high jump record with 1,60m. (about 5% ft.).
Later that evening the freestyle competition
is held. Tomy Potushek wins easily.
In the pauses, Shane demos and blows
minds. After the freestyle the competitors
head back to the youth hostage. We have
to stay at the contest site because our car
key is broken. With a couple of tricks we
eventually get it going and arrive at the
hostage. As my hand still hurts pretty much,
Peter Kiss gives me medical aid.
While Shane sweet-talks with his female
friend I fall asleep. Two hours later some
weird characters wake me up and make
me come out of my room and party with
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