EUROPEAN MELTDOWN
Do you recall
grabbing in your
pocket for some pesetas
to buy a can of Coke, and to
your horror finding lira, kroner,
drachmas, deutsche marks, wnd you can-
not tell what is what or if you have any money
left at all? What about the time you got has
sled at three different borders in one day by
men in suits with machine guns shouting.
"Passporte Controlle!" in your face?
The European Community of 1992 will gradu-
ally eliminate many of these nightmares. We are
looking at broken trade barriers and easier trav-
el with one passport, one driver's license, one
currency and no border hassles, etc. Your biggest
worry will probably be the language barrier.
Then again, it's not had, since English classes
are mandatory in most Kuropean countries. In
the north, most people speak at least a little
English. In the south, you might have to use a
little sign language.
The following is a quick run-down of the major
skate spots to hit in Europe. The countries are in
random order, so it's up to you to find a line.
Since I'm a good patriot, I'll start the with my
own little country.
DENMARK: The capitol, Copenhagen, is a
must. Go skate Faelledparken, an outdoor public
skatepark, with no fees or regulations, metal
vert and mini ramps, 90-foot concrete mini-ramp
with metal coping, concrete bowl, banks and
street obstacles. Klubben Skatezone in the cen
ter of Copenhagen hosts a mini landscape on the
26 THASHER MAGAZINE
UGH!
fifth floor of a youth club with corners, spines,
three levels and tombstones. Go with a local and
get in free. Lyngby Ramp (the old Helsinge
Ramp) is a good, wide, metal vert ramp. It fea-
tures a channel, extension, escalator and plenty
of grinding room. The public ramp is free, out-
door and very smooth. Then there's the little
oasis Christianin, a city within a city. It usually
has ramps during the summer-check it out.
GERMANY: You have to find the Thomas L.
Punkt Skatepark in Hamburg, an indoor place
with a good mini, bowl with hip, apine, vert and
street obstacles all built by Tim Payne. When in
Hamburg, also visit the Wilhelmburg Brick
Banks (see photos in the November 1991
Thrasher). Monchen Gladbach Action Sports
Dome is one of the newest parks in Germany. It
hosts a huge indoor mini landscape, bowl with
hip and street area. Overall, it's a very up-to-
date park. In Stuttgart you can find a couple of
good ramps (vert and mini) plus a good time
street skating downtown. Münster is home of
the outdoor Munster Skatepark, famous for its
By Søren Aaby
PHOTOS BY BRYCE KANIGHTS
vert bowl with metal coping and super fun snake
run with hips and coping, Titus Warehouse is an
indoor park, vert ramp, mini with a first floor
via vert wall, corner, hips and more minis. Final-
ly, Berlin is the street skate capitol of Germany.
If you're not into street skating, maybe you'll
find a piece of the Wall.
HOLLAND: Skating or not, Amsterdam is a
must. It offers everything, good and bad. Beauti-
ful city, friendly people and good skaters. Hook
up with the locals, they will take you to the
Bridgeramp, Bluebanks and Sandfort.
FRANCE: The capitol, Paris, has some of the
most killer street spots in Europe, such as Le
Trocadero, The Eiffel Tower Basins (Ditch) and
Place de la Concorde. Go to Streetmachine skate
shop on the Lourve Metro stop and hook up.
Don't forget to check out the Sunwatch Monu-
ment, a concrete wave, for gnarly sliders and
such. Lyon is one of the most street skateable
cities in Europe. Everything is smooth cement,
asphalt and marble. Even their bricks are
smooth. There are a bunch of cool locals one of
them might even do your dirty laundry while you
are aut shredding. They also have a rad
skatepark: wide mini with spine, vert ramp and a
good skate area. Find Surplus skate shop and
hook up. The city of Toulouse has probably the
best skatepark in France-a large street area,
great vert ramp and a mini bowled spine struc-
ture. Well worth a visit. Along the Riviera,
Cannes and Nice offer street terrain a la creme,
and in Marseille, they recently opened a full
concrete skatepark on the bench. Seven bowls
connected, from micro to vert, all with metal cop-
ing an absolute skater's paradise. You thought
you could only dream about this.
SWEDEN: One-third up Sweden you hit Stock-
holm, which is basically the center of skating
there. On-and-off good places to skate, both in-
door and outdoor. During the summer, the public
park Summerland is the place to go. Find one of
the Streetstyle skate shops, owned by Per
Holknekt and they'll help you out.
FINLAND: When in Finland, check out the in-
door park in Helsinki. It has all the facilities.
NORWAY: Like Sweden, skating in Norway is
pretty much centered around the capital, Oslo
(slap me if I'm wrong). Oslo is located in the bot-
tom of a fjord, with mountains shooting up on
both sides. Anyway, since skateboarding was
recently legalized in Norway, Oslo has constantly
had two or three indoor skateparks, with plenty.
of minis, vert ramps and street areas. In October
1991, the vert ramp and street area from the
Euro Championship in Copenhagen were
moved to Oslo.
SPAIN: The capitol, Madrid, right in the middle
of Spain, has one of Europe's oldest concrete
skateparks-two enormous bowle, a small keyhole
with vert, a banked reservoir and a giant wooden
vert ramp built by Tim Payne for the 1989 Euro.
Championships. Visit Sessions skate shop, they
will tell you where to go. Bilhan/San Sebastien on
the north coast offers plenty of concrete minis in
weird old skateparks. On the east coast, the city
of Barcelona has plenty of newly-built stuff to
skate. There are two or three public skateparks,
concrete and wood combined. Ask for the distribu-
tor, Now S.A., or the skate shop, Skate Only.
Check out a beach town called Sitges, one hour
south of Barcelona. They have a little skatepark
and the locals will treat you right.
ITALY: In my opinion, Italy is mostly known for
its unknown spots and underground skaters.
They have their own magazine called XXX and
there are good places to skate such as Milan
Skatepark, with an outdoor vert ramp, mini and
plenty of weird street obstacles. Worthy of men-
tion is Ravenna, a beach/tourist town on the
Northwest coast. They have a wooden vert and
mini and cement banks. Talk to the friendly guys
at the local surfskate shop. Rome is good to street
skate and very good for sightseeing. While you
are there, be sure to check out the coliseum.
UNITED KINGDOM: The UK is probably the
biggest of the major skate countries in this
rundown. Therefore, I will let my housemate
Bod Boyle tell you about it. Hugh says:
There are too many spots in the UK to
write about without going on for hours, but
you can find a wide range of terrain to
skate, from first generation skateparks to
bowl/spine complexes of today. The first
thing you should purchase is Rod mag.
which contains a list of many places
to skate in the UK every month. If
you cannot find a copy or cannot
read, you should at least pay a
visit to the south of England.
London is home to many free
public parks, ranging from
the covered banks and street
obstacles of Meanwhile 2, to the
concrete halfpipes, bowls and
banks of Stevenage and Har
row. If you can part with a few
pounds, visit Romford
skatepark, which has bowls,
snake run, pool, mini and vert
ramps. Southsea is within two
hours of London. It has street
obstacles, a mini and vert ramp.
a new pool and old concrete. In
the same distance, we have Leigh on
Sea with tons of mini hip spine bowl
stuff and vert ramp. You might want to
buy a day pass on the trains and see the
south. Northern England and Scotland have
plenty of places to rip. Bury skatepark in
northern England holds the best indoor facili
ty in the land (I think) with a good, solid vert
ramp and minis-great sessions there. If the
weather looks good, travel to Livingston
skatepark in Glasgow, Scotland. It offers a con-
crete pool, halfpipe and plans to expand. Swansea
skatepark in Wales has a big, wide, solid fast
metal ramp and a mini.
If you're thinking of flying overseas soon, do not
hesitate, it's worth it. Summertime means nice
weather, great spots, a big contest series, excel-
lent food, topless beaches and a bunch of good
people to hang with.
Stepping on the gas, Scott Smiley (opposite left) controls
a one-footed five-o grind in Münster's Titus warehouse.
The Euro traveler only has room for the necessities.
Brian Frostad (right) with all the trimmings prior to a
two month adventure.