Crew Feature

Easy Riders - a Polish longboard movie by Elwira Iwanowska feat. the Szopa Team

Easy Riders – a Polish longboarding movie

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Easy Riders is a medium length longboard movie, as the second of its kind, originating straight from the heart of the Polish longboarding scene.

It all started when Leszek Brzozowski, a polish longboarder, started working in the Szopaszopa skate shop and soon after wanted to form a group of individuals with the same passion and drive to promote downhill skateboarding in Poland.

The Szopa team now includes 10 skaters from different disciplines who see longboarding as a way of life rather than just a pass time activity.

And because of this attitude they support the core scene with dedicating their time to sharing their passion and experience with others who want to join in on the fun.

Easy Riders is a collection of hundreds of shots, dozens of tricks, slides and raw runs that Elwira Iwanowska hand picked and organised into an almost 30 minute long edit.

Behind all of the runs and higher speeds, behind tricks that were mastered in hundreds of attempts, stands something far more solid than any bone broken on this path.
It is the passion that liberates, the unlimited freedom that comes from accomplishing each and every goal regardless if it’s a faster, more technical hill or new, more demanding and painful to learn trick. Elwira Iwanowska

Easy Riders is primarily a story about passion, adventure and dedication. It is also a true inspiration for anyone who is just starting his or her longboard adventure. At the same time Elwira describes it as a reminder about what the board really is and what it’s all about.

Although it is not a high end production with 4K imagery and drone shots, Easy Riders presents the soul of longboarding and takes us back to the time when crews were more inviting to newcomers.

To complete the recording of the whole riding season, Szymon Stergiadis (Sterru) provided his original music, which creates a soundtrack that unleashes the unique style of every rider featured in the video.

Edit:
Elwira Iwanowska
Music:
Steru / Szymon Stergiadis

The #szopateam members are:
Wojtek Alfawicki,
Leszek Brzozowski,
Bartosz Hałasek,
Patryk Jakieła,
Marcin Piwnik,
Mateusz Wiącek,
Maciek Wojciechowski,
Mateusz Wojciechowski,
Wojciech Wojciechowski and
Bartosz Zawadka.

The riders featured in the movie represent the following brands:
Alternative Longboards
Luca Longboards
Brygada Kasztan
Longboard Mania
Tuck Brothers
Longboat
Volante Wheels Poland
golongboard.pl

Longboard Magazine visitors: Jakob Grasmann and Philip Tankarian

Longboard Magazine visitors: Jakob Grasmann and Philip Tankarian

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Last week we had the pleasure to host two rad skaters from the Banana Longboarding crew; Jakob Grasmann (Moonshine MFG) and Philip Tankarian (Layback Freiburg Skateshop). Together with our local shredder Benjamin Sabol (KebbeK Skateboards) they spent three days banging some of our sweetest home spots.

Jakob’s and Philip’s original plan was to travel to Italy but for some reason that didn’t work out and they decided to visit us instead. We were stoked to hear that they would like to spend some time with us and discover what else Slovenia has to offer besides the Bear’s Guts.

Only a few days earlier we acquired a new Panasonic Lumix GH5 camera and this was a great opportunity to do a few test shots with some great young talent.

Philip Tankarian coming in sideways as seen in the video
Philip Tankarian coming in sideways as seen in the video

Watching Benjamin skate with Jakob and Philip was really something special and I know that he was extra excited too because usually he doesn’t get to skate with other people that often besides myself. Slovenia has a very small downhill skateboarding scene.

On the first day we hit one of the steepest hills in the area to warm up. Short run with seven corners, the smoothest pavement around and a 22% grade made a great first impression on the guys.

We played it safe and skated with the radio stations. That provided some extra comfort and a sense of security, so the runs were fully sent one after another. The guys totally ripped it.

Jakob Grasmann and Benjamin Sabol
Jakob Grasmann and Benjamin Sabol

After a bunch of drops we moved to another spot in the area where we stayed until the sunset. Compared to the first one, this spot has pretty much the same surface but it’s less intense. The guys liked the more relaxed runs as the first spot took its toll.

In the evening, we were pretty smashed; the guys from skating, me from filming and driving, Nadia from taking photos and our dog Era from the heat. It was a great day but we were even more excited about the next day…

Philip Tankarian and Benjamin Sabol entering a corner on a 8 km long mountain road.
Philip Tankarian and Benjamin Sabol entering a corner on a 8 km long mountain road.

The next morning we took off a bit earlier so that the guys could skate a nice mellow run for a couple of times and warm up before hitting the 8 kilometres long mountain road we had scheduled down on the coast.

Philip Tankarian, Jakob Grasmann and Benjamin Sabol lining up the slides for the shot.
Philip Tankarian, Jakob Grasmann and Benjamin Sabol lining up the slides for the shot.

It’s needless to point out that they enjoyed this spot the most, but I had to anyway. Narrow as f***, smooth surface and top speed close to 70kmh. This track is the No Man’s Land’s “smaller brother from another mother”.

Me (Mihael Zadravec) getting ready to shoot a scene.
Me (Mihael Zadravec) getting ready to shoot a scene.

As the traffic started picking up at around 15 p.m., we stopped to film on one section and once we were done we moved to a spot on the other side of the valley.

Jakob Grasmann and Benjamin Sabol
Jakob Grasmann and Benjamin Sabol

Steep repaved and banked hairpins with a smooth tarmac were just perfect for getting a couple of shots during the “magic hour”. You can see that in the video as well…

The forecast for the last day was not so great, but we decided to give it a try anyway. We felt lucky as only half of the country had rain, so we just decided to go to a spot which was in the other half, but as soon as we got there it started raining.

Jakob and Philip had to catch a bus in the afternoon and we only had 3 hours left to skate. I took a look at the “rain radar image” and was happy to see that it hasn’t been raining on a spot which was only half-hour drive away.

Jakob Grasmann sliding through a steep hairpin as seen in the video.
Jakob Grasmann sliding through a steep hairpin as seen in the video.

It was a spot that I had marked to checkout for a while now, but never made it there. Once we arrived, the excitement went off the charts. The road was dry and packed with steep drops into even steeper hairpins with some sweepers in between. A real gem.

The guys had some runs there and I got another chance to tryout some new shots and angles as seen in the video…We couldn’t get enough of it so we ended the session fairly late but we managed to get to the bus just minutes before it left.

So yeah…We had a great time together and it was really nice to hang out with Jakob and Philip…I hope that they will return sometimes soon. If not, we’ll meet at KnK again anyway 😉

Peace out my brothas!

Riders featured in the video
Philip Tankarian (Layback Freiburg Skateshop)
Jakob Grasmann (Moonshine MFG)
Benjamin Sabol (KebbeK Skateboards)

Film & edit
Mihael Zadravec (Longboard Magazine)

Photography
Nadia Hozić (Longboard Magazine)

Music
FM Attack – Sleepless Nights

Team Heckmeck – Winter Gathering

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Here we are, only few days until the last day of winter and the first day of spring. Six days later, on March 26th, something even better will happen…

We will switch to “standard time” and move our clocks one hour forward. Actually, our digital devices will most probably take care of it on its own, we’re covered 🙂 What matters the most is that we will get in that extra hour for skating in the afternoons, life will be good again.

Team Heckmeck dudes from Germany are ready to move on as well and wave the cold times goodby, at least for the next 6 months or so…

I caught up with Daniel Lenz via Skype the other day…Him and Moritz Dolainsky live near Munich, while the other two Heckmeck guys, Nils Bodenheimer and Jan Brebeck live near Mainz.

That’s like 400 km apart and 3 to 4 hours drive, but the guys get together to skate, film and have fun as often as possible, mostly on weekends.

Heckmeck’s latests videos, including “Winter Gathering”, prove it; As soon as there was a dry spot on their favorite runs, they went out and sent it…

Related: See more videos from Team Heckmeck

When it was the worst, they packed the stuff and travelled to Italy, down to Lake Garda and even Tuscany, to meet their new friends whom they’ve met at KnK Longboard Camp last year.

They spent time, were hosted by and shared the runs with Andrea Pedrotti, Degenerous Crew and Sborello Team.

As Daniel said; Italy is a big thing right now…Near the Adriatic sea, it offers nice winter downhill skateboarding conditions, especially down in Tuscany and around Genoa.

In case you get inspired to do a similar trip yourself, make sure to get in touch with the local crews and find out where it’s OK and safe to skate. Hopefully you can meet them and skate together, or even get a place to crash for a night or two…

Community spirit lives on…So good.

When I asked about Team Heckmeck’s plans for this season beside the usual shenanigans, Daniel explained that the crew wants to produce more videos that will show their skateboarding lifestyle as well as to expand the variety of action shot angles.

For the travelling part…Daniel and Moritz plan to hit the KnK Week #2 and then probably do “a small tour” through Italy, Switzerland and France, while Nils plans to skate at Alpenrauschen and race the Red Bull No Paws Down during the first week of KnK.

Fun times ahead, for sure. Stay tuned!

Shoutout to Jan Stein for filming with the car, Olson&Hekmati and ::asphaltinstrumente::.

SektorF Skating Crew Feature

SektorF skating – Give back to the community and spread the stoke

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If you’ve ever been a participant at a longboard event, especially a freeride, then you had the pleasure of enjoying some quality time with likeminded people with the same passion for our beloved sport. But why do so only on organised events, when you can do it on a day to day basis?

Meet the SektorF Skating Crew

A crew from the Bavarian forest in Germany, SektorF Skating are setting a good example for everybody in our community by promoting and growing the sport in their region. Although the scene there is quite small and involve mostly young people, that doesn’t kill their stoke.

SektorF Skating Crew

SektorF Skating Crew, from left to right :
Markus Penzkofer, Christoph Lipp, Julia Morgenstern, Richard Enzmann, Lukas Nürnberger, Philipp Hastreiter, Stefan Hari John, Moritz Wein and Nikolas Raith.

Their recent adventures involved bringing back a small skate park to their hometown, organising three skate festivals on their local tow lift and an outlaw race.

As that is only the beginning, they also plan on doing skate courses and an outlaw series, similar to the one in Freiburg, this autumn. If everything goes as planned, their agenda for the nearest future involves also a proper race next year or in the years to come.

Check out their latest video with Christoph Lipp, German junior champion for 2015 and team rider for Talwärts Boardshop Zwiesel, G.O.D. and Icone.

We have to give some major kudos to the crew as they are really doing something they love and spread the stoke amongst other skaters or skaters to be. Their mentality is that everybody can do it, so they do it too in their region.

SektorF Skating Crew at skatepark

The fact: SektorF skating crew got their name by a former military reconnaissance complex, used during the cold war on the mountain called “Hohenbogen”.

If you wish to get to know them a little better, then visit their Facebook page, give them a like and be on the lookout for their next adventure. Also check out their videos on Vimeo, pics on Instagram and get stoked!