Malmo 08 One spicy Swedish meatball…
Our globetrotting cohort Filmer Boi delivers the details on the Swedish scene…
The Holy Grail, Christmas, New Years, Mardi Gras, Spring Break, The Playboy Mansion, Lollapalooza, and a little Chuck E Cheese for good measure. If you could throw all this in a blender you would get the 9th Annual Quiksilver Bowlriders, Malmo, Sweden Martini.
Summer Time in Northern Europe, this is a big deal! Its the time you shed the top five to six layers and get out the Maypole, Sunglasses, and put away any Ideas of sleep.
This is also when you bust out the board head over to Malmo and get some runs in before the big boys get there. The Swedes love their skating and with the addition of one of the better parks in Europe why wouldn’t they.
Quiksilver
They get it! Treat the riders well, give them a good format and a never ending beer garden.
Everyone wants it. There are so many damn good skaters around the globe, qualifying just to get into the main event is insane.
Saturday
Old and New, Yanks, Euros, Aussies and more. A strong sense of urgency right from the beginning; Euros own this contest now, all those youngsters who were sitting on the deck at Marseille back in the day are now chomping hard on the bit. The bank wall was assaulted with streetish and vertish styles.
When the dust cleared there were twenty four for Sunday. Also joining them were an assortment of Masters who qualified earlier including, Kasai, Sean Goff, Nicky Guerrero, Chris Miller, Reese Simpson, Sasha, Duncan, Schroeder, Ngoho and his first contest in a damn long time, Christian Hosoi who still rides with excellent form and style.
Saturday Night
You would think with a heavy contest on the line that the official night club of the Qiuiksilver’s Bowliders; Amorees, would be quiet, No……. The Pacific Northwest lead by Lance Leisher had everyone disco dancing till late, Benji created a Samba Line, Duncan was orchestrating a metal mosh pit and Kowalski, Skreetch and Ngoho were last seen heading towards Copenhagen at five AM.
Sunday
The Masters
Hosoi’s mixture of power and style remains unique, untouched and a thing of beauty, Miller fresh off his Combi win, was still hungry for another top prize and turned Malmo into his personal surf break. Ngoho was indiscriminate and flowed through the whole park in the warm Swedish Sun. Reese gave us glimpses of that amazing skateboard talent, Sasha knows Malmo very very well, but the day belonged to Nicky Guerrero, The Great Dane, he dazzled us with his local knowledge of the park and tricks old and new.
The Pros
The Red Zone!
They went out hard and the level just kept lifting. Rune; power, adaptability, and a strong desire to win, he was on and dared all to chase him. Ross McGouuran wasn’t chasing he just does what he does better than anyone, a groovy mix of street and flow. Andy Scott is quiet but skates loud, Benji just did that Benji thing. Mathias Nylen, the Dark Horse went from ripping to insane (really insane). However, the man of the hour was Aaron “JAWS” Homoki, making the big gap and what?…. fuck it, watch out I’m going 360, knocking out 5’s in the deep, getting techy, he was lost in the concrete playground and he did not want to come home, he inspired us all!
Conclusion
Build it and they will come,
Contest Director, Tomi Toiminen believes in Bowlriding as evident in the success of this event. It’s not the money they spend (they spend a lot) but more about the key people Quiksilver puts in place, the ability to dream and to let skateboarding run a natural course.
