The Edge - enjoying Europe

Thrasher Magazine, Nov, 2001 by Shelby Woods

TRAINS, PLANES AND THE RUSSIAN MOB

On a recent trip to Europe, me and the boys managed to miss both trains and planes, were beaten up by bouncers, thrown out of clubs and to top it off, we were almost killed by the Russian Mafia. Damn, this was a fun trip. Lots of kill skating, good people, and sick adventures. I made it my mission to pick up a postcard from every spot we stopped at and got everybody to write home about something or other that we experienced along the way.

WELCOME TO DENMARKIA

Upon arrival at the Amsterdam airport where I had a connecting flight to reach Denmark, I bumped into two of the four people who would be touring with us: Jason Masse and Mike Crum. It was cool to bump into them at that particular moment, 'cause I had no idea where the fuck I was going, as I had no itinerary. This was no great surprise as I had just received my travel tickets by courier at 12:30 earlier that day and had to make the 2:00 international flight. There was no sign of Team Manager Dee-Bo or Neil Mims, who we were also to meet up with in Amsterdam. Mike asked me if I wanted a beer; I declined, saying "No thanks, I'm still tired from the flight." He took off, while Masse and I talked about what to do when we got to Copenhagen. Mike came back with three beers and a "Here you go" as he handed one to me. Right then and there was the official start of Groundhog Day. I went to get my flight to Copenhagen; Mike and Jason would arrive at a later time. One hour later I get to Copenhagen and was stunned to s ee Mims and TM Dee-Bo's bags on the conveyer belt, but there was no sign of them. "Shit, they were supposed to be on my flight." I grab their shit and set up camp--it's bad enough being stuck in an airport, but to have to watch over somebody else's luggage; now that's torture. Five tedious hours pass, Crum and Masse show up but still no sign of the others, who should have been there ages ago. Crum then spots a distributor who knows where we have to be, and what hotel we were at, so we leave the airport to go check in. As for TM Dee-Bo and Mims, PEACE OUT.

CREEPIN IN CHRISTIANIA

After a good night's sleep and the arrival of TM Dee-Bo and Neil (who got held up at customs in Amsterdam) it was time to get rolling. For the next two weeks we were to hit three contests: One in Copenhagen, Dortmund, and finally Prague, so there were loads of skaters in town. I was stoked to meet Lance Mountain, Lance Jr., Richard Muldet, and Rodrigo TX, who were also staying at our hotel. We went and checked out Stallen Skatepark, Copenhagen's biggest outdoor park, which was alright except for too many blades and bmxers roaching around. TP [*] caught a bike peg to the shin after only two minutes on the course. After Stallen we cruised to the Jammer Pads, Copenhagen's #1 ledge spot. This spot was tight: it reminded me of Pier 7 back home in SF with ledges, manual pads, and gaps. We checked out some other spots but most of them were "good from far spots"--that's when a spot looks good from far away but when you get close to check it out it's far from good. The streets were all cobblecraze [**] so finding goo d spots was kinda hard, but not impossible. Later that day, me, Masse, and TP went to look into something we had seen earlier. I remember asking the cab driver if he spoke Denmarkian; he shot me a crazy look and snapped back with "You stupid American, we speak Danish! What the fuck is this Denmarkian shit?" After a few laughs (mostly at him), he told us of a magical place in Copenhagen called Christiania, a hippie community that's fenced off from the rest of the city. This spot was like a mini Amsterdam. There were restaurants, coffee bars, shops, music, and of course lots of herbs, hash, and shrooms... A regular farmer's market for the stoner type. Yeah, this was Hesh-dog Heaven. There was also a skatespot there. If you recall a Tom Penny ad, where he's doing a f/s flip in a bowl, that's the spot. This would become the spot to most likely find everybody chillin'.

(*.) TP: Trevor Prescott, filmer dude

(**.) Cobblecraze: Cobblestone

TRANS. PLANES AND RENTAL VANS

When the Copenhagen contest was over we hooked up with our German connection at the hotel. They were to take us to Hamburg but didn't have enough room in the van for everyone, so we told them to take our bags and meet us there. Everyone was happy with that decision, so with the T-dogs on their way to Hamburg with our shit, we jumped in a cab and headed for the train station. Once there we were accompanied by Gailea Momolu, Louie Barletta, Andy Bautista, Robert, and 411 Mike. We boarded the train ready for action with 12-pack in hand and boom box blasting. The trains are dope out here; so much fun. Who wants to be cramped up in a van when you can run wild on a train and piss off funny-hat-wearing-weinerschnitzel-eating old farts, drink beer, and take as many pisses as you want without having to say "Yo!! Pull over at the next stop!" Good thing the border dogs had colds that day, or we would have been assed-out.