This year’s Copenhagen Open were huge. Gigantic. Maybe even too big. Copenhagen possibly hosts the world’s best skate contest and it draws a crowd from all over the world. They were already raising hell last year, but this year was totally over the top. The hosts also think this was the ultimate – and won't go for another round (at least not in this way) next year. That is precisely why this year was such a party.
We arrived on thursday and thus missed out on Wednesday’s bowl contest. Litauen Plads was equally packed though and it was a little pretaste of what was still to come. It really gave us some sort of a festival feeling – kind of Skatechella.
The set-up consisted of the ramps Polar used in Los Angeles (as seen in our current issue). Someone may have won a prize or whatever but that doesn't really matter in Copenhagen, it’s all about fun.
The whole squad then went through the city, up until Meat Packing District, and skated two more spots on the way. A loading dock ramp and a flatgap.
The Meat Packing District was equipped with a vert wall and the session went on there. Sure, someone won something here too (well, probably) but we were busy getting drinks so we can’t really give any details. Later there was a Polar x Converse Jack Purcell exhibition, including a clip premiere. Afterwards things went pretty wild. Bonfires, bomb drops in the rain and dance floor striptease – we’ve seen it all.
Friday – it was still raining. Luckily Levi’s organized an indoor brunch so we could have some warm-up drinks before we went aboard. The boat ride went on and so did the drinking, just to celebrate the Skate 501 launch in a brewery – with a couple of beers.
It finally quit pouring in the evening so Levi’s Triangel Park could be skated. If we’re not mistaken, Luan Oliveira won – but the actual highlight (sorry Luan) was the mobile sauna.
The weather got better on Saturday so the first spot was completely packed. The only place you could shoot actual photos from was the Planetariet’s roof. After a mellow line session everyone started moshing down the stair set – and running into the crowd.
Last but not least we went to the skatepark for the finals. It was just as crowded as Planetariet and we’ll be brief here: Ishod won, because, well, he’s the best, pure and simple. After the contest the death race started and Busenitz surprisingly did not win – Mason Silva stole his title. They also did a barrel jump and a kicker session, flying right through fog machine fog and confetti. Heavy drinking started right after and the bar went out of beer really quickly but had supply on hand. Lots of familiar faces. Someones birthday. Yadayadayada.
It was all great fun, but pretty exhausting too. It might be a good decision not to do a contest like this again next year – always stop at the top. We would be happy to come over for a mellow version too. So, see you next year!