Gathering of the tribes – Baum’s Birthday – Mr. Wilson Skate hall

The occasion was Baum‘s 33rd birthday.

Baum is a crazy charismatic concrete building skateboarder from Germany. He works or has worked for most all of the concrete skatepark companies around Germany and Belgium: Minus Pools, Concrete Flow and Camp Ramps. Whether it be skateboarding, building skateparks, or partying, Baum goes all in – at least 100%. When I heard about Baum’s party taking place at the Mr. Wilson skate hall, the only indoor concrete bowl in Germany, I knew this was an occasion not to be missed. Even though it was essential I return home by 8am the next morning (and to get back would take a four hour train ride), I thought it would be better to regret doing something, than regret not doing something. So I was in – committed to a guaranteed good time and guaranteed harsh recovery the next day.

Concrete building tribes from Belgium and Germany congregated in Kassel, in the middle of Germany, the location of the Mr. Wilson bowl. We arrived from Cologne before 4pm, but guys were arriving in different car loads from northern France (where Concrete Flow are just finishing building one of the biggest new concrete parks in Europe) as well as from Bruxelles, Antwerp, and Mechelen, in Belgium and carloads from Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, and Stuttgart in Germany. There were other concrete crews there as well including Yamata Living Ramps and the Knock Out Pool Blocks crew from Belgium, who are also working with Concrete Flow in France. I think I was one of the few guys there that doesn’t work at a concrete skatepark company, but I make a magazine and website about their work, so good enough, every epic session needs a photo journalist, right? By the time some guys showed up at 10pm or later, they’d been in the car for over nine hours, and needless to say perhaps, they were a bit wasted, almost too drunk to skate. Almost…

words + photos: J. Hay

Mr. Wilson
Mr. Wilson
Tobi Hees. Backside smith.
Tobi Hees. Backside smith. 6:44pm
Matt Grabowski chef of Minus Pools with a frontside tailslide.
Matt Grabowski, chef of Minus Pools, with a frontside tailslide. 9:53 pm
Baum and Dirty Harry
Baum and Dirty Harry. 12:13am
Ratman for Belgium. Backside sweeper.
Ratman from Belgium. Backside sweeper. 12:17am
Eule, chef of Yamato Living Ramps. 50-50 through the tight corner.
Eule, chef of Yamato Living Ramps. 50-50 through the tight corner. 12:25am
Max Shrädder. Grinding the hip.
Max Shrädder. Grinding the hip. 12:30am
Mike Van der Ouuderan chef of Concrete Flow with a frontside grind.
Mike Van der Ouderaa, chef of Concrete Flow, with a frontside grind. 12:30am
Mr. Wilson's care taker and co-maker Matze Weiland. 5-0 grind through the tightest corner.
Mr. Wilson’s care taker and co-maker Matze Weiland. 5-0 grind through the tightest corner. 12:32 am
Birthday Boy Baum. Frontside grinding the shallow end.
Birthday Boy Baum. Frontside grinding the shallow end. 12:33 am
Baum and Jarne Verbruggen
Baum and Jarne Verbruggen. 1:31am
Max Shrädder. Front rock.
Max Shrädder. Front rock. 2:01am
Max Shrädder from Stuttgart showed up late, and fired the session back up. Crailslide in the deepend.
Max Shrädder from Stuttgart showed up late, and fired the session back up. Crailslide in the deepend. 2:01am
Tim showed up with Max. He's 17 year old and was totally killing it. My batteries died so I didn't really get any good photos of Tim, but he rips! Frontside ollie, maybe to disaster.
Tim showed up with Max. He’s 17 years old and was totally killing it. My batteries died so I didn’t really get any good photos of Tim, but he rips! Frontside ollie. 2:02am
Ratman. Frontside grind through the deep end.
Ratman who co-runs Knock Out Blocks. Frontside grind through the deep end. 2:03am
Tim from Stuttgart, frontside smith.
Tim from Stuttgart, frontside smith. 2:07am
Max Shrädder. Backsmith with a grab.
Max Shrädder. Backsmith with a grab. 2:14am
Max Shrädder and his buddy Tim basically had the bowl to himself, because everyone else was too drunk to skate. But the two of them put on a demo for the wasted spectators. Good show lads.
Max Shrädder and his buddy Tim basically had the bowl to himself, because everyone else was too drunk to skate. But the two of them put on a demo for the wasted spectators. Good show lads. Max with a backside boneless. 2:15am
Gnassis Ben feeble with Jarne's support.
Gnassis Ben feeble with Jarne’s support. 2:22am
Jens and Jupi stoking the fire, firing up the stoke.
Jens and Jupi stoking the fire, firing up the stoke. 2:50 am
Untitled
3:41am
The beginning of the end.
The beginning of the end. 3:48am

Slam. Blood. DIY bathroom medical treatment. Cross the tracks, walk through the woods, up some hills to the train station just in time to jump on the night train… the rest of the boys to men stayed on and the party probably continued until the wee hours of the morning with another session going down on Saturday mid-day before the concrete skatepark building tribes packed up and crawled in their vans and headed back to whence they came. Happy Birthday Baum. You rule! Thanks for giving us all a good reason to celebrate your life, skateboarding and the gathering of the tribes.

More photos here.

1 thought on “Gathering of the tribes – Baum’s Birthday – Mr. Wilson Skate hall”

  1. Pingback: Mister Wilson Outdoor DIY Park – Kassel, Germany – Confusion Magazine: International Ska

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