An opportunity arrived to take a roadtrip, so I seized it. I called up a few of the Hoax mfg crew to see who was down for a 12 day skate trip from Spain to Belgium. The rough plan was to hit up as many DIY skate spots as possible, especially some of the newer spots in southern France that none of us had ever been to. Budget was relatively non-existent so accomodation would be sleeping in concrete bowls or anywhere for free with the idea to skate as many DIY spots as possible with the local skaters, as well as any other spots worth a stop for a quick session along the way.
Euro DIY tour 2018
Edited by Johannes Hirschmann and Jonathan Hay.
Filmed by Jonathan Hay. Additional footage by Donovan Rice, Alberto Scattolin and Jonathan Sjöberg.
Music by Zounds, Sun Bather and The Fulmars.
Summertime can be a hard time to get a crew of skaters together because about half the guys I know around europe build concrete skateparks for a living and summer is high season for concrete work. Some other guys couldn’t afford to take the time off, but soon enough all the spots were full. In the van were Jonathan Sjöberg from Sweden, Donovan Rice from USA, Kupa from Slovenia, Youngo from Scotland and myself.
Donovan Rice. Tailblock in the 13 foot deep bowl in Leioa. Basque country. Photo: J. HayLa Kantera pool and our accomodation for two nights. Five star.Latina (canned food) dinner time at La Kantera.Kupa and Donovan. Photo: Jonathan Sjöberg
Woke up to this view. La Kantera. Donovan Rice. Pivot fakie at Lasa skatepark. Photo: J. Hay
Jonathan Sjöberg. Front feeble over the stairs at Sondika in Basque country. Photo: J. HayPlaya Zarautz. Epic spotPhoto: Jonathan Sjöberg
The first few days were spent picking up the crew, driving back and forth between Bilbao Airport, La Kantera, Zarautz and Sondika. On the third trip back to Bilbao airport we found out an already broken wristed Youngo couldn’t make his flight so we would have to pick him up at the airport along the way in Biarritz, where we stopped for a quick sweaty mid day session on the roof of the Ocean & Surf museum. Finally we had the full crew and skated a few parks including the Bayonne skatepark and Vieux Boucau and headed for an evening session at the Element Called Water skate / surf hostel close to Hossegor: a sunny place for shady people. We fit in well there with a session in the bowl til dark, bbq, beers and skated the mini ramp in the bar and called it a night.
Kupa. Front rock at Cité de L’Ocean. Biarritz, France. Analog photo: Jonathan SjöbergKupa. Front rock. Biarritz, France. Photo: J. HayJonathan Sjöberg. Backside boneless. Biarritz. Photo: J. HayKupa. Backsmith in Bayonne, France. Photo: J. HayBayonne skatepark. Jonathan Sjöberg, Youngo, Donovan, Sket, and Kupa.Youngo. Fast plant to fakie. Vieux-Boucau. Photo: J. HayKupa. Backside crailslide at ECW skate hostel. Photo: J. HayDonovan. Barefoot session at ECW. Analog photo: Jonathan SjöbergPost session beers and BBQ at ECWGuillaume Challet. Frontside ollie at La Digue, a spot he helped build, under the bridge in Toulouse, Spain. Photo: J. HayLa Digue DIY. Post session photo by Marine Bouchet. Youngo, Kupa, J. Hay, Jonathan Sjöberg, and Donovan Rice.Youngo. Post session self medication at Challet’s place. Cheers! Photo: Jonathan SjöbergHome made pizzas. Thanks Guillaume and Marine. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergBridge DIY. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergJonathan Sjöberg. Frontside wallride at Bastien Marlin’s Bridge DIY. Photo: J. HayDonovan Rice. Pivot to fakie at Bridge DIY. Photo: J. HayKupa, J. Hay, and Youngo. Cooling off by the river at the Bridge. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergLa Digue DIY. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergBackside blunt over the pipe. Forgot his name. Photo: J. HayToo hot, too hot to skate. That’s all I need right now, too hot to skate.Mid day in south France in August is hot! Too hot to skate in the mid day sun, but perfect for a cool riverside swim. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergUnpacking the van at Beaulieu DIYCamping at Beaulieu. Photo: Jonathan Sjöberg
We arrived late as usual around 8pm where a session and bbq were already well underway, and met up with locals Will Roux and Julien “Sanglier” Guillon and a bunch of other super welcoming rad dudes who have put in a lot of work at the spot over the last several years. Beaulieu is built on a slab in a concrete quarry with dozens of ramps and obstacles on the edge of a woodsy area full of wild pigs, whose meat a local hunter and stone worker proudly offered us, while others obliged us to try their local mushrooms, wines and regional beers.
Chez Claude DIY and Hang up crew tattoos at Beaulieu.Donovan Rice. Front rock on the oldest obstacle at Beaulieu. Photo: J. HayKupa. Frontside tuckknee at Beaulieu DIY. Photo: J. HayGuillaume Challet. Front smith over the door. Thanks for the night of pizzas, skating at your spot, La Digue DIY in Toulouse, and a place to stay. Photo: J. HayKupa. Stand up frontside grind over the door. Beaulieu DIY. Photo: J. HayMarine, Youngo, Kupa, Guillaume Challet and Donovan at BBC DIYKupa, Marine, Will Roux, Guillaume Challet and Youngo at BeaulieuBeaulieu locals x Hoax mfg crew
The following day was the opening of BBC DIY, on the property of a local winemaker, whose son Enzo was celebrating the opening session of their DIY on his 17th birthday. We had been in contact to try our best to bring the Hoax tour to this monumental event and we actually made it as planned. Epic spot!
Donovan Rice. Texas plant in France. Barbecue DIY. South France. Photo: J. HayEnzo. The main boy behind BBC DIY. Sweeper on Demand on his 17th birthday, straight to the pages of Confusion magazine issue #21. Photo: J. HayDonovan, Jonathan and Youngo crashing Enzo’s 17th birthday party and the opening of BBC DIY. Enzo’s dad is a wine maker, and we drank free wine all night til the cows came home. Youngo won a bottle for doing a bean plant to fakie (undocumented). Photo: Jonathan Sjöberg
The following day we stopped by CVNHole on our way up north for a session with owner Choup and his son Marius, Jojo and Sammy Idri. CVNHole was a well worth stop we hadn’t actually planned. After the session Choup sent us north on a beautiful drive through Cevennes national forest. The next days in Belgium we had some amazing sessions and great times with Koekie, Yoeri, Ratman, Josh Kotlega and the locals. We skated Mechelen one of the biggest and greatest DIY spots in europe that keeps growing and the Knock-Out Pool in Kwinten’s backyard, where he organized an epic final bbq session around the pool. Thanks to everyone who helped us out along the way!
Sammy Idri. Backside hurricane at CVNHole in southern France. Photo: J. HayKupa. Bastard plant at CVNHole. Photo: J. HayDonovan Rice. Feeble grind at CVNhole. Photo: J. HayCamping at Ratman’s in BelgiumDonovan Rice. Feeble to fakie over the stairs at Knock Out Pool in Belgium. Photo: J. HayJonathan Sjöberg. Crailslide over the deathbox at Knock Out Pool. Photo: Jonathan HayToon Dierck. Backside ollie over the stairs at the Knock Out Pool in the Belgium countryside. Photo: Nicola DebernardiKupa. Stand up frontside grind over the stairs. Photo: Nicola DebernardiJonathan’s feet and cows in Belgium. Self portrait. Photo: JSDonovan. Two thumbs up for Belgium. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergDonovan and Youngo. Backseat antics on the road to Belgium. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergJosh Kotlego, Eno, J. Hay, and Youngo at Kwinten’s / Knock Out pool party. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergDonovan in the Knock Out Pool. Photo: Jonathan SjöbergKnock out pool. Photo: Jonathan Sjöberg
