TROUTOPIA
Diamond Creek pipe
Sometimes going skating actually means half a day digging trenches and soiling beach towels for 15 minutes of daylight in a semi skateable pipe. Worth it to see a Jono wall bash and Adam fall in the mud. Wade’s ollie was pretty staunch too.
Brooklyn Pipes & Kooyong Quater
Keen to skate something other than Fitzy bowl Josh Leishman and Jono tamed some
rare ones on an old U pipe in the West. An afternoon mission to a more affluent part of town provides an old DIY quarter on top of a banked ditch.
Final Session at Blue Stone
Between the asbestos removal and demolition teams, we snuck in one of the final sessions before this old favourite became rubble...
Full article to be continued on confuzine.com
Nixen Osborne floats a rainbow fish over Elan ‘Trouty’ Christian’s sustainable frontside grind
Jack Vandermaat handles a stylish back smith
COBURG POOL
Jono gets creative with a Texas Plant on a precariously placed beer fridge
Shanae ‘Sheezy’ Collins. Steezy frontside smith grind atop the Tannery quarter
Andrew ‘Cuzza’ Currie bashes a full speed switch backside 180 over a wallie that’s almost as rugged as his beard
TANNERY DIY
DIAMOND CREEK PIPE
Wade McLaughlin. Frontside ollie
BROOKLYN PIPES
Jono Coote. One foot tailblock
BLUESTONE DIY
Josh Leishman has some of the best distorted shapes on a board. Frontside crail on the Bluestone quarter
Below: Joey Graham. Frontside double truck bash on the windowsill Next page: Joey sucking up a lofty frontside air next to the corpse of an O-Bike
Max Shrädder. Transfer to frontside truck bash at a non-DIY skatepark on the river Rhône in Lyon. Jonathan Sjöberg. Grinding some blocks on this frontside smithgrind melon grab at another non-DIY spot in Fontaine, Grenoble. Photos: J. Hay
The next day was a full on skarty session with the locals who built the spot and skaters from all around the area who came to join us. We camped in our borrowed tents and hammock in and around the bowl and woke up in a foggy white-out. It burned off by midday and the weather held through the afternoon for another session but bad weather was approaching so we decided to escape the mountains and headed to Grenoble and hit up a fun pool shaped bowl in Fontaine. After the session we dropped off Jojo and headed to Lyon airport to drop off Toon who had to lurk overnight in the airport to catch his 7am flight and we crashed at someone’s house we had never met before - a friend of a Confusion subscriber (thanks Clement and Jordan). The next day was to be our last so we checked out a fun pump track type spot with some rugged wallrides down by the river and then to Châtillon, a DIY built about eight years ago by Choubi, Cho Sept and the locals who also built Chamrousse. Since this was their first big project, it’s not as smooth as Chamrousse and definitely more of a challenge to skate, but loosen up the trucks a few turns and all is good. We were down a man or two but still were enjoying a fun session when Max’s friends from Stuttgart arrived in their camper van. Rain fell mid session, so we went to the tiny medieval town and grabbed some beers and food. By the time we were back the bowl was almost finished being dried up and we sessioned til darkness then slept in sleeping bags in the bowl. After groggily awaking in the bowl the Jonathans headed to the airport and Max switched skate tours and continued with his friends to southwest France and Basque country. Thanks to Jey and Thierry for the hospitality and the knife, Jojo for showing us around, Mike for the tent and to all the locals of St. Jean de Maurienne and Chamrousse. À la prochaine! - J. Hay
Châtillon DIY
DVD / PRODUCT / ZINE REVIEWS
CHAPPED - CRACK ROCK
The third Chapped video from prolific filmer and editor Ryan Maddox who performs equally well on both sides of the camera. Ryan lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the land of drainage ditches, but travels often up to Colorado and out west to southern California so the video is mostly pools, ditches, curbs, DIYs, skateparks and street spots searched out and destroyed around these areas.
Packed full of underground rippers as well as some more well known skaters including Adam Mercado (holy shit!!), Zach Cusano, John Worthington, Lalo Carrillo, Caroline Ryals, Joe Morris, Archer Braun, George Owen, Wildman, Diego Alvarado, Ace Pelka, Jake Reuter, Willis Kimbel,
Elijah Akerley, Jake the Jeweler, Mike Dominguez, a mad man named Cody Raver (RIP), and many more, not to mention some guy called Lance Mountain?. The skateboarding is insane, covering all the terrain Confusion readers would be stoked on plus the filming and the soundtrack are spot on. The most exciting full length skateboarding video I’ve watched in a while and more adrenaline producing than a hit of crack. Stacked full of thrills... constructive thrills. Hit up @ryanmaddox to try to score a DVD with a pullout poster by Exteenager or keep your eyes peeled for the online release!
POSSESSED SHOES
A relatively new skater-owned shoe brand out of Japan, created by skate punk Waka. Possessed shoes feature special non-exploding vulcanized soles and an outersole bonded to the upper rubber with rubber tape alllowing the sole to easily bend when making contact with the ground. The integrated sole allows the shoe to change shape and reduce the weight. The shoes are designed with an emphasis on board feel and using top quality materials like heavy canvas with suede toes and heel caps. Possessed are transparent with their production methods in their Taiwan factory and you can watch the production on their youtube channel. Apart from the technical superiority of the shoes, Possessed also follow the punk ethos which is rare in a skate shoe company. Their new limited edition collab with the legendary
Skull Skates out of Canada and with ruling team riders like our good buddy Maru you know they are doing it the right way. Along with the shoes shown above they also
sent a pair of slip-ons that are super comfortable and also in a simple black design. Send a mail to Waka and find out where you buy Possessed at @possessed_shoe or possessedshoe@gmail.com
RRL ZINE
A skate zine out of Switzerland created by Daniel Bismor, the guy behind the online skate zine shop with his first zine, focused on DIY skate spots in rural areas around the world, in this issue: Canada, USA, Poland, Finland, France and Switzerland. There is a feature on local skateboard manufacturer LGS, producing boards out of Switzerland from imported Canadian hard maple (after first unsuccessfully trying to use Euopean hard maple) and the challenges of running the brand out of Switzerland. There is a feature on the architechtural drawings of Fos, the guy behind Heroin Skateboards, and an interview with Finnish skater Jaakko Saavalainen
about building wooden ramps in a barn and around the countryside in the middle of Finland. The zine is very well designed and printed on fancy thick beige paper. @rrlzine // zinenation.bigcartel.com
SLOWGOLD CLOTHING CO.
black canvas waterproof
it’s been hard for me
,
Unique individually made work vests with a geometric tribal blanket inner lining and a heavy duty exterior. I’ve never been a vest guy myself, but since the moment I put on this Slowgold vest to take it off (I’m wearing it as I write this). You can throw the vest on over a hoody or a tshirt for added warmth and protection from wind and rain and your arms have freer movement than with the obstructions of a sleeved canvas jacket while your body core is protected with a layer of armour which can boost confidence when skateboarding or on a night out in the city. The vest features studded outer pockets as well as an inner pocket with industrial strength velcro to stash away your phone, wallet, smoke or keys if things start to get out of control. Slowgold support and are supported by some of England’s finest skateboarders including Alex Hallford Jordan Thackeray, Horsey and Sam Beckett Made in England. Designed by skateboarders. For more info or to order a vest go to @slowgoldclothingco
SCRAM SKATEBOARDS
A couple dolp decks from SCRAM SKATEBOARDS the brand created by the outlandish skateboarder extraordinaire Nolan Johnson after he wasn’t feeling Welcome anymore and left to start his own thing. Scram skateboards sponsor heavy pool and transition rippers like Chris Cope, Brandon Perelson, and Gnarcel but also guys like Jesse Lindloff who not only destroy backyard pools or any transition but can also smash it down big rails, gaps, and staircases. Also riding for Scram or within the Purple Wonder Orb sect are an eccentric crew of radical stylish rippers hailing from locations such as Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, not to mention their vert squad of rippers up around Seattle. Scram skateboards have popsicle shapes from 8.25-9” but they specialize in wide 10”+ shaped decks mostly designed and with artwork by Nolan Johnson but some shapes are designed by Chris Cope, Lukas Miller, and Brandon Perelson. The two decks I got are the “Tonic” 10.375” x 31.15 with artwork and shape by Nolan Johnson and the “Spunk” 10.625” shape by Nolan with art by Hannah Kearney
Check out more at @scram_skates and blackmarketskates.com and available in japan through @underdogdistribution
AMERICAN NOMAD BOWL BBQ
PHOTOS by BRANDON MONAHAN & JOE MAKARSKI // ARTICLE BY BRANDON MONAHANEver year Nomads make the pillage to Connecticut for the American Nomad Bowl BBQ. Jay Kelly and the American Nomad himself, Bill Danforth, host an insane weekend long camp out/skate jam in their backyard bowl fueled by beer, burgers, skateboarding and punk rock.
They added a new section of the bowl just in time for this year’s party, and everyone was eager to grind the fresh coping and hit the super tight wallride that they added in on Saturday night.
Greg Harbour. Frontside layback blunt. Photo: Joe Makarski
Brando. Frontside flame grind. Photo: Joe Makarski
Sad Plant. Photo: Brandon Monahan
Ryan Sutherland. Backside feeble stalefish. Photo: Joe Makarski
David Lafreniere. Backflip to front rock. Photo: Brandon Monahan
Under 95 and Sadplant played live sets and brought a whole new level of stoke. Bringing a bit of FDR Skatepark to Connecticut, Under 95 made sure to have some fireworks during their set while Danforth set the coping of the new section on fire during the filming of Sadplant’s upcoming music video.
If you ever get a chance to make the pilgrimage to the Nomad Bowl for their yearly BBQ, pack your tents and do NOT miss it!
Bill Danforth. Photo: Joe Makarski
Mike Drake. Sad Plant. Photo: Joe Makarski
Greg Pachell. Sweeper grind.
Photo: Brandon Monahan
Koekie. Crailslide in Mike’s backyard DIY in Southampton, England.
Photo: Steve Bega
Jérôme Chevalier. Backside nose blunt in his backyard DIY in Arzac, France
Photo: Fred Ferand
Petay Franz. 50-50 through the flames at Spotter DIY. Barcelona, Spain
Photo: Craig Dodds
Yam Bachar. Frontside hurricane Riverside DIY Ditch. Photo: Ben Hull
Cam Noren. Feeble grind at the Dream Compound in southern California.
Photo: Chris Dangaard
Found this metal monster but after three minutes the police came and got us, but not before Giuseppe “Gipsy” Taccori got this kickflip fakie Photo: Piero Capannini
Bryan Arboleda. Backside disaster in Mallorca
Photo: Dave Bee
Stepan Soroka. Backside hurricane Leeside DIY. Vancouver, Canada
Photo: Liam Glass
Niv Halpern. No comply stalefish over the gap Haifa, Israel. Photo: Daniel Sop
Frank Shaw. Feeble to fakie at a sketchy spot in Hood River, Oregon
Photo: Garric Ray
Zach Cusano. Judo tailblock on the extension at the latest Skarty at his vert ramp in his parents’ backyard in New Jersey.
Photo: Brandon Monahan
