Session Magazine - Issue 78

ISSUE 78

J U N E / J U LY 1 7

FREE

Ethan Cairns frontside feebles and pulls it back in Woodstock, Cape Town. Photo - Grant Mclachlan 2 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

CONTENTS 78 PARK CHECK 08 FIELDWORK 10 KYLE STOFFBERG 20 KYLE KHESWA 28

DITCH DAYS 36

VANS IN GAUTENG 44 JIGGLE CLIPS 52 LAGOS NIGERIA 54 I AM TRENT SLOAN 56 ISHOD WAIR 58 CLOSET ENVY 60 Cover - Wez Coertzen styling a tightly squeezed back smith after a quick ollie up on some awkward SA paving.

Photo - Sam Clark

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Park Check

PUSH SKATEPARK

Photo - Werner Alberts

Words – Tristan Bellingan

A new indoor skatepark was opened by Push Skateboarding in Brackenfell, Cape Town recently. The design of the 426m squared indoor area was planned, adjusted and stretched to the last square meter for speed and flow movement, with transitions providing a sufficient challenge for beginners and thrills for the experienced riders. Architect Rikus Bruwer and I put to scale a design that could be constructed from locally available materials in the capable hands of the skilled skatepark builder Etienne Coetzee. Situated in the industrial area of Okavango Park in Brackenfell, Push Skatepark is easily accessible from the N1 and close to Cape Gate Shopping Mall.

Kids are advised to come earlier in the day when the park is not too busy. The park is open 7 days a week and accommodates

EDITOR Luke Jackson info@sessionmag.co.za ADVERTISING Ockie Fourie info@sessionmag.co.za FOUNDER Brendan Body brendan@sessionmag.co.za

PHOTO EDITOR Clint van der Schyf

BMX, rollerblading and skateboarding. Opening hours are daily from 9h00 to 21h00 and weekends from 8h00 to 18h00.

Private sessions can be arranged at select times and days for a minimum of 10 people at R120 per person. For maintenance of the park sufficient support is essential and therefore everyone making use of the skatepark is required to pay an entrance fee of R40 per skate session / R50 per BMX session. Monthly memberships are also available. The skate shop in the foyer offers an impressive array of skateboards and other major items required by skateboarders. There’s product display space available and an opportunity for branding space in the park for related businesses. The skatepark is a superb venue for events and contests.

CONTRIBUTORS 78 Brett Shaw, Joubert van Staden

PHOTOGRAPHERS 78 Jansen van Staden, Joubert van Staden, Sam Clark, Werner Lamprecht, Alessandro Galassi, Grant Mclachlan, Brendan Dyamond, Phoenix Jurgens, Wynand Herholdt, Joey Shigeo, Bjorn Louw, Werner Alberts

PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 2nd Floor, Earlgo Building, cnr. Kloof & Park Rd, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001.

Issue 77 errata - In our previous issue we credited a contributor photo of Liam Broek to Rieyaad Saban. The actual photographer was Erin de Swardt. Apologies for this mistake.

PRINTERS: Novus Print Solutions

SKATEBOARDER OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 2002.

MAIL US - INFO@SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA @SESSIONSKATEMAG

WWW.SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

SESSION SKATEBOARDING MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED INDEPENDENTLY 6 TIMES A YEAR. SESSION WILL WELCOME ALL LETTERS, E-MAILS AND PHOTOS. WE WILL REVIEW THE CONTRIBUTION AND ASSESS WHETHER OR NOT IT CAN BE USED AS PRINT OR ONLINE CONTENT. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MAGAZINE, ITS OWNERS OR ITS MANAGEMENT. SESSION SKATEBOARDING MAGAZINE IS THE COPYRIGHT OF SESSION MAGAZINE CC. ANY DUPLICATION OF THIS MAGAZINE, FOR ANY MEDIA OR SALE ACTIVITY, WILL RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION AND A WEDGIE! 8 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

BUILT BY SKATEBOARDING RYAN LAY SKATING THE VEGAN JAMESON HT

Switch Hurricane | Photo: Kyle Seidler

etnies.com | @etniesskateboarding

F I E L D W O R K

Mark Stoutjesdyk tailblocks and foot jams the fence at the iconic King’s Beach spot in PE. Photo - Bjorn Louw 10 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

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Giovanni Votano is living back home in PE, and he’s still got the pop for a tall front nose. Photo - Bjorn Louw 12 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

F I E L D W O R K

Nkosi Dlamini with a large snap over a rail at ICC in Durban. Photo - Alessandro Galassi

Greg Botha crooked grinds an iconic old PE ledge. Photo - Bjorn Louw

SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 13

F I E L D W O R K F I E L D W O R K

Liam Broek frontside grinds a rare PE backyard gem. Photo - Bjorn Louw

Ethan Cairns frontside smiths a tight one in Claremont, Cape Town. Photo - Grant Mclachlan

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Shaun Burger wallrides in Pretoria. Photo - Werner Lamprecht SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 15

F I E L D W O R K

Mike Sparrow skates everything, even awkward drainage ditches on the roadway in Durban. Photo - Alessandro Galassi

Deon Fourie drops in off the wall on the west coast, during a cross country roadtrip. Photo - Werner Lamprecht

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Matt Lesch slappy 50-50s through the curves and pops out to the road, he’s got an eye for unique spots. Photo - Joubert van Staden

Thariq Makuyi feebles at the ICC in Durban. Photo - Alessandro Galassi

SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 17

F I E L D W O R K

Siya Ngebulana gaps to 50-50 an awkward rail in Newlands, Cape Town before bombing the hill under the train tracks. Photo - Jansen van Staden 18 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

INTRODUCING

Kyle Stoffberg

Kyle holds it down for PTA with a tall noseslide.

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Photos - Werner Lamprecht Interview – Luke Jackson

Kyle is that quiet but recognisable dude whose consistent skating does the talking for him.

Known as “Stix” or “Kyle Silvas” by his fellow skaters, he has a style that’s in a class of its own, and the type of approach to skating that many a young dude should be having. He doesn’t expect a lot, is always down for a mission and from my personal experience he has the right type of mindset that will have us see him around for many years to come. - Werner Lamprecht

How old are you?

I’m 23 years old.

Where did you grow up and where do you currently reside?

I was born in Cape Town, I grew up in the Centurion area and I now reside in Pretoria East.

Are you studying at the moment or working, and tell us about what you do outside of skateboarding?

I’ve just been working on and off since I finished school, mostly retail and that kind of stuff. Besides skating I’ve been racing off-road radio controlled cars for about two years now, 1/8th scale petrol powered cars. I’ve got a sponsor and I race once or twice a month. Those things are sick!

Describe the skate scene where you live?

It’s pretty good, it’s not as big as it used to be but we’ve got a lot of rippers and people are amped to skate. It’s not hard to get a crew together and make a mission.

SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 21

Frontside boardslide, nothing wrong here.

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How big a role does Thrashers play in the PTA scene and how often do you roll there?

I’d say it plays a big role in our scene. A lot of the homies stay close so it’s the perfect meet up spot for everyone. We have night sessions during the week so people can come skate after work or school and the OGs have put in a lot of effort to renovate the park and build new obstacles for us to skate. I’m there almost every day.

What are the 5 best things about where you live?

1. Most of the homies live nearby.

2. The park is close.

3. There are some rad/unique street spots.

4. It’s easy to make missions.

5. We just got a pump track in PTA. Are guys still skating City Hall, Skinner and all the classic PTA spots quite often?

We don’t skate the classic spots that often anymore, but we still do at times. Skinner and City Hall have become harder to skate nowadays with security and cops, the centerpiece at Church Square is fenced off but we’ve still got the ledges and Pilditch.

Tell us about shooting with Werner, how long did you guys work on the photos and which areas were you skating mostly?

Werner is the man! He’s always down to make a mission, he knows a lot of spots and he’ll sit there until you get the trick, talking to you and motivating you. He’s in it for the love.

We worked on these photos for about a year, but we definitely had some setbacks in the process. We mostly skated around PTA east, Centurion, Midrand and Montana. We had to get up at 5am to get the front smith on that rail.

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Gap to crooks on a strategically placed mobile trash can.

Apparently Werner’s mom was your nursery school teacher?

Yup, I saw him and his friends shredding around the neighborhood when I was younger. It’s pretty cool how we became friends a couple years later and now we skate together all the time.

You blew out your ankle really badly towards the end of shooting, what happened exactly?

Yeah I got smoked! We were trying to get a front board down this rail in Montana the weekend before the deadline. Unfortunately we got kicked out before I could roll away, so we ended up at a bigger rail down the road. The first one I put down I got wheel bite and smacked my head pretty good. The try after that I put it down and my ankle just collapsed. I tore one of my ligaments clean off and found out that one of

my tendons was worn from popping over my bone, so I had to get a groove cut into my bone and a screw to keep it in place.

Does anybody hook you up at the moment?

Slappy Skate Co. Thank you to Deon, Nico and Hartmut.

Tell us about Slappy Skate Co, who is all part of the crew, who does the graphics and all that?

Slappy is a board company from PTA run by Deon, Nico and Hartmut.

They do everything by hand with some help from the homies and their mission is to make skating affordable for everyone. Go check their video out on Youtube. They hook up Brendan Dyamond, Etienne Le Roux and me, but they also help whomever they can, everyone is part of the crew. I think it’s been a different artist on each graphic but

I know Skippy has designed one, as well as Chris Staub.

Name 5 up and coming skateboarders that you roll with (or that you know of) that someone reading this should lookout for?

Etienne Le Roux, Shaun Burger, Chris Lategan and the two young guns at the park Bobo Boipelo and Tshepo Sithole AKA ‘Bobo smalls and Tshepac’.

Does the PTA scene still have a strong connection to the JHB scene, like in previous generations, or do you feel like it’s perhaps a bit more isolated nowadays?

I never experienced the connection PTA had with JHB and for a long time I thought we were pretty isolated, but it seems to be getting better.

We see the JHB homies a lot more regularly nowadays.

“I tore one of my ligaments clean off and found out that one of my tendons was worn from popping over my bone” 24 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

Bank-to-rail backside 180.

SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 25

Fontside smith, while you were still sleeping.

“We had to get up at 5am to get the front smith on that rail” How does the future of skateboarding in Pretoria look?

Promising!

What is I.T.S and who is all a part of it?

‘I.T.S - Itching To Skate’ is a Youtube channel I started with the help of my friend Kai. We’ve made a couple park and street edits and we just finished our first full-length in January. It’s usually Chris, Brendon, Kai, Naledi, Ryan, Zandrey and Brian, but everyone else we skate with too.

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What’s your opinion on competitions, do you skate them or do you just roll for yourself?

I don’t mind them. I like skating the local comps at Thrashers because all the homies are there and the vibe is always cool, but I wouldn’t go out of my way and travel somewhere to go skate a comp.

Have you travelled to skate much at all, if so, where?

I’ve only really been to Durban and Kimberley to skate, and I was

lucky enough to go to China with my friend Naledi. We got to skate SMP, the world’s biggest skatepark, but we didn’t skate any street unfortunately.

List 5 things that inspire you (Skateboarding related or otherwise)?

Skate videos, my friends and family, finding new spots, making missions, filming tricks and getting photos Any final words of wisdom for us?

Skate hard and have fun.

Classic back noseblunt, it doesn’t get any better.

SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 27

KYLE KHESWA Interview - Luke Jackson

Portrait - Phoenix Jurgens

How old are you?

20 Did you grow up in Johannesburg?

Yeah I grew up in JHB and lived here most of my life, except for when I went to England for a few years.

What sent you over to England, where were you living exactly and for how long I moved when I was 6, for 3 years.

We stayed in Brighton, but then moved to Yorkshire for a bit. My family moved over after my par-

ents got work there. We came back to South Africa when I was 9.

there for the first time I’ve been skating, since like Grade 4.

Did you skate yet when you were there?

You roll with the Veg Squad a lot, where did you meet the crew and how long have you been rolling with those guys now?

I never skated there, but there was a park right by where I lived. I had a small plastic board like a lot of kids, but I only kind of wanted to ride my bike there. When I came back to SA and started school I met Boipelo and Bryce who were in the same class as me at Bryneven Primary School. Those guys were popular and cool in my eyes.

They skated and then I started from their influence I guess. There was a park right down the road from me at Montecasino. Ever since going

We all met at Monte, I knew the majority of the crew back then as a kid even. We didn’t hang out that much cause I’m a little younger. I was like a little kid for those guys. As we got older we all moulded together and became a crew. I didn’t really start skating downtown until around 2014, I took a weird break and I never really skated during 2012 and 2013. Parks closed, guys moved away and

“THE KIDS COMING UP NOW ARE GOING TO TAKE THINGS TO ANOTHER LEVEL” 28 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

Backside air at the Volcano in Fourways, Veg Squad represent! Photo - Phoenix Jurgens SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 29

Kickflip on the edge of the Ocean View township on the cape peninsula. Photo - Phoenix Jurgens

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the scope changed. Later on town became more accessible and became a big focus. I was a park kid before, but then downtown becomes the place you go when you’re older.

Why does the Veg Squad call you black dynamite?

Jarryd just started calling me that one day haha, cause I’m the hammer guy. I guess I like to jump down stuff.

Describe the skate scene in JHB at the moment?

The scene is the shit right now, it’s weird cause there’s no industry and no product. Nobody touched Boogaloos because it wasn’t a real skate shop.

Wandile’s shop was around a while but it had bare minimums to be honest. Kids don’t have cash to buy stuff.

Po still sells stuff to people at LBGs and on the streets. Metja doesn’t sell that much anymore either. The last 2 months has been dark, almost no new product.

But on the flip side it’s insane how many more kids are skating, showing up and killing it. There’s a really good energy, right now it’s just got a light about it. It’s pure, just skating, no reason to front for product or fame.

Is LBGs still the meet up / chill spot, it’s become more dodgy around downtown recently but has that made the skateboarders go there less often?

LBGs is definitely still the hotspot, regardless of how dodgy it can be. We hold it down and everyone still meets there.

It’s cooled down on the cop front, those guys leave us alone cause they know we don’t give a fuck and we are coming regardless. But on the dodgy side there are incidents here and there.

Recently there was an attempt to steal Malcolm’s car. There weren’t too many of us at LBGs that day. We saw a guy lurking by the cars, we noticed him but didn’t think too much of it at first. 45 minutes later Malclom notices a guy trying to jack his vehicle all of a sudden, the man was in the driver’s seat after picking the lock. He failed at trying to start it and drive away. We run towards the two thieves and they takeoff to the next road, towards a getaway van that’s waiting for them. One guy got in but the other guy was on the other side of the car and they left him on the street. Everyone is shouting and then the whole street is just chasing this guy and throwing bricks at him, but missing. I threw a brick during the chase and it skimmed him, causing him to trip on the curb. I’d never been in any confrontation before or anything like that, I held him down and then the crew caught up. All the

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Kyle Kheswa Body Jar at Durban Beachfront.

Photo - Brendan Dyamond 32 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 33

Gap out to the road outside Museum Africa in downtown JHB. Photo - Phoenix Jurgens

homies beat him and we made him pay. We made sure he will never return to the library. He was out cold, but GL saw him later, he was stumbling and trying to get away from the area properly fucked up.

So apparently you’ve been living at the Drill Hall in the middle of downtown JHB, how did you end up staying there?

Yeah I’ve lived at Drill for a bit. Quincy and the One Love Skate Expo (OLSE) guys have been moved around a lot in Maboneng, they don’t want to give him a permanent space for his ramps. We got kicked out of the last warehouse so we set the ramps up at Drill. It’s so tight, so many kids come skate there. The only real skate centre in the city, besides the library, the kids won’t get fucked with there. A lot of the One Love guys live there, it’s open every day. Quincy is the face but there is a whole crew with everyone operating together. It locks only at like 7 or 8 and it’s right by Noord Taxi rank. It’s a gnarlier area than LBGs for sure. It’s an awesome skate house where you can party, skate, chill and do whatever you

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want. There’s no rent, Quincy organized it to be utility free. It’s a community space with artistic projects and that. Skaters take up the most space cause of all the ramps.

There’s no set ownership or structure, so anybody can just do what they need to, sometimes church groups and that do show up which sucks a bit. It’s definitely a bohemian place and quite basic. One Love got a donation of 100 longboards so many more kids are skating there from all different ages.

You’ve got tranny and street ability, how often do you skate the parks in JHB? The park situation is fucked, there aren’t many anymore, but more like just random setups. There is Key West way over on the west side and a spot like Duduza way over on the east. But mostly guys hit Skateworld in Edenvale which is more of a DIY spot, Drill Hall with the One Love ramps and then the YBF park. A lot of the Brightwater park kids moved to YBF. Guys who love tranny spots like Daniel Miltiadou will hunt down parks for tranny. I love tranny so much but it

just sucks that it’s rare. Steyn City is strict and secure so we’re not trying to go there for sessions. I’m kind of over parks, if it’s not tranny then I’m not that interested. Kids do tricks in parks with perfect environments, but it’s kind of a small bubble, they will never validate their shit that way. I don’t feel like being at a park will make people care about your skating, unless it’s tranny of course. The streets are more real!

The parks are just practice. Kids do need parks to learn and that’s rad, just don’t get stuck there.

Tell us about shooting with Phoenix, how do you guys know each other, how long did you spend down in the cape while shooting and how long did he come up to JHB to shoot up there?

I’ve known Phoenix for years, he has skate connections all over.

He used to live in JHB, he’s lived in Durban and now he lives down in the cape. He just got a camera and we always wanted to film before, so now we could. I came down in December for like a month, just to chill on holiday, but we started shooting a bit. We

KYLE KHESWA

Noseslide-tailslide a bike rack outside the ABSA building in the heart of downtown JHB. Photo - Phoenix Jurgens

only filmed for like a week and a half at first. I left to stay somewhere else and then came back for half a week. He then came up to JHB for a week, but he was sick for half of it. Finally, I went back to the cape for a week to finish. So it’s only been like a month in total.

What influences you in skateboarding right now?

The new school wave of no-complies and cuffed pants has got me haha. When I first saw Europeans in the Polar video or videos like Cherry I realized that you can just do what you like in skateboarding and you don’t have to give a fuck. Anything that allows me to do what I like and feel is what inspires me. I’m so inspired by so many different people that all bring their own element to it.

You delve into photography a little bit, do you have any particular aspirations in this department and where can one check out some of your pics?

I do stuff for sixthavenueonline. tumblr.com, but I sort of do things I

like more than commercially viable stuff. Back in 2014 I just stole my uncle’s camera and shot for 2 days, people I know thought my pics were cool. I got an internship at this mag in Braamfontein for like 6 months after that. It made me realize how commercial stuff takes away from the craft, I’d rather do independent stuff even if it doesn’t pay. I love film, if anything I’d like to make film in the future. With Sixth Avenue I’m also trying to push documenting things in JHB, not just skating but also all the other things going on around young people or whatever.

What does the future of skateboarding look like in Johannesburg?

It’s bright as a motherfucker! There are so many more kids skating and starting to skate. They have a drive that’s void of any ego. They don’t know videos or people in the scene, they just see a board and want to ride. The Veg crew, Wasted crew, SSS is coming back and people are doing shit right now. Sid is looking to do more with Desolated, Veg and Wasted are planning

on doing things with more web edits, etc. One Love is also working on stuff from Drill. We don’t necessarily need anyone to give us anything, because we are doing it regardless. The kids coming up now are going to take things to another level. The kids have so little, but they have so much potential. People need to support local more, then local things will get better. We need to support each other. What we do now is setting a foundation for future generations to come.

Any final words to end this thing off?

Shout out to all the homies who skate the city. Shout out to homies in Florida, Melville, the south, East Rand, north side and all over. The Veg Squad, Wasted Crew, Cloudy Brothers, One Love, my man Phoenix for the photos and the missions, Session for the feature and Sixth Avenue. Shout out to the kids at the Drill Hall cause you are future!

To my homies at YBF who are still in the park, come to the streets and don’t be scared. Shout out to the entire J-Sec, keep doing what you do because it’s the shit! The streets are where it’s at!

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Dallas Oberholzer with a precarious nosemanual on some crusty as hell countryside concrete. Photo - Joubert van Staden 36 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

DITCH DAYS WORDS – BRETT SHAW

SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 37

Photo -Jansen van Staden

T

he Gouda ditches (as they’re known) were not a new find for us. Wayne Reiche and the BMX dudes have been hitting them forever. Plus Sam Clark, Pieter Retief and a bunch of other cats went there long before we even knew they existed. So this was a fresh crew exploring an old spot with very limited information. And that’s what is so rad about skateboarding, it’s all about the unknown. Skateparks are for playing SKATE, honing your craft and painting your toe nails. The open road is where you test your own endurance and skill. You may rise above or fail but it counts for more because you’re out there ‘getting some’ and leaving your mark on something that was not made to skate.

Our crew is pretty solid and we spend a lot of time in ditches, empty pools and crusty street spots. On Vans trips they’re all the same to us. For us skateboarding is not pretty, we like to exist outside of the norm, on the fringes is where we feel comfortable and that’s why you don’t often see us in the easy to reach skate spots. There is always something new, something old or something broken to skate, and the drought in the Cape has been next level, but it opened up a time frame for us to explore ditches for a lot longer this year, so who knows if any-

one will ever get to hit the sections we hit ever again. After exploring the Hartswater and Kakamas ditches it was rad to hit some gnarly stuff close by to where we live. It took awhile to hit these ditches because the information we always got was very vague, nobody seemed excited about them which kind of confused me, but now that we’ve hit them 8 or so times I know why. These ditches are rougher than the inside of a dead donkey’s butt hole.

The spark that got us there was Amin Grey, he randomly hit us up

“IT’S BASICALLY A 50 ODD KILOMETER LABYRINTH OF DITCH CHAOS” 38 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

Brett Shaw with a boneless under the bridge, does that make him the troll?

Photo - Joubert van Staden 39 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

Joubert van Staden switch crooks the combo ditch. Photo - Jansen van Staden

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Alan Marola nosepicks. Photo - Jansen van Staden

and said that they were dry, so let’s go! So we went, and then we kept going. Our basic crew was Joubert, Jansen, Dallas, Charl and myself, then Wynand, T-Kay, Adrian, Marcel, Alan and Amin came with on solo missions at various times. Dylan, Sam, Pieter and a few others also made missions out there during the summer.

The Gouda ditches are Super Mofo gnarly, they range from about 8 to 15 feet, there’s lots of tweaked sections where the concrete has warped and certain sections of the blocks stick out as much as a fist. The

one section is even a 14-foot flat bank but it’s mostly kind of a banked transition setup going from mellow to super steep with no vert, so you have to pop your tricks. There are some smaller ditches running into the bigger ditches and bridges running overhead, but there’s no top deck anywhere so you’re always standing in sand that makes your griptape get smooth quickly. It’s basically a 50 odd kilometer labyrinth of ditch chaos, some are easy to get to, others are behind locked fences and some parts are just so tweaked and buckled that we couldn’t even get there.

Charl Jensel with some fancy footwork. Photo - Wynand Herholdt

SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 41

Dylan Vaughan blunts to fakie. Photo - Sam Clark

You need the right gear to hit them.

Spades, leaf blowers, brooms, a cooler box filled with ice, beverages and fruit. Your crew needs to be dependable, willing to shovel human turds and suck dust in 42 degree heat. You also need a widebrimmed hat and soft wheels, you can’t hit them with normal wheels, you will die. The water over the years has corroded the flat bottom really badly so the only thing that gets you across the bottom is speed and soft wheels (87a works good). Speed is a big problem because the flat bottom slows you up so much. So we built a 4 foot extension to put on top of the 14 foot part, just to get speed, so that kind of gives you an idea of how hard they are to hit. The worst part is running out of them after you slam, because slamming is guaranteed. It’s basically like running up onto the deck of a vert ramp, so after 40 of those you’re stuffed and you sweat out of every orifice in your body.

But holy shit we’ve had some fun, last goes in the dark, rain scares and long days listening to Slayer

and throwing watermelon pips at your bro who is trying to land a trick.

Some insane tricks went down and some missed tricks haunt some of us, but it was all worth it.

Some things to watch out for when skateboarding a ditch near to a highway is that people throw their empty beer bottles over bridges from their cars, so look out for being decapitated by exploding beer bottle glass bombs. Share your food and drinks with the farm workers and put all your trash in a bag and take it home. Make sure your crew is solid, leave the part-timers at home because everyone needs to be able to handle 14-foot ditches and themselves. If someone eats shit and cripples themselves it’s going to be hard work hauling them out of the ditch with some old rope and a stolen stop sign. The ditches are full of water now, or maybe they’re not, who knows? If you want to go then hit us up or better yet, fire up Google Earth and hit a new section with your own crew because if you wait for someone else then life will pass you by.

“LOOK OUT FOR BEING DECAPITATED

BY EXPLODING BEER BOTTLE GLASS BOMBS” 42 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

Dallas in his element. Photo - Jansen van Staden SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 43

Wez Coertzen front feebles at the Gautrain ditch just outside Pretoria. Photo - Jansen van Staden 44 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

G N E T U A G N I VANS SEN

S - JAN

S–

WORD

HOTO RT / P E B U O J

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Photo - Wynand Herholdt

Wynand Herholdt frontside 180 fakie 5-0s in downtown JHB. Photo - Jansen van Staden 46 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

Joubert van Staden gaps over and slides down at a smelly spot in PTA. Photo - Jansen van Staden

This filming mission to PTA was our last chance to get footage for T-Kay and Wynand’s ‘Welcome to Vans’ edit. T-kay had already been to CT previously so it sounded like a good last trip for Wynand to get footage up north. It just so happened that Thrashers skatepark reopened the weekend we arrived, and the Resurrection Jam went down.

Brendan Dyamond took first prize at the opening day and joined us in the streets for the rest of the week.

We had booked an Airbnb flat close to Thrashers and pretty central in PTA, but little did we know that we were the first guests to accommodate this establishment. We ended up being catered for by a strange

lady who must’ve confused us with one of her own children. She had a thing for Wynand, he made sure to lock his room door at night for fear that she might find him on tinder.

The thing about PTA is that there are several spots that can be skated during the week, which made our week quite productive, even though we weren’t there over the weekend.

After the last painfully awkward moment at the Airbnb we were then welcomed by Nico, Slappy Skate Co’s PTA OG. This extended our PTA stay so we could spend time in the infamous Centurion ditches.

The ditches are not easy to skate, always rougher and tighter than you think. Wynand got a few clips

at the original ditch, that now more resembles a skatepark than a water channel, thanks to the efforts of Mal Reuben. Wes worked hard for a frontside feeble in the Gautrain ditch.

He was fighting a worn down DIY effort with a super short run up in the middle of the day for about 2 hours.

It was surprising that he got up there with his Daewon Song inspired trucks (Wes has with no upper bushing on his trucks). My frontside lip photo is at one of the dirtiest spots we skated in PTA. It’s pretty much a public toilet for whoever gets the chance to wet the walls.

We got to spend a day skating LBGs and Jozi streets with T-kay and the Wasted crew. T-kay is at home at

“SHE HAD A THING FOR WYNAND, HE MADE SURE TO LOCK HIS ROOM DOOR AT NIGHT”

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Joubert feebles and pulls out with a grab on the east side of JHB. Photo - Jansen van Staden 48 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

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Wez frontside hurricanes the legendary old Edenvale brick banks in JHB. Photo - Jansen van Staden 50 | SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA

“WE PUSHED IT UNTIL THE SUN SET ON OUR LAST DAY”

Brendan Dyamond at Thrashers in PTA. Photo - Wynand Herholdt

LBGs, he knows that spot like the back of his hand. Within an hour we’d bagged 2 lines with little effort at T-kay’s home ground. One of the most fun sessions went down at the Fox Street bank, it’s a classic Jozi spot that Wynand has been itching to skate for a while. He stuck a frontside 180 fakie 5-0 with little effort.

We were supposed to stay at Brendan’s house in Edenvale for a few days but we only got to his place for the last days of our trip, after the PTA ditches kept us entertained for longer than we expected. Brendan is a beast on a board. We pushed it until the sun set on our last day. The bank to wall spot on the east side of Jozi is a treat

to skate. It’s rough and definitely not easy, which is half the fun. You’ve got to get through the struggle to get to the cuddle. The sun had already gone down and we were almost at Brendan’s place for the last supper when the Edenvale banks decided to tickle Wes’ fancy for one last hurricane photo before we called it for the trip.

Brian Hartell with the long jump at Thrashers in PTA. Photo - Wynand Herholdt

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Jiggle Clips A SESSION MAG SKATEBOARDING VIDEO PRESENTED BY

AD Henderson with a boneless frontside wall bash. Photo - Sam Clark

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ession Magazine started in 2002 and for the past 15 years the mag has documented everything relevant in South African Skateboarding.

To celebrate our 15th Birthday we decided to make a Session video. Our resident videographer Joubert van Staden is the most well traveled local skate lens man in terms of hours spent on the road around the country and hours hunched

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over looking through a lens, all to document local skateboarders.

He’s collected a stack of footage from around the country over the past few years, from international pro tours to average weekends at home, lurking out in the streets.

You’ve seen tons of his footage previously in AV Video Magazine and plenty of online edits. But there’s tons of stuff he’s kept or never put out, until now. He’s

even been present during sessions when a few of the mag covers have been shot, you’ve seen the photos, but now’s the first time you’re going to see the footage.

Look out for Cape Town screening info, otherwise it’ll be dropping on our site shortly afterwards.

Special thanks to Vans South Africa for getting behind the project and supporting local skateboarding.

Brett Shaw rock ‘n rolls in the Cape Town High School beast. Photo - Jansen van Staden SESSIONMAG.CO.ZA | 53

LAGOS | NIGERIA Photos - Grant Mclachlan

Khule Ngubane overcrooks a makeshift grindbox at one of the few skateable public places the locals have to roll at in Lagos.

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agos is the capital city of Nigeria, a massive sprawling urban zone with the highest population of any city in Africa. Nigeria has the largest population of any country in Africa and is also the continent’s largest economy. There is both immense wealth and desperate poverty occurring side by side, much like many African countries. Security is a real concern in Lagos and often people visiting on business from South Africa are given armed guards to escort them through the chaos of heavy traffic.

Khule Ngubane and Grant Mclachlan ventured to Lagos recently with Monster Energy to do a few skate demos for University students.

They made a few attempts to go street skating too, along with their convoy of armed guards.

Street skating is a real challenge in Lagos, with most buildings being walled off private compounds patrolled by guards. Not to mention the densely packed streets. They also met up with some local skateboarders who are just getting into skateboarding and will hopefully progress over the years to help the scene develop.

Grant came back with a few snaps, the first time we’re aware of any South Africans making a skate voyage to Nigeria.

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Khule switch 360 flips at one of the few street spots the guys could make work. The stairs may not be huge, but it’s pretty amazing if you think about exactly where they were. New skate frontiers in Africa.

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I AM

TRENT SLOAN

Words and photos - Alessandro Galassi

Grab grind at the old concrete park in Pietermaritzburg.

Trent has a natural and effortless style on his board. He’s an example of an all round skater who shreds on the tranny or in the streets, and just enjoys being on his board and having fun skating with his homies. He’s a humble dude and usually keeps to himself, but he definitely lets his board do the talking. Trent is the youngest and most recent addition to the Cloudy Brothers crew, and I’m stoked that he’s a part of the fam. Expect big things from this homie. – Alessandro Galassi

“HE’S A HUMBLE DUDE AND USUALLY KEEPS TO HIMSELF, BUT HE DEFINITELY LETS HIS BOARD DO THE TALKING”

Hurricane at the crusty brick Workshop banks in downtown Durban.

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PHOTO CLARK

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ISHOD WAIR

STREET LEAGUE PRO OPEN BARCELONA 2017 – WITH MONSTER ENERGY Interview - Luke Jackson / Photos - Joey Shigeo

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hanks to Monster Energy I made it over to the Street League Pro Open 2017 event in Barcelona, Spain.

Many of the world’s best skateboarders were invited to compete at the Skate Agora Plaza in Badalona (just north of Barcelona). An epic few days of watching amazing skateboarding, hanging by the sunny beaches on the Mediterranean and cruising the perfect street plazas that make Barcelona truly one of the best skate destinations in the world.

I mean they’re fun, give you some extra cash and good times. You get to travel all over the world to go to them.

One of the highlights was an opportunity to get access to some of the best skateboarders, like Ishod Wair. Ishod won the 2011 Maloof Money Cup in South Africa and later in 2013 Thrasher named him ‘Skater Of The Year’ after releasing 4 banging parts in one year.

With a massive following, he’s constantly on trips around the world and producing amazing footage and photos. I sat down with Ishod for a quick chat.

Probably Australia, I mean they speak English. Close second is Barcelona, I would like to learn to speak Spanish and to live here. A lot of people in California speak Spanish, but where I’m from not many people speak it.

Can you name 5 African Countries?

Do you prefer the east coast or the west coast?

Um, nah I can’t man. Give me an example? I went to South Africa, just to Kimberley and the Johannesburg airport.

I can’t think of any others.

Do contests matter to you?

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Is Copenhagen your favourite event in the year?

Copenhagen in the summer, Barcelona and Australia are probably my favourite places.

If you had to live anywhere in the world outside of the USA, where would you live?

Do you still live in Philadelphia?

Yeah I live between Philly and California, I go back and forth.

It depends on the time of the year. West coast in the winter for sure! Philly and New York in like spring, summer and fall, but the east can get really hot in summer too.

Fuck one, marry one and kill one – Rihanna, Mariah Carey and Tyra Banks?

I’d kill Tyra Banks. I’d fuck Rihanna and marry Mariah. Mariah is a good amount older, so if she dies I’d get all her bread. Rihanna is also kind of a wild card, she could be sketch. Wait I’ll marry Rihanna and fuck Mariah.

Whose your skateboarder?

favourite

Female

Lacey Baker is fucking steezy! There are a lot of upcoming chicks that are younger.

Alexis Sablone has always been dope as well.

I know you love cars, what’s your favourite car that you own?

I have two E30 BMWs, one is supercharged and one is turbo. The one that is supercharged is more fun to drive cause you don’t have to wait for the turbo to spool up, all 400 horsepower is just there right when you hit boost, so you can get fucking crazy in it. The turbo is harder to predict, there’s enough power, but the turbo lag can hit and you can hit boost and miss your apex while drifting around a corner and possibly slam into a curb or whatever.

So you take cars pretty seriously, if you didn’t skate do you think maybe you’d be into racing or whatever?

Yeah I race people sometimes on the highway, sketchy style.

Last video part that got you hyped?

A part on the Thrasher site, damn what’s his name again? Let me look this shit up, the guy is gnarly. I’m not that much of a hater, I see shit everyday and get hyped.

I’ve been watching Baker 3 a lot, Baker 3 is lit! Wait here it is, this guy Keegan McCutchen, the guy with the pop shoves.

I was just like, “this is the most advanced part” and just like “fuck, like holy fuck!”

Skateboarding needs more…?

A lot of people aren’t in my position, but lately there’s a lot of big companies and endorsements and they want you to do certain shit. But the reason they sponsor you in the first place is because they like you as a person and your skating. They should just let you be free you know what I mean? You see how everyone has the same goddam shoes on here? Nobody can be themselves cause everybody has to wear the same shit. You know everyone rides for Nike, so let them all wear their own shit. More individuality!

Skateboarding needs less…?

I dunno skating is pretty tight. It’s going to change either way.

Any words for the skaters back in South Africa?

What’s up South Africa! What’s good?

Keep Skating!

Kickflip frontside 50-50

Overcrook

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