In each of the four disciplines Sunday, glowing audiences bore witness to the making of the
following «freestyle.champ» title holders: snowboarder Eero Ettala (FIN), freeskier Sammy
Carlson (USA), FMX pilot Dany Torres (ESP) and skateboarder Jean-Paul Ronchetti (GBR). A
grand total of 47,000 visitors, 3 straight days of awesome weather, kickin’ live concerts and
rousing freestyle action transformed Zurich’s Landiwiese this weekend into an unrivaled
freestyle arena.

It would be hard to top the incredible contest action, top athletes, excellent sounds of rapper Stress,
Phenomden and The Vibes as well as the great atmosphere and perfect weather soaked up by visitors
over the past three days at Zurich’s Landiwiese. Visitors kicked back and became one with Label
World’s mellow scene as they joined in the fun prize games and activities offered at exhibitor stands.
«The success of the event confirms the strength of our concept», remarked the contented OC President
Erwin Flury. «Visitors are really drawn to the great mix of freestyle action, world-class athletes, powerful
live concerts and top trends at Label World.»

YouTube round up of the best action

«freestyle.champ»
It was first-things-first as the finalists in snowboarding, freeskiing, FMX biking and skateboarding got
things going in Sunday’s finals. Everyone showed up with an impressive bag of tricks and an incredible
appetite for landing a spot at the top as they took each other on. Then things got down to the wire as the
four best athletes in each category fought for the 2009 «freestyle.champ» title in the Superfinal. All of
the Superfinals in each of the four disciplines were over within an hour’s time, delivering a powerful
finish to an unbeatable weekend - aired live on SF zwei to boot!

Just 16 and already a win at the Vert Ramp
Sandro Dias was the favorite heading into Sunday’s skateboarding contests. No wonder: the guy left
audiences speechless with his soaring jumps at the Vert ramp. But he couldn’t quite manage to keep up
his peak performance in the Superfinal, falling when he attempted a 900. Paul-Luc Ronchetti, the 16
year old Brit, seized the opportunity, sending himself straight to the top by landing the title with his 720
and soaring 540 Varial. Both Jürgen Horrwath from Berlin and Sandro Dias were forced to take
backseat at 3rd and 4th. «I’m really proud of myself for managing to beat my childhood idol, Sandro
Dias!», beamed the winner Ronchetti. Daniel Mayer from the USA took 2nd place.

Close contest in freeskiing
The freeskiing champ was decided in a breathtaking show. It was only by one point that Sammy Carlson
beat Swiss kid Elias Ambühl to score 1st. Although both managed to thrill audiences with extremely
difficult jumps, the judges were forced to choose between the two. They took Carlson’s Double Cork
1080 over Ambühl’s Switch Double Cork 1080. It was ultimately this American freeskier’s style that won
judges over and landed him the «freestyle.champ» title. «Winning was a real confidence booster. Look
out X-Games, here I come!», said Carlson. Andreas Hatveit from Norway took 3rd while the Swede
glamour boy, Jon Olsson came in 4th.

FMX Dirt Jump in Spanish hands
In Sunday’s finals were Daisuke Suzuki (JPN), Charles Pagès (FRA), Dany Torres from Spain and Mat
Rebeaud from the French part of Switzerland. Rebeaud was the audience’s favorite heading into the
contest. He gave a consistent performance all weekend long while Pagès got increasingly better,
managing to eventually even pull off a Double Seatback Back Flip. However, topping both of these guys
was Dany Torres, who maintained a peak performance throughout, ever ready with a new variation. It
was his repertoire of back flip combos like the Lazyboy and Cliffhanger that won him the
«freestyle.champ» title. «It was cool to beat out Pagès and win today,» exclaimed the Spaniard. «I’m
definitely getting back to Zurich!»

A Finnish guy wins the snowboard contest
The Swiss had a strong chance for a win as Christian Haller and Iouri Podladtchikov headed into
Sunday’s Snowboarder Superfinal. Failed landings decided otherwise, however, knocking these two
athletes down to 3rd and 4th. A well-deserved victory went to the experienced rider from Helsinki and
2006 champ, Eero Ettala. He earned his «freestyle.champ» title with a Backside 1080 Mute as well as a
Switch Double Cork 1080, which he landed for the first time ever, putting his opponent, 17 year old
talent Sebastien Toutant in 2nd. No one managed to throw tricks as high and as wide as this Finnish
guy. «It’s incredible that I managed to land this trick. This will definitely not be the last time,» raved a
very happy Ettala.

Switzerland’s Podladtchikov crowned «crossover.champ»
The lit-up Landiwiese was basking in an incredible freestyle spirit Saturday night. Everything and
everyone was in place and awaiting the gladiators to make their entrance into the freestyle arena. And
these guys entered on fire, burning down the house as fans cheered them on to soaring heights in the
«Crossover Session». The crowds even enjoyed the one-time chance to play judge in the freestyle
arena. As in the previous year, during the show contests, all four disciplines were represented in the
Superfinal: Iouri Podladtchikov for snowboarding, 17 year old Swiss Elias Ambühl for freeskiing, new
proud father Dany Torres from Spain for FMXing and long-time audience favorite, Sandro Dias for
skateboarding. Although the Brazilian scored the «crossover.champ» title in 2006 and 2008, the
audience went with Podladtchikov this time around – they just couldn’t get over his perfect landing of the
Double Backside Rodeo.

Those who missed Europe’s largest freestyle sports event or those looking to experience freestyle.ch
Zurich 2009 once again, should turn on the TV Sunday, October 4, to SF zwei for all the highlights from
freestyle.ch Zurich 2009.

There’s more action coming up as the freestyle train takes off for Berlin. freestyle.berlin will premiere
from October 9 – 11 at Berlin Tempelhof Airport. More info available at: http://berlin.freestyle.ch.
More press photos and additional information available at: www.freestyle.ch.

For those that don’t know - since the demise of Document Skateboard magazine, Sidewalk magazine has taken on their KOTR style video comp the ‘Big Push’.

Now in its fifth year, the ‘Big Push’ is a well-established and highly anticipated part of the UK skateboard calendar. Created by Percy Dean of Document magazine, the ‘Big Push’ aims to pit the premium skateboard teams in the country against one another on a whistle-stop tour of the hottest and most iconic skateboard destinations that the UK has to offer.

This year, the Big Push sees the reins being taken by the UK’s largest skateboard publication Sidewalk and aims to be bigger and better than ever before. With teams from DC, Vans, Nike SB, Adidas, Etnies and Team Shiner, and pre-assigned area specific tasks for each team, 2009 should see the most varied and explosive Big Push yet.

It’s happening right as we speak, with the DC UK Skate Team, who Soulsports look after the PR for, currently on the road in Brighton to complete their tasks.

Here’s the link to the DC blog on the micro-site complete with the first few day’s worth of video blogs/photos and nonsense:

The second annual UKSA National Skateboard Championships is going to be returning to Adrenaline Alley, Corby, on September 5th and 6th for another full weekend of epic homegrown skateboarding!

As with last year, there will be both vert and street comps running all weekend with a prize purse of £10,000 up for grabs, a Mob Grip best trick comp, Blueprint pyramid jam and Rubicon girls comp.

Check out the flyer below for full details:

Ripper Axel Cruysberghs is having one of the best year’s to date after cleaning up at this year’s Etnies European Skateboard Championships (ESC) with a win in the street comp event and also in the mini ramp comp.

There was some great skating being thrown down by all competitors. Results are below:

Street
1st Axel Cruysberghs (BE)
2nd Phil Zwijssen (BE)
3rd Sven Kilcheman (CH)

Mini Ramp
1st Axel Cruysberghs (BE)
2nd Micky Iglesias (CH)
3rd Julian Dijkman (BE)

Girls
1st Candy Jacobs (NL)
2nd Sabrina Goggel (GER)
3rd Ianire Elorriaga (ES)

Visit skateboardeurope.com for a full post event report and images and check out a roundup of the finals action here, courtesy of the guys at Mpora:

More esc-basel Skateboarding >>

Soulsports has just got back in from a weeklong trip to Dublin after organising a press trip to the DC King of Dublin Skateboard Contest. Check out the full event write up and a couple of images below.

Press Release:

Keith Walsh Crowned DC King of Dublin

Last weekend, Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th July, saw the first of the 2009 DC King of Series events kick off in Dublin, where local Keith Walsh was crowned the king of the two day amateur skateboarding contest, walking away with 2,500 Euro’s, a spot on the DC King’s Team and of course the bragging rights!

On day one of two, the DC US, European and UK skate teams and the city’s local skaters and contestants all met up at G1 Skateshop before skating across the city to the contest spot, Portobello Square, to skate the ledges and water gaps. With the spot fully de skate stopped and the gods shining down it made for a perfect set-up for Day One of the DC King of Dublin contest with everyone seeming stoked to have a skate event like this in their town.

Riding in heats of four, the 40 contestants flew through the 8 heats - 20 minutes a heat. The scene was awesome with the guys rolling deep to skate. The ledges of Portobello got handled and some amazing riding went down from both the 40 contestants and the DC pros, which included Jani Laitalia, Henning Braaten, Ruben Garcia, Manuel Margreiter, Jody Smith and Antony Lopez.

There were definite standouts from the days contest, but the judges, made up of the DC Pro Team, kept the scores close to their chests until Day Two when DC King of Dublin headed over to a rail spot, Wood Quay.

Sunday brought day two and the finals of DC King of Dublin—what a finals it was. It definitely went down as the best am skate contest Dublin’s ever seen. Outside of the spot, the scene was sick. The natural outdoor auditorium set up made a rad setting to watch Ireland’s best battle for the DC King of Dublin crown.

The spot for day two was decidedly heavier than at Portobello’s. Wood Quay was a long 12 stair with a new handrail added to the middle of it to mix it up. Men and boys were separated, with some of the skaters from Day One’s ledge spot not even showing up to skate. It didn’t look that big, but once the guys started jumping down, it was a different deal. And unless the ams were on their street game, they were out. With the DC team jumping in to keep the energy high, a lot of stuff went down by those actually competing. We’ll bare you the list of tricks, go watch them for yourself through the video recap at www.dcshoes.com/skate.

The finals boiled down and rising to the top were Keith Walsh, who took the top spot, followed by Joe Hill, and then Cian Eades. The boys were ripping. For their efforts, they split an impressive 5,000 Euros prize pot. It was an unprecedented opportunity to shred some otherwise-illegal street spots, get some exposure, and earn some Euros. Congratulations and thanks go out to all of the skaters and skate shops (especially G1) that made it an unforgettable contest and legendary success.

Really, the best way to see everything that went down in Dublin is to check the www.dcshoes.com/skate website, which has a gallery showcasing the event. Later, don’t forget to watch out for DC King of Dublin footage in an upcoming podcast video.

Keith Walsh

Portobello's

Wood Quay

On July 22nd Soulsports PR worked with DC to host an exclusive event at the Maverik Showroom in London to celebrate the release of DC skate photographer, Mike Blabac’s first book, BLABAC PHOTO – The Art of Skateboarding photography. More than 400 guests, including Ryan Smith - DC professional skateboarder, came to support Blabac and view the photo gallery exhibit showcasing 20 years of Blabac’s photography pulled from his extensive collection of work.

Available now, BLABAC PHOTO is the first skateboarding book of its kind featuring 224 pages of iconic images in skateboarding in a beautifully designed, cloth-bound, large format hardcover book. Published by powerHouse Books, BLABAC PHOTO takes you on a visual journey from Blabac’s humble beginnings as a kid who was intrigued by cameras to shooting some of the most legendary skateboarders of all time. Coinciding with the release of BLABAC PHOTO is the Blabac Azure mid, the first DC signature shoe that has been made for a non-professional team member. This shoe was designed to compliment the book and pay homage to Blabac and his work with DC over the past 10 years.

Both the book and shoe are available at www.dcshoes.com/blabac., DC flagship stores, select skate shops, powerHouse, and select book retailers.

Blabac’s London gallery exhibit will be available for viewing at the Maverik Showroom located at 68-72 Redchurch Street from July 23-31. BLABAC PHOTO launched in New York at the powerHouse arena in Brooklyn New York on June 30. The NY exhibit will be available for viewing at powerHouse arena from July 1 – August 2. Other previous tour stops included Los Angeles, Melbourne, Tokyo, and Barcelona. The last stop will be in San Francisco on August 28. For more information on Blabac and the world tour visit www.dcshoes.com/blabac.

A few pictures from the night:

I’ve got a team in the “Ultimate Boarder Contest” called Team Wahoo’s - Martin Robertson (snow), Eric Mchenry (surf), Sam Baptista (skate) & Nate Hawley (team captain)… check it out:

2ND ANNUAL COAST BODY WASH ULTIMATE BOARDER ANNOUNCES FINAL SCHEDULE, FAMILY FRIENDLY ELEMENTS, AND CONCERT LINEUP … REBELUTION.

SNOW/ SURF/SKATE TRIATHLON, APRIL 4TH – 11TH, 2009

Ultimate Boarder is gearing up for this year’s snow, surf, and skate solo and team triathlon style competition. Over 90 athletes are confirmed to compete April 4th to April 11th in Big Bear (April 4th, 5th) and Ventura, California (7th to 11th).

Notable names include Dave Downing, Kalani David, Tosh Townend, John John Florence, Omar Hassan, X-Games Champ Andy Macdonald, Christian Fletcher, Todd Richards, Tom Curren, Steve Caballero, Shaun Thomson, Christian Hosoi and defending Ultimate Boarder champion, Aaron Astorga will test their boarding skills on snow, surf, and the skate ramp to be crowned the Ultimate Boarder Champion. View the complete athlete roster here: www.ultimateboarder.com/event-athletes.php

Detailed UB Schedule:
www.ultimateboarder.com/ultimate_boarder_tickets.php

April 4th & 5th: Stage 1 - Snowboarding Competition, Bear Mountain, Big Bear Lake, CA

Confirmed professional snowboarders include Dave Downing, Mads Jonsson, Shayne Pospisil, and Todd Richards. Competition will take place 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Ultimate Boarder, in conjunction with Bear Mountain, offers a top-notch slope style course. Athlete registration, practice and kick-off party at THE SCENE will take place on April 4th. The solo and team snowboarding competition will take place the morning of April 5th.

April 7th – 9th: Stage 2 - Surf Competition, “C” Street, Ventura CA

Confirmed professional surfers include Tom Curren, John John Florence, Cheyne Magnusson, Mike Morrissey, Jason “Ratboy” Collins, Christian Fletcher, Dillon Perillo, Shaun Thomson, and Killian Garland. UB has a three-day surf waiting period for this one-day competition. The surf leg will be call on Friday, April 3rd. Free surf lessons for kids with Surf Happens. Time/ date TBD. surfhappens@cox.net

Thursday, April 9th, “Fly in the Champagne” movie premiere starring Andy Irons and Kelly Slater. Two showings at 7:00 & 8:30pm will take place at the Century 10 Ventura Theatre (555 E. Main St.) $5 admission. TransWorld Surf After Party at The Good Bar following the last screening.

Friday, April 10th: Stage 3 - Skateboarding Competition, Ventura County Fairgrounds and a music performance by REBELUTION.

Confirmed professional skaters include: Christian Hosoi, Omar Hassan, Adam Taylor, Tosh Townend, Steve Caballero, and Andy Macdonald. Competition on custom made 60’ mini ramp/half bowl and vert ramp section.

Rebelution (http://www.myspace.com/rebelution) will take the stage on Friday night. This Isla Vista grown band has rocketed up the iTunes charts and is on a national tour. Rebelution will be supported by up and coming Soul Majestic (www.soulmajestic.com) and local favorite Sublime cover band, Emilbus. Music 6PM to 10 PM. Family Fun Zone: Reptile Petting Zoo, Bouncer, Arts & Crafts, Relays, Gymnastics, Bubbles, Parachute Games, Ball games (April 10th and 11th). All Ages Entertainment / Live Music. Ventura County Fairgrounds. Tix $10 - $15 (Ages 10 and Under: FREE).

Saturday, April 11th, 2009: Stage 3 - Skateboarding Competition & Awards Ceremony

Free skate lessons for kids with 8-time X-Games Gold Medal Winner Andy MacDonald from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. Ultimate Boarder Easter Egg Hunt at 11:30 AM. All ages entertainment Benefit Concert for Free Wheelchair Mission featuring singer-songwriter sensation Tyrone Wells (http://www.tyronewells.com), and South Africa’s Civil Twilight (http://civiltwilightband.com. Benefit concert 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Tickets are $10 - $15 (Ages 10 and Under: FREE). Ultimate Boarder after party with DJ Mark Moreno at Candlelight (211 E. Santa Clara Street, Ventura) starting at 10pm. Admission is $20, all ages.

Additional Friday & Saturday (April 10th & 11th) Highlights:

KIDS FUN ZONE: Arts/Crafts, relay races, parachute, bubbles, face painting, reptile petting zoo, ball games, gymnastics/tumbling. Time: 10AM – 5 PM, Friday & Saturday.
KIDS SKATE PARK: Bring your skateboard to a huge indoor skate zone for kids. FREE (with price of admission). 10 – 5pm Friday & Saturday.
SKATEBOARDING CLINIC W/PRO ANDY MACDONALD: 10AM – 11AM, SATURDAY ONLY. FREE WITH ADMISSION.
FOOD/BEER GARDENS
LOCAL ARTISTS
MERCHANT BOOTHS

TEAM COMPETITION: Due to popular demand, UB added a team competition division allowing three (3) individuals to form a TEAM. $8,500 prize purse.
TEAMS INCLUDE: Hurley, Volcom, Sector 9, LOST, Legend Teams & MORE

A GROM, A GIRL & 3 SETS OF BROTHERS: UB is proud to announce the first female athlete to compete in the UB solo competition. Lyn-z Adams Hawkins will be taking on the boys! This year’s event will also feature 3 sets of brothers competing in the solo competition…long live sibling rivalry! Finally, we have an 11-year-old ripper (Kalani David) taking on the big boys.

1 HOUR TV SHOW WITH PRIMETIME PREMIERE ON FUEL TV: We are proud to announce a partnership with FUEL TV that will bring the UB event to 26 million homes and reach up to 40 million homes in syndication. The hour-long show premieres on June 22, 2009 at 8:00 PM.

Sponsors for the 2009 Ultimate Boarder event include, Title Sponsor - Coast Body Wash, 180 All Natural Energy, Indo Board, Amtrak California, Bear Mountain, FUEL TV, AdUp Displays, Soul Ryde, Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, and Newcastle.

About Ultimate Boarder™
Ultimate Boarder™ is a one-week competition to find the athlete who can conquer the art
of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding. Ultimate Boarder™ was created in response to the growing popularity of these sports, and as a way to promote healthy athletic lifestyles among young athletes in a positive and competitive environment that grooms role models and heroes for our country’s next generation. To register for the Ultimate Boarder™ Championship, and for event details, rules and eligibility visit www.ultimateboarder.com.

New York Times article here