Latvian National Library (LNB) is one of the most prolific skate spots in Riga. It has everything: ledges, stairs, rails, gaps and so on. LNB is also legal to skate which makes it one of the best spots in Riga. Despite LNB’s benefits, it is not as popular among locals as we think it should be. So to bring more life to LNB we partnered with Vans, Tikari and Clockwise skateshops to make a contest at the LNB Plaza! Boss of LNB is basically a game of skate contest around the whole territory of LNB. Inspired by Barcelona’s King of Macba, Boss of LNB features 16 local skaters who will play a game of skate one on one around the plaza. Check the first episode above and the bracket bellow. Stay tuned for more episodes every week.
Episode 2 Tomorrow with Edijs Plume and Marks Vornoņenko
Congrats to our mates from Estonian Kaifuun Network putting a fight for Tallinn’s best DIY skatepark, Metsakooli DIY. Here’s Siim Sild from Kaifuun in his own words about the story of Metsakooli DIY and what he and his peers had to go through to save the spot.
Words by Siim Sild
Metsakooli DIY has been around for almost two decades. It’s been a place for the skateboarding community to build, learn, grow and connect. Of course it’s a bit rough around the edges but it’s built by skateboarders to skateboarders (and for everyone else too as we see it from the daily users). It’s a pillar of the local skateboarding community. Now, the future of Metsakooli is at risk!
In the beginning of April this year we found out that the Pirita District Administration had organised a procurement to “fix the DIY” aka demolish it and build a new skatepark. Because it’s not “legitimate” and it was deemed “dangerous” by their experts. We wrote and called Pirita District to offer cooperation with skateboarders, so they could understand our needs better and why it’s important for us to keep the DIY. But the head of Pirita district, Tõnis Liinat, was not interested in hearing our thoughts nor meeting us to find a solution on this matter.
Photo by Lauri Täht
And to make matters worse they have “evaluated” the condition of the asphalt and deemed it all right (this was done on 05.04 and the park was covered in snow on that day…). If there was one thing that we, the skaters, would have changed about the park, it would have been the slightly rough 20+ years old asphalt ground. They were just going to tear down our dear skatepark and replace it with the cheapest offer!
Luckily everybody was quite upset about it and the campaign to share info about the situation in Instagram through Kaifuun was successful, huge amount of shares etc, so we managed reached a lot of people. Some of them were able to guide us through to the right people who could make our voices heard in the Pirita district. In addition to that we also started pushing out a couple of stories in the newspapers etc.
We met with the Pirita district council on the 25th of April, where we expressed our views, concerns and explained the importance of that skatepark to the Estonian skateboarding community. The council understood us completely and was on our side of course but the district government representative took some time to warm up. Through some pressure and precisely aimed questions we all managed to agree that we, the skaters, would present our vision and list all the repairs that need to be done, what obstacles could be demolished etc. The aim of putting together this document was to offer them enough input so they could put together a new procurement plan that would actually take the wishes of the active park users into consideration.
Photo by Lauri Täht
So we put together this document where we listed all the works that need to be done on the elements we want to keep. We also listed a few elements that we would demolish and replace with something different since these obstacles do not find enough use. Also, we stated that we’re fine when some of the smaller elements are demolished if it simplifies the process of laying down new asphalt, on the condition that they’re later replaced with similar ones. Yeah, you read that right – new asphalt – so that’s one good development that the raised public awareness brought us quite early on. To sum it up, out of the 12 elements currently in the park, we want to keep the 5 main ones that define Metsakooli DIY in our opinion.
A few days later I got a call from the Pirita district governor Tõnis Liinat, who said that they’ve found a builder for the park and that we would check and confirm if the submitted plans look alright. Basically, the plans are a replica of the current park with a few elements swapped for new ones. But as everyone knows, replicas are never 100% the same as the original, not to mention the loss of the vibe and soul. About keeping those 5 main elements Liinat said something in the lines of “It wouldn’t really make sense if half of the park is illegal and half of it is legit.” Which obviously raised the question why did we put together that document in the first place when they’re not even willing to consider our suggestions. So far, them asking for the final confirmation from us had been the only form of cooperation with the community by them.
Photo by Lauri Täht
Then it was pretty quiet for a week or so but then I got a call from the people at the district council who said that great news, they’re going through with our suggested plan. The head of Pirita district had promised them that they’ll keep the 5 obstacles. Everything seemed maybe even a little too good to be true and as it turned later it was…
A day or two before Midsummer day, we found out that since our suggested option would push the total costs up by 7000 euros, they have returned to the original plan to tear everything down and build a replica. I was also told that this is standard practice if the district wants to push something through without the people noticing – everybody’s on holiday enjoying summer, perfect time to pull off something shady. To be honest, I was almost ready to quit but decided to still send a few emails and make some calls. Somehow we managed to get a meeting the next day where we worked together with the skatepark builder to cut our costs a bit and we got it back to 60k.
Photo by Lauri Täht
So that’s about it, they’re starting to work on the skatepark towards the end of August and fingers crossed everything will go according to plan. We can’t be 100% sure that this is exactly how it will go down since there’s no signatures given nor documents to confirm our agreement. But we’re trying to be in close contact with all the parties involved to keep everything under control.
Fun fact: The head of Pirita district got arrested in the beginning of July for accepting bribes to guide the district procurements into the direction the people with money wanted. He spent a bit less than a month in jail and was just released since he was stripped from his position in the district government and he’s not a real “threat” anymore, so I guess he’ll just pay some fines or whatever. Anyways, this tells a lot about the people that we were supposed to deal with, corrupt to the core.
Great video by Rios Crew from Budapest, Hungry. Google translates the title of the vid as “cheap”. With a similar spot quality to ours, the video might feel relatable. Although the streetwisdow these guys approach the spots with is something we lack over here. The music direction in this piece is also something special. For example, the last part has an ambient noise sound or something. It is unusual and trippy, but in a tasteful way. Also, the styles of some skaters really stood out—not clean, marketable skaters we see most of the time.
Riga spots are often lacking perfection. Besides the obvious cracks and bad surface, the spots can lack run up or roll away. The solutions are simple: either be a grown up and let it go, or think of creative ways of how to fix the problem. We don’t use bondo like real American pros, so fixing cracks is not a common thing, however it does happen.
Mostly local skaters have dealt with roll away problems by using the technique of “plāksne” (eng. plywood). This roll away solution is extremely common and some Latvian spots wouldn’t have existed without it. We gathered a few examples of plāksne roll away solutions below.
Exhibit A. Andrej Pižov – frontside boardslide Olimpija rail. From Workout 2 by Andzej Gavriss ~2007
Using “plāksne” technology is not inspired by good living. When there are no handrails in sight, especially small ones, plaksne is the only way to go. Pižov takes it further by adding a run up plāksne. The length of the roll away is questionable. If it had been so short on regular flat it wouldn’t count, but on plāksne it kind of counts.
Exhibit B. Jevgenijs Kostirko – backside lipslide at Smirdigais ledž (eng, Stinky ledge)
This spot was not skateable without a good “plāksne”. Think of all the work you had to put in to bring this huge piece of plywood there. Hopefully it stayed there between session. It was a rather popular spot and had seen a lot of good tricks. Again, it is not clear whether he would roll away from this on regular flat, but as long as he covered the length of the plāksne, it kind of counts.
Exhibit C. Niks Kolosovskis – Nollie backside noseslide. From SkateRadio video 2006
As hubbas are rare in our parts, using a plāksne was worth the effort in this case. Even if it is a skatepark size hubba, it is still a hubba.
Exhibit D. Fricis Štrauss – Ollie. From Straightforward skateboards – Pis Taisnāk! 2019. Filmed by Armands Baumanis
Fricis is the guru of roll away solutions and works hard to keep the tradition alive. He even takes his own private roll away plāksne on trips and contests. Did this spot need roll away aid? Maybe Fricis is used to landing his tricks into plāksne, so he added it there simply for motivation.
To sum up, the roll away aiding technologies are not dormant and are constantly developing. As long as there are bad spots, there’s always going to be a plāksne near by to help.
Check some rajon reporting from Saldus Action Games that we hit during RajonTV tour in Kurzeme. Niklavs won the event, but he should be checked for doping next time. He had one too many monsters. Shout out and much luv to Saldus Saldie as always. Peace!
Go skateboarding day in Riga had the same formula for the past 3 years. The formula developed organically: take an original route every year, hit spots that people don’t skate on the daily, build a new spot or two on the way, and make one unified event with all shops involved. This worked marvelous before and this year was not an exception.
All photos by hardworking Nauris Dollins. Video in the end of the post.
Enjoy.
Niklavs Vetra and Gaba both with their tongues out
Out of all days it had to be a Tuesday! Personally hoped it would rain and the event would get postponed to a more convenient day of the week, but skate gods had other plans. The first spot was Lucavsala’s banks where the main attraction was doing flip tricks to fakie on the bank.
Kaspars Polis with a 540 gazzell big-spin underflip to fakie. Cool. However, its the dress shirt that got this pic a pass
Obviously when people were done with their flips it was time to taildrop into the bank from the bridge. At one point a line of taildroppers formed on the top. Even guys who strictly skate flat were spotted up there. It was on! Karlis Bogustovs took the applause with a stylish switch Baker Maker roll down [see in video].
Ralfs aka “the new kid from Cesis” blasted one with a melonNew owners of Lucavsala banks
The second spot was an improvised DIY on the next island, Zaķusala. Basically there’s a huge pile of granite curbs left from renovation of the bridge. The pile is 5m away from a wide asphalted path. All you need to do is take some of the curbs out to the asphalt and you’ve got a spot. It has been on the radar for some time now, but only now with all the manpower it became possible to bring that stuff out.
Rudolfs Henčels ss fs board like in Triecienspēks. Minus the afro.That’s wassup!
Next to the new DIY ledges, Fricis materialized a kicker that launched people right on the trash container. Nose bonks, doinks, h*jonks and other miracles went down there.
Rudik nose doinkSecret Boards.lv rider Aksels Ķezberis nosebadoinking the trash containaLords of Curb Town
Spot three was a downhill on a center side of the river. Everyone could participate in a death race and have some fun slams. The cool thing about death races is that anyone could potentially win. Old pesiognar dogs can move it and give spots to the young pups. This is exactly what happened.
Roberts Grandans lowridahYaaaaay!Ernest following the dress code of the spot.
Not much to say here accept that the downhill spot was nice, dope and awesome. Also, sick! Let’s get it!
Live fast, die old!
For spot four the holy organizers have chosen Lastadijas Culture Quarter. A place that is run by people of Free Riga among which a few skaters reside. They have a small DIY pumptrack there and a box. Combined with our portable kicker and a barrier all of these made up a nice spot.
Davis Daukšts Kickflip. Awesome!Homie Valters with a boneless in the pumptrack. Dope!MONEY! Mark got 10 euros for the line [See in video]Karl BOG with another taildrop on the red light. Was it a Baker Maker this time? [see in video]Kristofers – Caveman to fence stall to yank out. Can’t believe I wrote thatPumptrack destroyers
The ender was a ledge at Zefirs bar that Riga DIY has put together for the event. The crew quickly fixed the ledge to the stairs, adjusted some ply wood and everything was set. The unsuspecting Tuesday drinkers had a surprise and free entertainment.
Coca Cola – an old trick to make the ground less slippery.Wicked noseblunt from Rudak!RajonTV Rookie of the Yeah – Artis. Back smif.Fricis – bs 5-0 fs 180 out. Crazy. He also did a bs nosegrind revert that we didn’t film. Yay!Marks – double flipNext gen is hereThese guys won!
And that’s wrap. Huge thank you to all parties involved in making this day special: LSK, Boards.lv, Tikari, Clockwise, Mindwork Ramps, Riga DIY, Zefirs, Lastadijas Culture Quarter.
See you next year! Enjoy our official report below.
We were hanging out together with Emilia and talking about her uni and internship, when we realized that her internship could be one of the Pus8y Grab’s events organized events. As a result, Einars took Emilia as an intern in the Spot Center and on 3rd of June we had a chance to organize Skate Cats Summer Jam.
The format included a coach. For two hours we had a skate lesson, and then a contest jam in both street and park sections. We also had a Cat Race. Yes, we have Cat Races.
When I came to the Spot Centre Sensej and Boga were already there. Turned out Boga came without an invitation, just to support which was great. That allowed us to divide girls into two groups. Sensej skated with girls who had less experience and Boga with those who had more, and even inspired girls for impressive ollie session. Of course, skating with a coach can help to commit to something bigger. Thank you, guys, for showing up.
In the jam session the participants were divided into two groups, we had street and park groups. Every landed trick was backed by crowd cheering. We could feel great support. It was a real Skate Cats vibe.
Everyone who showed up won, however the prizes from Boards.lv and Boga’s books were given to:
1st place – Rūta Grīnerte 2nd place – Emīlija Stoka 3rd place – Robina Zvirgzdiņa
Crowd favorite award was given to our lovely Lithuanian sisters, Milda and Gabriela from SHERYKLELE, and to Ventspils soul sister, Mareta from SB.GIRLS.
When the Cat Race began we all were a bit tired, however it was still fun. We competed with each other and also Patriks :D. I had to race some 4 or 5 times in a row. Thank you to Laura who for some reason in my first run waited for me at the finish line, so we could cross it together. That allowed me to keep going and get to the finals with Robina. We raced until the end, until I couldn’t keep the balance and rolled over the finish line. Got a prize for that too, lol.
Cat Race champ -Robina.
In between all of this I filmed some clips, through it all into an event recap. Next morning, I hit Miera darzs with Sheryklele.
Watch the video, like, subscribe and support your local skater girl! See you soon.
Exactly a year ago VEF DIY was facing complete destruction. Land lords wanted the place out to build a parking lot. This made skateboarders get together and think of ways how to safe the DIY. Thus Latvijas Skeitbordistu Kolektivs or LSK (eng. Latvian Skateboarders Collective) was born. Now, a year later, we already see some fruits of labor. VEF DIY is still here in new colors and is ready to host events.
So, on 30th of April (which according to insta stories was the exact same day they started to demolish VEF in 2021) LSK in collab with Tikari Skateshop hosted a Season Opener event which included a clean up and a skate jam with a few disciplines. And yeah, it was sick 😀
Amazing photos by Nauris Dollins
Matiss Grockis nosestall revert on the central quarterOur man Siim Sild the admin of @kaifuun.network drove to Riga to ss blunt the quarter.Of course Fricis had to come up with some out of the box stuff. He happened to have a saw with him, so he cut this branch and made a ledge out of it. All during the event. Fricis being Fricis.Marcis and Kalns to the rescue!I repeat: Marcis WON the RAT RACE!1st PLACE B****Drink Mangali water. It rules.Rudzitis or SOTY 2005 blasting a nollie bigspin for 2PAC during best trickKarlis bonoless noseblunt pull in on a new extensionThat Tum Yum was amazing! Thank you IZI KCHNLinda got a prize!Matiss got a prize too and couldn’t believe it. Most Rookie awardBoga got most tech. What a surprise.Also, surprisingly Karlis got the most gnar. Some things never change do they.The most up-to-date gangThat’s all folks!
Thank you for coming and thank you to LSK and Tikari Skateshop for making this event happen. Special shout out to Mangali water and IZI KCNH for keeping us fed and hydrated.
Arturs “Boga” Bogdanovičs and group of young lean skater kids went to Vilnius last month for the premiere of “Ghetto Jungle“. Equipped with a handycam and face-feet-trick filming techniques, the crew hit some of the best tourist attractions of Vilnius city. Now having a handycam in his arsenal, we can expect more coverage from Boga, aka SOTY 2021.
