We are proud to present the newest video from our Tallinn homies. Same forces behind Onko se…? video and Project C bring the stormy KAIFUUN video on our screens. KAIFUUN has had two screenings in the Baltics already, one at Skate Baltica and second in Tallinn during Simple Session weekend. So now it is ready for the interwebs. The video is set to some cool jams and is captured through the lens of our beloved VX camera. The cast features a bunch of familiar local faces, including the guy who edited the whole project, Siim Sild.Enjoy the video and find out some insights from a mini interview with Siim below.
First of all tell us what does Kaifuun mean and where did the name came from?
The name is basically just a fun take on kaif (kaif + typhoon). I remember, that I first heard it when me and Tanel entered Loigu park and there was already a pretty heavy session going on – the music was blasting, everybody was already ripping and cheering etc. Tanel looked at me and said that a Kaifuun warning has been issued at Loigu. It was a pretty funny and witty play on words, but I didn’t think too much of it at first. Later, when I was trying to think of a name for the video, KAIFUUN started sounding better and better.
How is this video different from your previous works?
This time I collaborated with Tanel Kulla, who quite randomly suggested that maybe he could add some fun drawings and effects. That was all before I had even started editing. I thought that it’s a rad idea and when I had about 80% of the video edited, we started bouncing ideas back and forth and he started trying stuff out.
Is there any reason for setting up the video as a one big session, not separate parts? Why is it better etc?
I actually didn’t think we have enough footage to have separate parts when I started capturing the tapes, but I guess our trip to Prague and Vienna gave this video a nice boost. Since I had already thought to edit it as a one big session, I stuck by it. I think this video flows better like that, we weren’t filming for a certain project, I just brought the camera to skate sessions and if someone felt like doing something, we pulled the camera out. We filmed it over 2 years, therefore the tricks had some repetitions and some guys had only lines etc, so for me it worked better this time to mix everybody up. I don’t have a fixed standpoint though, if that’s certainly better than having separate parts – it depends on the footage.
What do you think holds people back from making more street vids in Estonia? Because it appears that there are some people who are keen on filming, but not a lot videos come out.
I think scheduling might be the hardest part for older guys because of work and other responsibilities. I’m not sure what holds back the younger generation though, maybe because now there is quite a lot of skateparks compared to when I started skating. The streets can sometimes be quite rough, if you’re not used to it.
Do you feel you get more into filming?This is the second video you filmed and edited, right?
It’s my third – the first proper one was Onko se…?, then Project C and now KAIFUUN. I’d like to hope that the filming part is getting better, but it is still not my “thing” yet. I enjoy editing a lot more. Of course I try to give my best, but when I’m filming a homie, I usually just keep thinking about my line, that we are going to film right after he makes his. That’s how it usually works with our crew – everybody just filming everybody.
We really want to believe that this championship raises the level of skateboarding in our country. Before these believes were mere speculations, but now, when we have two seasons behind our back and the third is approaching its climax, we can look back and see that YES, indeed, skaters have risen their bar in Latvia.
We probably need to make a separate post about this, but here is just one example to illustrate this point. The example is called: Nollie Back Side Heel. After the first season of game of skate, we made a statistic of tricks. We had to count all tricks in all games, and nollie bs heel was performed only 4 times through out the whole first season. Arguably the best flip trick around, nollie bs heel is not the hardest trick, rather the most stylish one(?). Anyway, we are always happy to see a nollie bs heel being pulled off in our games, and recently this trick had appeared quite often compared to previous years.
Happy St. Valentines day everybody. On this day the whole world talks about love and romance, and we are not missing out. Skaters are, for the most part, shy about their feeling, and, on average, can only confess their love to one thing: skateboarding!
We often talk about how we love skateboarding and how it is the best thing in our lives, but if you could measure your love, what do you thing the true answer would be?
Good thing we live in the 21st century – a time when sophisticated internet technology has answers for everything. RajonTV’s psychologist team created this simple 10-question personality test that can determine how much in love with skateboarding you are!
How do you remember the day you stepped on a skateboard for the first time?
What is your top priority when looking for a job?
How soon on a first date do you reveal that you are skateboarder?
How do you feel when you don't skate for a week?
What do you use your mobile phone for?
Who do you usually invite to your birthday party?
What are your plans for the future?
How often do you skate?
Who is your favorite skater?
How long does your skate session usually last?
How much in love with skateboarding are you?
You are head over heels in love!
Your love for this wooden platform on wheels has no limits. Your life is dedicated to skateboarding and you are proud of that. The rest of the world sees you as an idiot, and who can blame them? Even if they are right, it is too late to change anything. You are in love and always will be. Good luck on your journey and never loose faith!
You have a soft spot for it
You really like skateboarding, and it is almost the biggest thing in your life. You skate often and almost every time it feels good. You are almost in love with it, but you are still not ready to take things to the next level. However, don't force it, listen to your heart.
You are just getting acquainted
It is to early to speak about love, as you are still in two minds about taking up skateboarding or not. The local rollerblade store ran out of longboards, so you were left to choose between a penny board and regular size skateboard. A classic story! The regular one had ABEC8 bearings, which was perfect for your adrenaline addiction. Although you were sure that the ROCES blades were staring at you, you bought the skateboard. Now you are trying to figure out what to do with the damn thing. You could have been flying around and enjoying the strapped plastic boots on your feet, but no. You are stuck trying to roll down a bank.
It seems like you have drifted apart
And we are not talking about Atlantic Drift, but it probably doesn't even ring a bell to you. Your relationship with skateboarding has been on the rocks for quite some time. Usually you claim tricks that are way out of your league. You end up not landing anything and end up pissed at the whole world. For you landing tricks is skateboarding, but there is definitely more to that.
Share your Results:
If you really love skateboarding, get you board a gift!
RajonTV tries to be maximum liberal and allow as many different people to take part in our events as possible. This principle often leads to unusual combinations in our Game of Skate rooster. This week we have Toms Leģers vs Edijs Aizstrauts, two dudes who wouldn’t even say hi to each other in the street, probably. They both are polar opposites of one another, with different styles and skateboarding values. Their skateboarding creates emotions; although, again, opposites ones.
Niklāvs: A story long overdue, but finally, here it is – Clockwise skate shops trip to Daugavpils, a true hidden/not so hidden gem for skateboarding in Latvia. The weather was bleak and rainy. One day before our set date for the trip, and the team doesn’t know where or even if we are going somewhere. The main choices were between Daugavpils and Panevezys. Everything is just a blur. I am almost set on bailing on the trip, because of the indecisiveness and already planning a different trip to visit our fellow skater Sexyboi’ for his birthday party. It was Dubai themed and sounded dope. But NO! We had to go, all together, as a team, because Ingūna is moving to Berlin in a few days and we want her to be a part of the trip.
Alright fuck it! Let’s go! Let’s visit Daugavpils! The riders have some unfinished business there, it is not that far of a drive and we already have some people who could show us around. Let’s get it! One problem though… we don’t have a camera, there is no point on going without the coverage. Luckily for us few days ago Karlis Bogutsovs had posted that he is selling his camera, fisheye, handle and all. It is a no brainer! Our main man Arts cops it and we are all set.
Early morning, Arts picks up me, Ingūna and Fricis who is still a bit trippy from yesterday’s party. (I think Liepaja’s legendary skater Kalns was in town, so of course he had to go out a bit). Last thing is to pick up Kaspars in Ulbroka and we are ready to go. It was a long way, talking shit, trying to figure out how our new camera works, but we finally make it to Daugavpils. The weather still is tricky, it is dry, but the forecast tells that it still could rain. So we set up a plan, let’s warm up in the park for an hour, meet the locals and then hit the streets, the rest we will figure out later.
The park is not big but its shape and obstacles are quite fun. At the park we finally meet our wonderful host Aleksandra along with other D-team members like Kiril, Aleksandr and Deniss. So we pick up the squad and start rolling in the streets and goddamn, spot after spot after spot! I think we started with a small 6 or 7 stair handrail in front of a school, a fun spot to practice rails. On the way there we meet bunch of cats, that Ingūna is loving. I think, that was her main goal for the trip, pet as many cats as possible.
Next spot -> Downhill. Just around the corner from the first handrail spot there is already something else to do, this time it was a mellow downhill, with some curbs to skate up and down on, as well as a gap into a bank.
Arts: The downhill spot is quite fun and the whole team is trying something there, while I’m playing around with my new camera and trying to understand what is what. Fricis is trying a high speed line and I know that I don’t want to risk the new camera trying to go downhill with him so I handed the filming duty at this spot to Niklāvs. After 3 clips we are good to go to the next stop.
And as before the next spot is a minute away from the previous one. It is the train station spot which has appeared in some older Latvian skate videos. We check it out, but it is an immediate kick out from not so friendly security guard. Ok, whatever, there are plenty more spots in sight. We start heading down the main street and it is filled with marble ledges and curbs as well as some other little fun spots. We settle at a kicker spot and the team goes to work.
We get quite an ok amount of clips and move on to a spot that Fricis had checked earlier. This is a gnarly one, a gap over a rail to flat height of a decent double set. Both Fricis and Niklāvs go up and try the run up, while I set the camera along with Kaspars and Ingūna who are taking pictures and D-Pils team which is supporting us and hyping us up at every spot. It’s a battle but in the end both riders get their clips and we are good to go.
After grabbing something to eat and learning that movies in the cinema in Daugavpils are originally showed dubbed in Russian we move on to next spot. This is a mellow and easy one – just a couple of 2-3 stairs in a line with ledges on the side. Unfortunately after trying a flip down the first stairs Ingūna sprains her ankle and is done with skating for the rest of the trip. The guys do some silly lines and we decide that we can make it to one more spot before it is completely dark.
The spot we go to is pretty ridiculous. It is a super steep bank under a bridge with a sort of bank in the middle of it. No surprise that Fricis is the one that finds a way to skate this thing. The battle for the clip is not easy, but somehow Fricis does what he does best and rides the bank all the way down. We celebrate and chill at the spot for a while, do some cartwheels in the grass and take in what a day it has been.
After Alexandra gives us some tips where to camp we go looking for a place to put up the tents. At this point it is dark as shit and it complicates things a bit, but in the end we manage to find a spot, set up the tents and start a little fire to cook up some beans and sausages.
Day 2.
We wake up, we pack our stuff, go get some breakfast and on with the skating. While buying some food for dinner last night we found a spot right next to the grocery store so it is the first one we hit. It is marble ledge/planter with an option to pop out tricks if you lock in to full boardslide or something like that. I try to skate it, but my ankle is still hurting and all the driving and filming stuff is not making my legs feel any lighter. Kaspars warms up and does some tricks on the ledge and then Fricis does a really good one that blows everyone’s minds. When he was trying that the first tries I didn’t think it would work out, but it did very well.
After some ledge skating, our guide Alexandra takes us to a downhill track that is quite fresh, with great asphalt going through a forest. We walk up to the top to the steepest hill and Kaspars goes first and eats shit pretty much immediately. He is fine, but I am bummed that I didn’t manage to get his bail on tape. Next up is Fricis and Niklāvs, they bomb the hill and we start thinking how to get some clips here. I take some steady shots of them going down the track and Fricis films Niklāvs while following him down the hill.
The next thing on our plan is the thing we came here for – the ditch! We had found the ditch spot together with Clockwise rider Krišjānis Kalvāns some years ago, but it was first skated in 2016 as can be seen in the video “Intense days”. Since we don’t know the exact location we tried to describe the place to Alexandra and trough some info from the other D-pils team riders we get an approximate location. We go there, and to our surprise, the lines of concrete that we cleaned 3 years ago are still there. The spot is as difficult as we remembered it to be. While the team is trying out the bank and thinking of possibilities, Fricis is thinking outside the box and has found a sort of “bowl” corner at the spot and starts cleaning it out. It all takes time so we understand that this is the last spot that we will skate today.
Everyone, except Ingūna, who is chilling and taking some photos, are trying their tricks but the spot is not easy. I try to do a bigflip on the bank, but quickly understand that with the whole hurting ankle I won’t be able to do it. So I film some tricks for Kaspars on the bank and then Fricis and Niklavs go to war with the stall tricks on the upper edge of the bank. The corner Fricis dug up is supper fun to ride through and makes for a good line obstacle. After a long battle, bails, shouting and almost quitting, both riders get their tricks and we slowly start to pack and ride back to Riga with everyone thinking that we need to come back there next year.
On our way back we stop on the side of the road where Fricis had spotted a metal full pipe. We go to check it out and it turns out actually skateable. At one point the owner of the territory comes and asks what the hell are we doing, but after explaining that we are just trying to get some clips, he just leaves. Fricis rides the full pipe, we get some more photos and we go back to Riga.
In conclusion I can say that for a 2 day almost unplanned trip with a camera that we bought 10 hours before leaving, it was a productive trip and Daugavpils is definitely a place to visit and skate in. Thanks to Alexandra and D-Pils team for showing us around. We will return.
All these years of skating with Kaspars Gobiņš we were 100% sure that he was from Ulbroka. We basically learned about Ulbroka’s existence because of Kaspars. However in the recent Straight Forward podcast, Kaspars revealed that he comes from Vālodzes village, which is just near Ulbroka. For almost a decade we cluelessly called Kaspars the best skater of Ulbroka, a title that he never argued, and now it turns out we were wrong. Of course being the best among two other Ulbrokanians is more prestigious compared to being the best among a few domestic animals and locals for whom riding a bike is the closest to skateboarding they have ever gotten. Despite all the misunderstanding, and for sake of convenience, we will continue saying that Kaspars is from Ulbroka and will not strip him of his Best skater of Ulbroka title (sorry Shenga you almost had it) Because in the end of the day it is not important where you are from, but where you are at.
And Kaspars is in the second round of our championship and is playing a #younggun Kristers Kalniņš aka last man standing from Zamass crew. The game promises to be radical! Enjoy.
Round two starts with an explosive epic duel between two honorable skate rats. Boga and Fricis are well-known far and wide across our land and both carry true ethos of skateboarding, whatever the hell that means. We are proud to start the second round of our Game of Skate Championship with these two killas. Enjoy!
Growing up we obviously watched a lot of American videos and some European ones. However, being in close proximity to Russia we also got stocked by Russian videos. Compared to American and European untouchable levels of skating, Russian skateboarding seemed more relatable. Russian skaters were way better than us, but not as good as westerners. They skated in similar shitty settings and cursed the same way. We had our own heroes among Russian pros and religiously rewatched Imagiantion 1 and 2 as well as Absurd Theater which are definitely classics in Russian skateboarding. All these videos were made by Aleksandr Khudokon, a briliant VXer and editor.
It has been a while since Aleksandr made skate vids. After Absurd Theater he got into directing movies and documentaries (as far as we know). However, in the past few years there was a rumor that he got back into filming skateboarding, and was making a new video after more than a 10-years pause. That rumor seemed intriguing even here, we can only imagine how stocked were the Moscow locals who grew up watching his videos. The new piece was dubbed “Planeta Patsanov” (Dudes Planet) which seemed like a really kooky name. Only until we saw the first teaser it was clear that the video is not a weird joke.
And finally Planeta Patsanov hit the Internet screens via Thrasher player. A 44 minute dreamy and grimy trip into the Moscow streets. The cast includes familiar faces. Many skaters from the aforementioned classics are in this video too. They all matured and stepped up their game massively. The skating here is something else.
Compared to the previous videos of Khudokon, Planeta Patsanov is a bit darker. The video sends an anti-authority vibe on some kind of a different level than an average skate video. The images of security guards, cops, mixed with b-rolls of nature create a feeling of hopelessness for the world. The tone of music, which is mostly hip-hop, adds heavily to the feeling and atmosphere. The bottom line is that the video has an aura of its own and you can make whatever you want from it.
Rudolfs Henčels, the switch heel and fs 360 expert, has made into to the game of skate bracket by accident. He has taken the spot of Kristaps Judris, who is also an expert in various tricks, but was just too busy to make it. Nauris Dollins on the other hand has been in the brackets from the very start, and has patiently waited for his turn to show his tricks. Nauris didn’t mind and accepted his new opponent without hesitation. With nasty shit like ss varial flip and Ķilis up your sleeves, you wouldn’t hesitate either.
Enjoy the game! It is the last game of the first round! We are half way through the championship!
Last Saturday 18th of January we attempted to combine some of our favorite cultural things in skateboarding into one day event. We also aimed at involving skaters from all Baltic states, hence the name Skate Baltica.
The program included: a discussion on Baltic skateboarding, a photo exhibition, video presentations, RajonTV Skate awards, and a DJ party.
Discussion on Baltic Skateboarding
The day started at 12:00, which is early for a skateboarder’s Saturday. The first event was a discussion on Baltic skateboarding over the Spot center. As we never tried anything like that before, it was a bit scary. Is there a lot to talk about? Will it be interesting at all? Nevertheless, the discussion turned out way better than we expected.
Edvard Gaba – chairman, Arts Amoliņš – Clockwise skateshop, Siom Sonkinas – Commune DIY, Justinas Ivoška – president of Lithuanian Skateboarding federation, Liidia Maier – Tartu Skateboard school
The main overall topic was the development of skateboarding in the Baltics. We started by defining what is a developed skate scene to every member of the panel, and from that we went into more details regarding their work and experience within their scenes.
It was great to see some next gen representatives in there
It was quite interesting to see how the whole thing unfolded. At first we had huge doubts about this endeavor, but it was soon obvious that there are a lot of people willing to speak up and more topics to address. The biggest complaint everyone had about the talk was that it was too short. We sat for two hours, and it wasn’t enough. A great lesson for all of us that events like these are needed and that skaters have ideas and opinions they want to express. There is always a room for improvement, but before you get there you need to start with something. This discussion was a micro step forward a stronger skateboarding community in the Baltics and we hope that this trend will continue.
To give you a better sense of what was the discussion like, here is an audio extract from the second part of the talk. We apologize for bad quality!
Photo Exhibition/ Video Screening
After we the discussion and a little skate session at the Spot center we headed to KKC (Kaņepes Kulturas Centers) where the photo exhibition was waiting for everybody.
Guests observing photos of Rainer Kaur and Andres KõljalgRiga scene veterans Marcis Ruiķis and Egons Avots. Marics also put out some of his finest photos
In total we had six photographers showcase their work. Nauris Dollins, Artūrs Bogdanovičs, and Marcis Ruiķis from Latvia. Andres Kõljalg, Rainer Kaur and Liidia Maier from Estonia. The exhibition was installed for one evening, so you had to observe everything carefully. The way printed photos look compared to online instagram stuff is like day and night. The exhibition reminded us the value of print and real physical copies.
Liidia Maier and Nauris Dollin. Two awesome Baltic photographers.
Fricis made a poster with VEF DIY story and a donation box. There is a rumor that VEF DIY might get torn down. So Fricis wants to use the donations to clean and renovate the spot to show that skaters care and need that place. Check the VEF DIY insta and make sure to donate. The donation box is now at Boards.lv shop, and then it will travel to the Spot Center and later to Clockwise.
More guests enjoying the day. Eneli, Siim, Kris and Julia came all the way from Tallinn and Tartu.
KKC being an amazing place has everything one’s heart can desire. It just took five steps for all the guests to get in the small cozy cinema literally the next door from the exhibition. That was the time to start the next step of Skate Baltica – video screenings.
Arturs Nesaule showed his solo part and Roberts Krums is big fan of skate videos. These two made a good match.Some more front row shenanigans.
All Baltic states shared a glimpse of their scene: Fully Ghetto Gang from Vilnius presented their Promo video, Riga’s Clockwise skateshop showed their trip video to Daugavpils (article on that coming soon), Arturs Nesaule presented his first street part, and RajonTV also screened a short video called Doodle. However, the biggest premiere of the evening was Siim Sild’s movie called KAIFUUN. Tallinn boys filmed through out the whole year and put together a really good piece. KAIFUUN is going online some time after screening in Tallinn.
The cinema at KKC is so small and a lot of people didn’t make it in, but don’t worry all videos are obviously going online soon. However, the tiny space of the cinema creates a close friendly atmosphere. Everybody is sitting shoulder to shoulder, you can talk easily, exchange laughs and cheers for good skating. And this is the best part of the video premieres. KKC cinema staff is always happy to host skate videos, as the excitement of the crowd is unmatchable.
RajonTV Awards
While the crowd was still warmed up from all the yelling and screaming in the cinema, we started RajonTV awards ceremony. The goal was to look back at 2019 and give out couple of trophies to people who excited us the whole year. In some cases the choices were obvious. In other cases, we had to think more and even debate. We hope everybody understands that this whole thing was completely new for us and it might not have been perfect. However, it is just the start of a great tradition that we will repeat again. Hopefully next year we will be able to give out more awards to more Baltic rippers.
Here are the results:
Trick of the YEAH: Raul Urberg – Fakie flip Viru 9
Park Rat award: Andris Kaldvee
Photographer of the year: Nauris Dollins
Rookie of the year: Kernius Trakymas
Skater of the year: Inguna Skujiņa Skater of the year: Fricis Štrauss
Fricis giving his SOTY speech – “Keep it skating”
Thank you everybody for coming and keeping skateboarding alive. We definitely need more events where we can get together and celebrate skateboarding culture.
