Rotterdam Grand Prix of Skateboarding 2009
Posted
on
on Monday, July 20, 2009
by Rob
Photos from the Rotterdam Grand Prix of Skateboarding 2009.
By Rob Meronek
 This cave on the right was my frigid office for two days. Sketchy working conditions create some of the best memories of these crazy events we do. Can't wait to return to the cave next year |
 They had those same pissers as Amsterdam, except they make portable versions of them. That one probably drains right into the ocean there |
 That's Thomas Vintr from Prague 360 flipping into the bank while the jumbotron thing shows a quarter second delay |
 Rob Maatman is one of my favorite Euros right now, not just because of the extra cool first name. This frontside nosegrind at the top of the downhill course was finished up with a bigspin back boardslide at the bottom of the hill on the rail |
 This is Nassim Guammaz, a Netherlands local kickflipping down the four and a half stair. He didn't make the cut in the Qualifiers, but on the night before the Contest, we got to see ripping footage of him in a video premiere at the bar. It was cool to see so many people we've only seen in Contests here having video parts and making it happen in their scene |
 Look at that crew on the sidelines. Aaron Suski, Jerry Hsu, Kenny Anderson aka The Perfect Man, Dylan Rieder, possibly the future Perfect Man, Jake Johnson, and Alex Mizurov. Thanks for taking a tour break and coming to the skateboard shindig |
 Somehow Lutzka got directly associated with this type of hat, therefore Phil Zwijsen from Belgium is referred to as the Euro Lutzka. I bet K-Swiss is much more accepted here than it is in the US and A |
 They call them "toilets" here, not "bathrooms." When I ask where the bathroom is, I wonder if they think that's why I haven't showered for so long |
 Our old pal Adrien Bulard here is still on "no speeka Engrish" status. You didn't know they got gingers in France, huh? Me niether. That's a frontside nosegrind between blunts, not the skateboard trick kind |
 Adrien Bulard pulled the king of fatties to flatty for the weekend, at least until Douwe Macare switch flipped it in Best Trick. This is 360 flip off the bump to flat |
 That's Niels van der Zeeuw closing in on a frontside nosegrind on the tall hubba |
 After Bastian cab flipped the big gap into the bank, he cab double flipped it. Then he went back in his cave or where ever he's been. Rothmeyer had an idea I agree with: Invite Bastien to the Maloof Money Cup next year |
 While all that ripping skating was going down outside in the cold winds, you could retreat inside to get a damn good meal and still watch the Contest on TV. A first class skateboard shindig |
 Did the caterers skate? Obviously not if "half pipe" is still in their vocabulary, but they made a good effort. The 360 soup was tight |
 Jake Johnson skated Vans Downtown Showdown and Tampa Am in 2007, but I don't remember that because he wasn't on the radar yet from a major video part. After this weekend, I remember every single thing Jake did and also got to meet him. I think he's taller than Tony Hawk |
 They put more stuff on their hot dogs than we put on pizza here. Thanks Marco for treating us to the best hot dogs in Rotterdam |
 Leander Geelhoed is another Rotterdam local we've become friends with over the years through AmsterDamn Am. See you there, Leander. That's a BS180NG |
 Simo Makela is bringing this nollie flip into the big gap to bank from Finland |
 Aaron Suski was here with the whole Emerica team on tour. That's a 360 flip |
 Collin Provost snaps these frontside flips to lip far above that low rail |
 Curren Caples 360 flipped the big gap into the bank and more on Saturday which got him the Golden Ticket to the Finals on Sunday and $1,200 for 10th place |
 After Kenny Anderson made everything on this bank look flawless, it was called The Perfect Man Bank all weekend. That's a nosebonk into it |
 Collin Provost hard flipped into that big giant step up |
 Right after the Contest, there was the photography show from the Photo Contest on a boat. Johathon Mehring ended up winning $5,000 |
 A few of the photos from the Photo Contest. In the top photo, Jonathon's is the 4th one to the right that you can't really see. It's a frontside flip on a log ship |
 Remco Staak, Netherland ripper - frontside nosegrind |
 Max Kruglov is from Russia - salad grind |
 A small sample of the weird food going on. That's watermelon with candy wedged between. It's available for all you can eat at the Contest |
 It's now about 2am in Barcelona where we arrived a few hours ago. Everyone is out having drinks with the DC team while I'm stuck uploading party photos from two nights ago. That's Kenny Hughes with Misha Cracker before and after he noticed his Element shirt |
 It costs one Euro to go to the bathroom in this Rotterdam club that the after parties were at every night |
 Just when I was about over the weird techno show, Marco shows up with beer coins. I guess I'll stick around a bit |
 Girls love tights here. Printed ones, hot pink ones, leather ones, etc. I'm not a fan of this style |
 Alex Mizurov and Georges Agonkouin who was hurt and couldn't skate this weekend |
 There seemed to be a lot of little kids rolling in the club. This mom made sure her and her son matched it up with the camo kit |
 I thought I had some serious hip hop history after a quarter century of being into it, but this guy was before my time. He was the DJ at the party Saturday night in the side room. This is DJ Kool Herc who apparently originated hip hop music |
 If you aren't rolling with a girl, at least rep one on your shirt |
 Oh, all that partying was just Saturday night. We still have all of Sunday at the Contest to go. DJ Wade has not put a drink down since |
 Trophies were being hand crafted on Sunday as the Contest went on |
 That's the Erasmusbrug bridge behind the tightest pants in the Contest, Peter Molek. In 2005, planes flew under that bridge for the Red Bull Air Race. I wonder if Red Bull Sarah knows that |
 Neil Smith is from London and was a crowd favorite with stuff like this switch noseblunt slide |
 Jake Johnson 360 flipping under the backdrop of the Erasmusbrug bridge |
 Rob Maatman - bigspin boardslide |
 Ricardo Paterno is another one of my Euro favorites. He also had a ripping part in that video we saw at the bar Friday night. That's a kickflip nose manual |
 The camera guy kept getting trippy on the jumbotron thing. Made me want to get some mushrooms from Amsterdam |
 You know what Jake Johnson is going to do out of this backside nosegrind |
 Tim Zom blew it out on this big rail into the bank. This back smith was one of many tricks he did that put him in first for the Contest and Best Trick |
 Ever seen flat spots that bad? Curren Caples was powersliding on purpose to create that. The surface on this course seemed to be flat spotting everyone's wheels |
 These big ol' women had nothing to do with the Contest. They got nekkid as Schaefer was reading the results and tackled him. Ew |
 I wonder what this curious kid was discussing with the streakers |
 Congrats Tim Zom. See you all in Amsterdam next weekend. Thanks to everyone who came to the Contest and thanks to everyone that had us out to help run it |
