ESC Basel 2018

Everything began with a session at Port Land. No, not in Oregon, but at the DIY park the scene in Basel hast built. Well DIY is a bit understated. You find a real concrete wonderland right next to the Rhine river, also including a vert ramp and an indoor skatepark.

The first highlight of the weekend was the premiere of the new Own video “Made in Germany 2” (What? You don’t know part one? And yeah, funny that the premiere was in Switzerland). Aktion for All, just like all of the crew, put out some great work – again – and made an awesome video. Be prepared!

After the video the whole gang switched emidately into party mode to celebrate. The vibes at the ESC were perfect from the beginning.

The next day started late. At least for me. Sorry, but I had to get some sleep and missed most of the qualification runs, but fuck it. Everything felt a bit like the early 2000’s – in the best way – and that’s what it’s all about. The general feeling and not individual runs. Sure, some well known faces from back in the days were missing but there were still enough for the class reunion feeling and the rest was replaced with youngsters that will be the well known faces in a few years.

The highlights of the day for sure were the P-Stone Memorial Challenge on the riseable extension which started with a minute of silence including a collective opening of beer cans and the Frank Powers concert. Whenever you get the chance to see this guy live, do it.

At nighttime it was Port Land again. There was also a concert and the park was packed with people who all were up for a good time. Mellow session, mellow vibes. That’s what I call a contest.

Writing about contest runs is like writing about music, so lets skip it. There will be a video anyway. Lets just put it this way: There were some of the currently best contests skaters in both, the womens and the mens section.

Alex Mizurov won two times. First at the Highest Ollie Contest and then at the Game of Skate, where he beat Kilian Zehnder who had to wear a cast because of his broken arm. The biggest show at the street course came from Aurelian Giraud, who put out some huge tricks during his run as well as in the best trick contest.

All in all it was a joyful come together of old acquaintances and new faces with good vibes all over the weekend. Just the best time. Hopefully it doesn’t take eight years till the next ESC, but that Oli Bürgin, the main man behind all of this, will make the effort again next year to organize the ESC.

Best Trick:

Aurelien Giraud (Kickflip), Matias Dell Olio (Treflip Noseslide Nollie Heel Out) and Albert Nyberg (Backside Lipslide Darkslide)

Women:

1. Julia Brückler

2. Candy Jacobs

3. Lore Bruggeman

Men:

1. Benjamin Garcia

2. Joseph Garbaccio

3. Matias Dell Olio