ESC Basel 2007

January 14, 2008 @ 3:34 PM

I bet no one has ever heard of a skate contest before that packed 480 contestants (give or take two or three). Being in absolutely no position to do so, I nevertheless declare that the 253 kids who want to sign up for Friday’s pre-qualification of the ESC 2008 (if it happens at all, that is, and yes, I expect a growth rate of at least ten percent) have at least to be able to kickflip, and that they’ll kindly be asked to demonstrate their skills right at the inscription desk (you’ll get one shot only, so make that count). I saw kids whose runs consisted of four bailed ollies and three foot flatground manuals—what they were thinking when they signed the dotted line and paid the 50 Euro fee is anybody’s guess. It was probably the free food and water for one day. Life is full of raw deals.

But enough of the bitching. When Sunday and the finals rolled around, the level was a whole different story of course. Philipp Schuster apparently didn’t want to repeat his second place from 2006, and his efforts paid off—Phil san is the official European street champ in the ‘07. In the final jam session he took to the environment-ridden ramps along with the burning Jeremy Reinhard, a ripping Daniel Viera, a menacing Axel Cruysberghs and a powerful Hugo Liard, among others, making the job of the judges one of the most ingrate, difficult things on earth. Life is full of raw deals.

The new bowl, which with it’s unparallel walls, hips, and corners catered to the ones who can actually skate a bowl like a bowl, saw the excellence of Jürgen Horrwarth, Julien Benoliel, Freddy Austbo, and the already infamous Guillaume Mocquin. You, dear reader, shall not be bored with the weather, which was kinda sketchy on Friday and Saturday, but gave us a sunny, beautiful bowl final on sunday. Stooops. Andi Schützenberger and his crew earned themselves a medal with this bowl. A great piece, hands down. Life is full of pleasant surprises (like this bowl).

Vert turned out to be rather thin this year, because some dicks lured most of ESC’s vert candidates to an unknown island by offering them huge appearance fees and rooms in a fancy hotel (which was good for the riders, but for nothing else). Hateable to say it, but whoever did not attend the vert comp in Basel wasn’t missing out, because the vertramp, which saw it’s very last assignment on that weekend, was overdue to be set ablaze and buried for good. Mathias Ringström, an amazing Joris Brichet, and the ever-so-powerful Jürgen Horrwarth heard the call and tore the wreck to pieces—literally. Life is full of splinters.

As for the girls, you should keep a close eye on the development and the progress, that the level of the girls’ comp shows every year, because even if you don’t look too closely, you’ll still see the growth. The ESC is that one event each year that really allows us to witness how fast the ladies actually progress. Tell you what: they’re fast. And they become faster every year. This is history in the making, and you could have been amazed by it—but you were probably somewhere, getting a poulet sandwich, you dork. Iannire Elloriaga, Evelin Bouillart, and Candy Jacobs should stomp your ass. I’m sure they could. Life is life.

Bottom line: Ruedi Matter, Oli Buergin, Steffi Hager, Monika Bocian and the rest of the crew once again provided a more than pleasurable weekend for all the visitors; their efforts were rewarded by the announcement of an uncertain future for the comp on Monday morning. Again, life is full of raw deals.

It’d be kind of boring otherwise, though.

—David

Results

Street:
1. Philipp Schuster
2. Jeremy Reinhardt
3. Daniel Viera
4. Axel Cruysberghs
5. Hugo Liard

Best Trick: Lukas Danek, switch Hardflip revert down the gap.

Bowl:
1. Jürgen Horrwarth
2. Julien Benoliel
3. Freddy Austbo
4. Guillaume Mocquin
5. Emilio Arnanz

Vert:
1. Mathias Ringström
2. Joris Brichet
3. Jürgen Horrwarth
4. Jan Tomsovsky
5. Eric Vidal

Ladies:
1. Iannire Elloriaga
2. Eveline Bouillart
3. Candy Jacobs
4. Sarah Meurle
5. Lisa Jacob