The second installment of National Skategraphics, Gatis Valters’ series documenting the Latvian skate scene, sees the crew hit the streets of Riga. Whilst the first episode saw them making the most of derelict space to create a skate haven in the Barix wasteland, for round two they head out into the heart of the urban sprawl and see what the Latvian capital has to offer. As with many cities in this corner of Northern Europe, it’s architecture was extensively bombed during World War II and then rebuilt anew – so it transpires that, for the inquisitive street skater, what it has to offer is in fact quite a lot. Smooth marble plazas, awkward car park set ups and well located street kickers offer ample opportunity for stunt planking, with a solid portion of the video filmed strictly under the cover of darkness which gives the whole thing a classic US East Coast vibe.

Of course, as with the first episode, special mention has to go to the effort which has gone in to the incidentals for this one. From the documentary style introduction speech you know you’re in for something a little different from the norm, while the tailor made vocal which overlays the beat is nothing short of genius – “Ha! Police, nothing more than a smelly grease, street disease, with or without them we’ll skate the streets, this beat is sweet and he’s extreme.” Try and watch it without having the word extreme branded in to your frontal lobe for the better part of the day. Go on, we dare you…

Featuring Fricis Strauss, Armands Baumanis, Kaspars Gobins, Ed Gaba, Linards Viksnin and many more. Peep more from Gatis, both in front of and behind the lens, in various Pillo Wheels edits, GCS releases and more from the independent network of videographers which keeps us internet curator types stoked throughout the week.