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Copenhagen Open Blog – Day Two

Day one here.

Day three

Days four and five.

Day two of the Copenhagen Open sees first a ledge session and then a flatbar and jump ramp jam covering the main events, but I find myself much more tempted when I hear of a big session going down at Faelladparken followed by Hullet DIY. Having missed the previous day’s park session because of the rain – and knowing I would get better photos in a less frenzied media environment – I make the executive decision to head to the jewel in Copenhagen’s concrete crown and meet up with the crew (after a solid period of getting lost, despite aiming for what is pretty much the biggest park in the city).

Back smith in the middle of a full on Alex Hallford killing spree.

The session gets going fast, with Jordan Thackeray, Ben Cook and Luke Jarvis all getting stuck into the pool coping, so naturally once I’ve shot a couple of photos I get involved too. This puts an end to my skating for the majority of the rest of the week when I manage to frontflip to flat, landing on my back and managing to both bruise and tear one of my lower back muscles – stoked. If you came to this blog wanting to see a list of my shortcomings, my lack of a sense of direction or a particularly high level of coordination, I guess I’m fulfilling those expectations admirably.

Ben Cook, beanplant to fakie re-entry imminent.

Luckily I’m not stuck for incredible skateboarding to point a camera at, as Alex Hallford turns up to join the aforementioned crew during what ends up being the sunniest day of the week. Alex has that kind of Andy Scott vibe to his skating, where it’s best to keep your camera switched on and pointed at him at all times…pure gonzo transition skateboarding with seemingly nothing pre-planned. Between stretching, groaning and eyeing up the hospital whose sign is visible from the park, I get about ten photos from about three of his lines in the deep end – which does plenty to improve my mood.

Jordan Thackeray floats a backside air above Faelladparken’s deep end.

As the session starts to wind down, talk begins of heading over to Hullet. As gutted as I am that I won’t be able to skate there, I’m keen to head to the epic DIY project as 1) I’ve never been and 2) it looks like the perfect spot for some ‘golden hour’ photos. We stop to grab beers on the way, in the process managing to hook up with one time Cantelowes local Aref ‘Bobby’ Koushesh. “Even better for photos”, I think, until I find out that he’s basically done exactly what I have and is similarly incapacitated.

Alex Hallford frontside inverts under a rare glimpse of blue skies.

We arrive to find a crowd ranging from the Bloby crew sessioning the most recent pour, to Hugo Boserup going absolutely mental in the bowl. The rest of the crew decide that it’s too hectic and opt to sit the session out; leaving the skating to me and Bobby, neither of whom can turn our upper bodies to any great extent, and Tom Bailey, who is suffering from a combination of a ‘CPH Open’ levels of alcohol consumption and sleeping in a tent in a cold campsite. With the rest of the session already solidly covered media-wise, I resign myself to not getting photos and ‘settle’ instead into damaging my back still further in the bowl because it’s too good not to.

Jarvis points a frontside air over the hip and towards the lens.
Getting the gist of this session? All these Hallford photos were taken from about four runs as well…

This is normally the point where the bulk of the text would relate to the after party shenanigans – but, after washing painkillers down with beer all afternoon I can barely keep my eyes open. After pizzas at the dream spot that is Israel Plads, I leave the carnage to everyone else and have a beer in bed reading a compilation of Tom Waits interviews – which is a definite way to not collect any good trip stories. Sorry to disappoint…

City exploration…
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