Taking to the rain-forest no less, Ross McGouran found himself on the cover of March’s mag with a stand-up grind on a hefty concrete Brazilian number, taken by Chris Johnson during Quiksilver’s South American adventure.

Hear how it went down (and other things) straight from the horses mouth…

So Ross, back in March you had the cover. Where were you when you first saw it and did you know you were getting the cover beforehand?
I think I was in New Zealand when I first heard I was getting the cover, about a week before it was coming out. I got back home in March, which is when I first saw it.

Where was the cover shot?
That old crusty halfpipe was in the middle of the rainforest region of Brazil, somewhere between Sao Paulo and Rio.

How come you were out in Brazil?
We were there because Quiksilver were taking all of us UK guys out to somewhere outside of Europe and we had Octavio as a hook up out there, it just kind of made sense. Stony (James Stentiford, Quiksilver UK TM) hooked it up for Sam Bosworth, Pete King, Dan McDermott, myself and Brazil skate royalty, Octavio. There were some very memorable moments on that trip, a few stick out in particular; the night out in Rio which was pretty messy! We also stayed in a hotel in a rain forest, which overlooked the sea and had a purpose built pool to skate, which literally linked into the rooms. Good people, good vibes and amazing terrain.

The marooned transition is actually one side of an ancient Brazilian hand made concrete halfpipe. Do you think your formative years leaning to deal with the imperfections of Harrow skatepark gave you a good education for skating a crumbling oddity such as this one?
Haha, maybe. Everyone was really hyped when we got to that spot, it was a sick session and I can remember having a go every five minutes ‘coz it was so hot.

Was the photo a premeditated thing, or did you just session the ramp like any other spot on the trip?
Yeah it was just a session, Pete and Sam were killing it, Octavio as well. We just kind of sessioned it and things got shot before we got run down by the oppressive heat, haha. Good session!

How did your time in Brazil compare with other places you’ve been and were there any notable differences in attitude, spots and skate parks in comparison to the UK and mainland Europe?
Brazil was sick man; super friendly people, amazing skaters, rough spots, good vibes!

You’re a well traveled and seasoned human nowadays whose daily life revolves around shooting photos and video production; with that in mind, do you still get hyped to get coverage like this?
For sure! I’m stoked!

What are your plans for 2012 as far as traveling, filming and shooting photos go?
We’re filming the Quiksilver video and Element are doing a project, I think they’re both gonna drop around the same time!

Brazilian park cruising with Ross:

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