Go Skate Day Cyprus 2024 (Gallery & Article)
Photography by George Voudias
Additional Photography by Marios Tserkezos
Words by Christos Yiannaki
To kick off this year's Go Skateboarding Day in Nicosia we decided to go back to the classics. Meeting point was Platia Palouriotissas aka the OG Plaza where we had countless great moments in past events, either organized by us or by shops that are long gone. History goes back almost 20 years, now. For the old heads, a really familiar place like home, no matter what city they come from; and for the new generations, a gateway to learn some of the rich history.
Kyriakos 'Koullis'
The first competition for the under-17 age group was, again, a classic; the wide step. Albert handled a Varial Heelflip real quick and took home a Stay_K deck. To our good surprise, the youngsters seemed willing to skip the warmup or 'safe' tricks to go straight to more difficult flips. Some were a success and some not, doesn't matter for now. The point is, from this promising young gen, we look forward to see even more on the next one. Finally, the new skateparks in Larnaca and Limassol are making a difference.
Varnavas - Pop Shoveit
For the over-17 group, after some technical difficulties with our kicker, we decided to take the contest to the barrier. It had a sick drawing by Christopher aka Ntoggos, made on a 12-hour shift the day before for the fun of it and the event. We knew it'd just make the photos more cool.
First place prize went to George Christofi for his stomped BS Noseslide Bigspin and Kickflip BS Noseslide; the second, landed in 5 tries. Others that stood out were: Alex Kililis' FS Nosegrind, Christian Costa's BS Noseslide Bigspin the other way, Robbie's BS Crooked and FS Tailslide, Nadiotis' FS 5o. Even though the jam was for over-17, young Angelos from Skala (Larnaka) showed us his skills and balls with a BS Boardslide and FS 5050. The barrier placed at the bottom of the big step at Platia, isn't the easiest spot. It is sack-able, first of all, and not your average buttery outledge. Taking into consideration the pressure of 15-20mins timeline for each contest, good outcome!
Alex Kililis - FS Nosegrind
Robbie - BS Crooked
George Christofi
Angelos Perivazis - FS 5050
Charalambos Nadiotis - FS 5o
Second spot was something that, as skateevent organizers, we'd had in mind for a long time. Two minutes walk from the plaza, there is a nice steep downhill. These 9 years Stay_K do these events, we only included a downhill, like, once before. It was time for the people to see some real action in the streets. Especially, for the young gen to 've taken this experience with them -- or some road burns and scrapped skin -- will make them love skateboarding even more.
Trick-wise, Tasos' manual down the whole steep part is what stood out. More than that, we decided to award Gnarliest Slams... for the obvious reasons. There's a saying in Greek, if my translation is correct, "As much as you hurt me, so much you fire me up".
Robbie in the forefront
Powerslide... useful
Our spotters' job was crucial, with the downhill's downside being a lot of turns where cars come in. We thought, because of the national holiday, the road wouldn't be busy. The back and forth through the speaker with the spotters on every turn and hand signs like traffic police, were needed. All was going well and urethane was burning off on the asphalt, 'til a couple grandmas had enough of our voices from the loud speaker, mine and Tasos', and called the cops. Session was over earlier than planned, but maybe we came clean of a few more slams this way. Who knows?
George 'VxChronicles'
Marios Michaelides
Christoforos 'Ntoggos'
The third spot was one we'd visited during the previous Go Skate Day, too; the 'MTN Playground'. We conducted one competition there, on a perfect street euro gap. We'd seen last year how everyone'd chosen to skate that for fun; now, we decided to make it happen. Kyriakos 'Koullis' stood out with FS Flip and Hardflip. Others were: young Kris with a 360 Flip, Alex Christofi with FS Bigspin and Kotsios Aristarchou with a first try No Comply. Lots of cans from Radical Way Brewing were given away and the spirits were still high. We hanged out and took a rest -- cause it's just a nice park to do so when you're already 3hrs in the event -- before heading for the last stop.
'Αποθήκη' (translates Warehouse) welcomed us with open arms for a second consecutive Go Skate Day. Loud music from the speakers, Radical Way guys serving at the bar, a cossy yard, friendly grins. What more can you ask for? To answer this question, the ramps built by Weshakapeople, inside the building, waiting to get some.
16 y.o. Angelos, once again, showed us how it's done with a 5o grind on the bump to bench, a sick obstacle set up by the skateboarders who run Αποθήκη. Tasos Panayi (Cysk8clips) found some time to skate after he helped coordinate the whole event. The quarter pipes saw some tricks, as well, from Teo and Koullis. Overall, it was a fun lil' jam to finish the night.
Big thanks to everyone that came down from all over Cyprus and celebrated with us this special day, as well as supported our efforts. We enjoyed hanging out with old friends and it was really encouraging seeing all these new faces take part in the competitions we organized, being confident to do so.
We hope everyone (even those who ate s**t on the downhill) had a blast and, I guess, we'll see you at the next happening. Cheers and Keep Skateboarding!
♡ Stay_K x Cysk8clips ♡
George Christofi
Tasos Panayi - BS Lipslide
Christian Costa
Savvas Daniilidis & Robbie
Kris & Angelos
K.
Can't keep customs without the group photo by George Voudias
UPDATE:
Here's two short clips from the event. First one is filmed by @vxchronicles and edited by Christos Yiannaki. Second, filmed and edited by Marios Tserkezos @lensworship.
The event was organized by Stay_K Skateboarding and Cysk8clips. Supported by Radical Way Brewing, Cyprus CBD Shop, Boardhouse Cy and 'Αποθήκη'.
Thank you!
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