Lupeni, Romania marks the first stop of my three-month European tour. From epic curves and peaceful gondola rides to gorgeous views and a RAGING party, I was pleasantly impressed with the Transylvania Downhill 2k17 event. It’s basically a longboarder’s paradise!
Below is a vlog-style "Day in the Life" video I made for the event. Such great times!
After driving over 10 hours from Graz, Austria in Pablo Quiles’ van, Gretta, we finally made it around 1am. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a lightning storm, friendly locals, plenty of booze, and a nice little hotel room. Camping is the norm for skate events so having a warm room, a bed, and a shower I could rely on was definitely a game changer. Free breakfast every morning was just icing on the cake!
Unfortunately, just before the event my bags were lost by the airlines and I was stuck without any of my gear. Huge shout out to Fabian Werkmeister for hooking me up with a board, and to Felix Rupitsch of Big Mountain Skate for getting me a helmet, knee pads, and gloves to borrow for the week. There’s countless rad people I could thank for helping me out, but above all is Raul “Smoky” Constantinescu of Devastation Longboard Crew. Much love for being so welcoming and letting me borrow your jacket during the cold nights.
Gondola rides proved to be major key for ease and efficiency. Plus watching the course on the ride up is pretty badass!
With an average grade of over 12% and a max grade of around 30%, I was a bit intimidated by the hill and it’s steepness. The first day was a bit wet and patchy which made it extra GNAR. Fortunately, by day two it cleared up completely and was sunshine and blue skies from there on out. After a few runs I started to get the hang of the road and the unfamiliar gear.
Zak Mills-Goodwin killin switch at the Slide Jam.
Pablo Quiles with the epic high-side.
Nothing like a crisp bottle of Romanian white-wine to drown away the pain and humiliation.
Here’s a run I did with the All Year Long Squad: Alex Dehmel, Nico Gallmann, Zak Mills-Goodwin. Filmed by the famous Melvin Hermann
I unfortunately blew it in my heats, but the race was SUPER badass to watch. Finals were super stacked!
Amateur Podium - 1 Vašek Cvančara, 2 Joe Baldwin, 3 Clayton Arthurs
Women's Podium - 1 Lisa Peters, 2 Sabine Schneider, 3 Jasmijn Hanegraef
Pro Podium - 1 Davis Lanham, 2 Sebastian Hertler, 3 Mitch Thompson, 4 Alex Dehmel, 5 Dave Süess
Big thanks to Adrian Lupascu for all his hard work during the event. You really helped make it the best it could be!
Much love to Moonshine MFG and All Year Long for making the dreams a reality!
We just arrived to the small Austrian town of Hinterstoder for the IDF King’s Gate world cup hosted by Big Mountain Skate. Course looks EPIC, and I can’t wait to start ripping it up TODAY. Wish me luck!!
More photos to come...