Analog photos by Felix Biehler and Tarek Sayoud
Words by Jérémy Durand
Filmed by: Bobaj, Jon Wolf, Mathias Wittwer, Moris Freiburghaus, Pierre Pauselli, Sean Nguyen
Edited by: Jon Wolf, Mark Nichols, Sean Nguyen, Felix Biehler
Music: Mord Fuzztang – “Sic” and “Glitterpest”
“As a kid, I played basketball. It was pretty cool as long as it was only about playing, and not all about winning. So when it started to get more and more serious with the time, I got slowly disgusted by it. Having to respect schedules, having to deal with a coach, more and more trainings, having to wear the same fucking outfit, etc… I reached a point where I couldn’t stand it anymore.
That’s exactly when skateboarding came to my life, and it was a real game changer.
Even if sometimes at the beginning, I have to admit, it was kinda weird for a teenager, to change from winning trophies doing sport with your team, to being the least talented dude ever eating shit on a stupid piece of wood in some dirty parking lot… whatever, “We were a bunch of fucking nerds, weirdos. We were social outcast, fucking people that no one wanted to be. Doing things that no one wanted to do. And nobody understood, listening to music, dressing, hair styles, everything, nobody got it. We were the freaks. That’s what drew us to skateboarding.” – Jeff Grosso
I sucked at it so bad, but enjoyed it so much, it didn’t matter. Because it wasn’t all about performance, it was way more, I loved everything around it. The art, the rebellion, the fuck you attitude. the travels, building stuff, etc… I wasn’t like all those guys that had to go to their training and shit. I could do whatever the fuck I wanted, whenever I wanted. Freedom. Creativity. Everything that “regular sports” will never bring you. My underlying philosophy of Skateboarding. It shaped my entire life and my view on things.
So that being said, clearly I got a bit confused when I saw the French team from Marseille composed of Olympic athletes and their coach wearing their hometown football team jersey and scarf, skating at Team Trouble in Laax. Fuck me, I chose skateboarding to escape from those kind of people, and here I am, almost 30 years later, in the same bowl as them.
When the DJ started playing “Jul” for them, I understood it had to be a joke. At least, that’s what Tura* told me.
Sure enough, they ripped. And I’m pretty sure they even got some extra point for not losing their energy drink hat while doing their contest dialed 540s and stuff like they all usually do.
Oh and the young girl with them?! She was doing tricks I couldn’t even dream of; even on the vert, no helmet (what was the coach doing?!), no problem. I’m glad I’m too old to be jealous now…
She wasn’t alone by the way: The girls from the Quiche’flip team killed it too !
But being surrounded by all the European Jet-Skate scene, and some more legends, can be pretty impressive, and it was for my “DIY Men of Dark Woods” team members. Being treated like kings by Alan, Cedi and the Team Trouble staff was so nice. But somehow we felt even more pressured, and doubted we’ll be able to give something good enough back to those guys…
I mean, Laax spent as much money for the event that we spent in eight years building one of the biggest DIY in the world in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (France). So my boys had to try everything they could to make sure people will remember them: barely skating the bowl where the contest was happening was one of their techniques. Wasting wood building an unskateable extension and not bringing it to the bowl was another. Drinking as many free beers as possible was Julian’s task. Speaking the worst English you’ve ever heard was Nathan’s special weapon. Murdering the Indy Bar miniramp while nobody was watching was their secret. Getting hurt before the event started was probably the best one… well done Tom!
Oh yeah, and me, the “Team Manager”, supposed to write an article for Confusion about the entire event, had to leave before the semi-final, to bring Tom back to the hospital in France. And the cherry on the cake, pretty much all the pictures I’ve shot are too blurry to be used. Nice isn’t it ?! I am glad Elliott skated pretty well ! At least that !
We thought putting RJ on the team, local hero, who built this park with Oli (Bürgin with The Parallel Universe crew) who was judging the contest, might help. We still ended up pretty much last. Maybe I should have asked Chloé (Bernard) another judge, to give me an Olympic rings tattoo on my left ass cheek ? No idea. Spending all my money at the bar unfortunately didn’t help either. I tried everything I could. Sorry guys.
Let’s be honest, even if the Team Trouble has nothing to do with a regular contest, I’m only trying to find excuses here ! We didn’t really knew what to expect, and in the end, everything was better than in our thoughts. Especially the other teams ! (laugh)
Must feel weird for people from Laax to see their resort crowded with poor english skateboarders !
But damn it those guys are good! Even if I didn’t had the chance to enjoy the main show, I got goosebumps everytime Alex Hallford (and his crew) were skating. Saw on social media that they won. Or was it another English team? I can’t remember, they all ripped, so it doesn’t matter! Because as I said before, it’s Team Trouble, and it isn’t a regular contest !
Alright, time to wrap this thing up. Not really sure how to make a brainy conclusion to this messy article, so I will let Jeff Grosso do it for me, because he would have loved this event I’m pretty sure:
“Get the fuck out of here, go skate !”
Thank you Cedi, Alan and the entire Team Trouble crew. You guys created one of the best skate event. Can’t wait for next year!”
*David Turakiewicz, redactor from A Skatemag, who was also there to write an article about the event.
Article by Jérémy Durand @versus_skatezine
Photos by Tarek Sayoud @doomedblues
Jason and Toon. Eggplant and backside invert
Action shot gallery below photos by Felix Biehler (@felixmariabiehler)
Team Trouble characters. Photos: Felix Biehler (@felixmariabiehler)
