j. hay

Kuko. Corner carve on the pool coping. Photo: Jaime Marcos

La Kantera book release

Thursday 17th, December 2015, La Kantera book was finally released! Two and a half years of work and boom! One day the dream ends and reality takes over. 350 pages (plus) of raw, local, Basque skateboarding, all of it printed in a deluxe edition.

Frontside 5-0 grab n grind.

Hell Curving – Un giro de esperanza

We had the will and that’s what pushed us forward. There were many times, because of interferences by the city council, that we almost stopped and gave up, but pride, strength, and our internal struggles made it possible that after 12 years, that piece of concrete hope still remians, something we built then because we needed a decent place to skate, and as a symbol of protest against a city that discriminated and labeled us delinquents, and still does to this day.

OMSA crew grinds down the NorthBrigade

Although not all these guys are officially part of the OMSA crew, skaters from Germany, Basque country and England got together for a proper shred in the newly rebuilt NorthBrigade skatepark in Cologne, Germany. Although these tricks aren’t the gnarliest you’ve seen, keep in mind most of these guys are over 45 and a couple of them over 50. Let’s see you do a double truck 50-50 grind in a tight pocket when you’re 50!

Kupa. Backside melon grab off the hip and over the loveseat over the trees in the german countryside. Photo: J. Hay

Sunday session: Odenthal, Germany

Deep in the countryside but not far away from the city of Cologne, lies the recently completed Odenthal Eikamp skatepark, built near a church.

Zarosh throwing down a crail into the shallow end. Photo: J. Hay

Any Given Friday: Buena Vista Pool

Any given friday, a session like this could be going down at the Buena Vista square pool south of Santa Cruz, one of the longest running “backyard” pools in history. This pool has been skated by generations of legendary skateboarders. Most sessions these days include not only the old school pool shredders and underground legends, but also unknown new school pool riders that fearlessly roll in to the deep end and attack the “lip” as if they’ve been skating pools their entire lives, which quite probably they have. This pool is definitely harder to skate than it looks. Hopefully it will remain empty for another 30 years for following generations of pool skaters to shred without too much fear of the cops showing up and busting it, or without it being filled in with dirt like it has numerous times over the last 30 years.

Back to Old School 3 – Antwerp, Belgium (pre-contest)

A long time ago, in Anterp, Belgium the Back to Old School, 2nd edition was due to take place. Jason Parkes met me at my house in Cologne with his son Kilian. We got in my vw van and drove the 2 hours to the skatepark, where Lester Kasai and Mark Partain were warming up the day before the contest. It had been raining earlier and the park just dried up when we got there, and was practically empty, except for one of the best pool skaters in the world, and legendary 80s dominator Lester Kasai.

Hossegor, France: Beach break surf action

After sleeping in the rental car on the beach after the Pirate Ship Beers & Brats party, I awoke freezing bloody cold in the parking lot of world renowned surf spot HOSSEGOR. There happened to be a world championship surf contest underway just up the beach from where we were parked. After a coffee and Pain au Chocolate, we rolled up through the dunes and checked out some of the best competitive surfers in the world surfing one of the best beach breaks. The waves weren’t ALL TIME, it really gets good at Hossegor, but good enough for a short video clip and a few photos… then we packed up and headed away from the scene, to rural Basque Country.

Pirate Ship: Hossegor, France – OMA Brats & Beers

he idea behind the Brats & Beers skate Sesh was to celebrate the launch of my Old Man Army deck with Mike, OMA co-founder, paying for the brats. Carlsberg offered a few stacks of brew, and Carhartt was happy to let us use their more than sick Pirate ship bowl in Hossegor… Nothing more was needed to get the session going and sharing good times with a few old schoolers and some up and coming young bloods!” – Greg Poissonnier