a brief glance issue _55

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issue

in the south of France) [ p. 24] Joe Gavin Interview [ p. 52 ] / How To Survive A Skate Tour [ p. 66]

Year IX a brief glance skateboard mag / Fragments [ p. 18 ] / Promenade (New Balance Numeric

©2019 Vans, Inc.

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a brief glance

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Skateboarding is definitely ready for the world

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Yes, a brief glance skatebaoardmag will be (also) on paper and you will find it every two months at finest skateshops around Europe.

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CONTENTS

Fragments Promenade

[p. 18]

{New Balance Numeric in the south of France} [p. 24]

Joe Gavin {Interview}

[p. 52]

How To Survive A Skate Tour [p. 66]

COVER STORY Your photo bag containing 20k worth of photo gear, laptop and 3 hard-drives with all the photos back upped gets stolen on the way back from a skate tour?

Tragedy!

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But hey, this is 2019 and there is always an Iphone with a screenshot saved of one of your favorite shots of the trip. Small consolation but good cover story at least.

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EDITOR & CONCEPT_ Davide Biondani. {davide@abriefglance.com}

Issue 55

ASSOCIATE EDITOR_ Guido Bendotti. {guido@abriefglance.com} ASSISTANT EDITOR_ Andrew Zolin.

TRANSLATIONS_ Jonathan Levin.

PHOTOGRAPHERS_ Alberto Chimenti Dezani, Craig Dodds, Friedjof Feye, Ian Williams, Davide Biondani, Rafal Wojnowski.

CONTRIBUTORS_ Francesco Paolo, Chielli, Mario Torre, Mark Baines, Fabio Montagner.

DESIGN_ M. Bod Ciceri {Question Mark, ink!#?}

<

GET ALL THE INFO at: info@abriefglance.com

a brief glance skateboard mag is a bulletin published by Fake Donkey Skateboard asd.

All rights reserved.

Thanks to Canon Italia for the support.

Aref Koushesh / Wallie Photo: Davide Biondani [Canon] Fuerte Ventura [Spain]

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No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher.

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Niklas Speer von Cappeln

Wallride nollie out >> Wallride

Copenhagen [ Denmark ]

Photo

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Friedjof Feye

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Filip Wojnowski

Ollie up

nollie inward heelflip

London [ UK ]

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Rafal Wojnowski

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Craig Dodds

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Barcelona [ Spain ]

Kickflip

Rooie Nelis

Gareth Leak

Frontside wallride

Barcelona [ Spain ]

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Craig Dodds

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New Balance Numeric in the south of France Photography & words / Davide Biondani [Canon]

When the New Balance Numeric boys asked me to go to the South of France for a tour I immediately replied "Yes!" without hesitation. I could already imagine myself immersed in the "belle vie" of the incredible CĂ´te d'A zur sipping bottles of Jacques Selosse "Substance" Grand Cru champagne on the seafront of Saint Tropez, shopping in the most luxurious boutiques of Monte Carlo, or roaming up and down the coast on a shiny Aquariva Super motorboat.

But my first impression was not as luxurious as I had fantasized, since we found ourselves on board a huge light-blue van for a long, 6-hour drive from Italy to France in the company of Ale Cesario, Massimo Cristofoletti, Jack Thompson, and Davide Holzknecht. Actually, once we reached the Ligurian coast the spectacle from the highway that was perched over the beautiful blue sea really filled us with joy.

Waiting for us in Nice were Raffaele Pola, the filmer Nick Richards, Mark Baines, and Karl Salah who apart from being the special guest of the tour was also the only Frenchman of the group.We spent the first three days based out of Nice, travelling eastward towards Menton.

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Karl Salah | Switch backside tailslide frontside shove-it out | Marseille

There are some beautiful locations where you can breathe the atmosphere of the CĂ´te d'A zur, characterized by extremely long beaches, small restaurants, the seafront or "la promenade" in French, which was crowded with people strolling along and where you can find interesting spots to skate in a magical setting. It was particularly touching to roll down the Promenade des Anglais that suffered a terrible terror attack in 2016.

The most ideal moment to skate the center of Nice is surely during the nighttime, when it empties completely of people, but the city also offers spots that are always skateable by day, some of which are really incredible but also well-guarded by private security.

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Ale Cesario | Backside lipslide | Marseille

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Mark Baines | Nollie switch crooks | Menton

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One day, we travelled over the Italian border to Ventimiglia to escape the rain and skate a fun spot, to the delight of Mark who was forced to drive the "Blue Beast," our huge van with steering wheel on the left. In the UK the steering wheel is on the right, so poor Mark had to drive switch!

We spent the remaining three days in Marseille, where the situation was definitely different; together with Lyon, it is the second largest city in France after Paris, and is the largest seaport in the country, very chaotic, colorful, and interesting to explore. The metro and skateboard are the best ways to get around the city from spot to spot and to discover new ones by chance.

Karl was our precious and patient guide since he knows where to go and how to move around. Of course he also killed it on his board, gracing our eyes with some dope lines, one of which he landed perfectly on the first try.

The boys all had fun, getting busy and skating really well with smiles on their faces at every spot we sessioned.

Marseille has lots of spots, but during our last two days there Karl was absent because he had to go back to Paris, so we wandered around the city, finding many cool places to film and shoot at. It was really fun to skate outside the prefecture, from which a huge policeman showed up three times, asking us to leave very politely and actually allowing us to film the trick until it was landed. One of the things that struck us the most about Marseille and that we won't forget easily is the wind. It's incredible how persistent it is, and not like a pleasant breeze, but strong gusts forcing you to constantly wear the hood of your windbreaker over your head and sometimes preventing you from even pushing on your board. And we won't be able to forget the couscous that Karl brought us to eat, and Nick and Davide's disastrous falls during a downhill in front of our hotel on the last night.

For the record, we did not drink any Selosse "Substance" Grand Cru, we didn't go to Saint Tropez, we only saw Monte Carlo from atop a mountain for a few fleeting moments, and the Riva Aquariva Super remained a figment of our imagination, but the six days spent with the New Balance Numeric team were lots of fun and packed with energy and skateboarding that made it a blast!

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Massimo Cristofoletti | Frontside noseslide bigspin out | Marseille

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Raffaele Pola | Ollie up to drop in ollie off | Nice

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Massimo Cristofoletti | Switch frontside heel flip to manual | Marseille

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Jack Thompson | 360 flip | Nice

Massimo Cristofoletti | Backside backward nosegrind | Marseille

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Jack Thompson | Crooks | Ventimiglia

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Ale Cesario | Ollie | Marseille

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Davide Holzknecht Backside smith grind [Marseille]

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Mark Baines | Ollie up to nollie frontside heel flip | Nice

Raffaele Pola | Fakie 360 flip to switch manny | Marseille

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Interview Guido Bendotti & Davide Biondani

If I had six seconds to name five skateboarders that represent the UK skate scene at its best, Joe Gavin would definitely be one of them. Without a doubt.

Apart from being a sick skater who films and edits videos, and works in a skate shop and as a team manager too, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always motivated and down for a skate or shooting mission. The future of skate-culture is in good hands with people like him.

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Nollie // photo Reece Leung

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How did a young kid from Manchester find skateboarding, and how did he get addicted to it?

Like most kids that got into it, and I was just completely obsessed from day one. The idea of running around skateboarding with my friends seemed well better than anything else at the time.

When did you start skating?

Around 1994.

What would you bring over to the present from when you started skating, and what would you bring back to that time from the present?

I’d bring back switch hardflips! Nah, I guess maybe like the innocence of it if you know what I mean. We’ve come a long way now with the acceptance of skating, but I'm not gonna lie, I kinda do also like the other side to it. Today we skated a newly torn down shopping centre type thing all fenced off and it felt a bit naughty. I kinda like that sort of shit, plus we filmed like 15 tricks between us so it really felt satisfying to know that soon there will be flats there and we managed to get something out of it, but on the other side nowadays maybe something from the present I would have benefited from as a kid is the way free skateparks are kind of everywhere in small towns. I wouldn’t have had to mission around the country to go to a specific skatepark.

You were born and raised in Manchester, how is it to grow up and live there both in general and as a skateboarder?

Manchester was really fun to grow up in to be honest. Like any city it's a mixed bag of people which I think gives you a pretty good understanding of different cultures and what not. The city itself has changed a lot too, it’s constantly spreading out with new areas becoming popular and also a lot of new spots popping up with all the construction and stuff.

How did the city shape the way you skate?

I guess it’s always had plazas and nice spots to skate but I’m into the mission side to Manchester skating these days, roaming the back streets trying to find something new. That gets me pretty hyped, I used to be pretty serious about getting a certain trick at a specific spot but now I kinda enjoy not knowing what’s around the corner. That way there’s less disappointment too when you get kicked out or can’t land this big trick you’ve built up in your head.

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Switch 180 nosegrind // photo Reece Leung.

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What’s the most hated commonplace by Mancunians about Manchester?

I suppose that kinda might depend on which football team you support, ha ha.

United or City? Do you follow football?

I’m a City fan but I’m not really into football to be honest. Before skating I was obsessed with football and M.C.F.C. I like watching the odd game though with my Dad, he loves them.

I see a lot of photos and footage of you skating switch stance, are you are so good at skating that you are trying to find new motivation or you are goofy and trying to impress people and get skate-cred with “fake switch skating?” Ha ha ha.

Ha ha yeah, people say this a bit to me. I’m definitely Regs but I just trained it up from day one. When I was younger I had knee surgery and my right leg wasn’t as powerful afterwards so I started skating more switch. Plus, I always kinda thought that if I can do it switch then why not? I did a pretty big Regs ollie today out of this weird short kicker over this barrier thing that I definitely couldn’t have done switch because my body’s always kinda backwards switch and it would have been well scary. But yeah, generally off the flat I can switch ollie higher these days.

What should a skate spot look like to catch your attention?

What kind of spots do you like to skate nowadays?

Like everyone I always get excited when I see a perfect spot for a specific trick. I love kickers at the moment. I concentrated on ledge skating for years and kinda forgot how fun it is to swing a trick out of a bump or summit. I've just been trying to have fun and skate more fun shit recently.

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How was your first 8-day 10am wine-tasting experience in Italy? Did you start drinking wine after that trip? Ha ha ha.

Oh yeah, that was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on for sure, it was actually incredible how well we were treated. Not really that into wine still but it was rad to travel around tasting wine in the morning and then having boozy skates afterwards. Plus, the food in Italy was just so banging I was so stoked on it, ha ha. Yeah, cheers to you and Joseph for that one, it was amazing.

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Slappy crooks // photo Ian Williams

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Switch Ollie // Photo Reece Leung

The UK skate scene has always been solid in Europe and internationally. Growing up, were you more inspired by UK or US pros?

I suppose both to be honest, when I was a kid I didn’t really see that many American skaters in person. They seemed really out of reach, but I would quite often see for example Scott Palmer or Baines skating my local skatepark or something. I recently found some footage I’d kinda poached of Baines skating Bones skatepark in Stockport. But yeah, it was pretty inspiring to see how good they were, coming from places similar to where I was coming from.

I would always get UK boards too, but honestly that was probably just because they were cheaper, ha ha.

Tell me two of your favorite skaters from when you were 18 years old and two that inspire you now.

During the Mouse era Guy Mariano really inspired me skating loads of switch. I could never tell what stance he was and thought that was pretty sick. Maybe Quim too, Eastern Exposure and stuff like that. Kyle Wilson is one of the best people to watch skate for sure and I like Jacopo Carozzi he seems to have incredible control.

You are very productive with photos and videos, what keeps you so motivated?

I’m not sure Reece keeps phoning me and turning up, ha ha.

Nah, I just like it and I’m kind of just used to it. I think getting a decent photo or filming a trick makes me motivated to get the next one.

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What do you like the most about going out filming and shooting photos?

Filming with my friends is always fun, never too serious to be honest. I like trying to create things for them to look back on and get them hyped, which gets me hyped. Photos are more serious, like a bit of a proper mission which is also just as rad.

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One of the latest videos you were part of is Landscape’s “Seasons” that you guys released last month. How long did you work on it and how was releasing a full length video in this era of “straight to Instagram” clips?

Yeah, I was hyped on how it came out in the end to be honest. Not sure when this interview comes out, but just as I was pretty much finishing the video after maybe 3 years we had to call it a day on Landscape financially. So the video was more special to me as far as documenting a time in our lives. People were kind of suggesting that I keep all the footage and start a new company and all this, but I really wanted to finish what we had started and end it on a high with something to celebrate rather than Landscape’s just done and that’s it. I’m kind of looking forward to not having to worry about it at all anymore, just skate and have fun. Trying to sell product and film for something that’s got a lot of history changed things for me a little bit. I felt pressure to deliver all this stuff when all I really wanted to do was skate myself. I was doing about 5 jobs in one, too much. Massive love to Nick, Fos, the team and the people that helped film to make that happen. It was a group effort for sure. Making videos and stuff in the Insta world is pretty confusing. Sometimes it sucks that everyone has a camera in their pocket but I’ve got a big camera bag, and lugging it to a new spot I’ve found and someone story’s the warm up trick or something kinda ruins the effect. Had a hard time with it for a while as a filmer too, but I’m pretty chilled about it these days, not that arsed. No point getting mad at things you can’t control init?

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What are your feelings about people constantly filming on their phones also while on tour or during the making of a video project?

I suppose it’s kind of weird but like I said it’s just the way things are now, there’s no point getting pissed off. I reckon it’s probably well more annoying for print mags though. I know I’m guilty of that too. Quite often the filmer or photographer is on some serious vibe and filming a little line on the phone with your mate seems way more fun. I’m not sure.

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Switch frontside ollie // photo Reece Leung

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Switch backside noseblunt // photo Ian Williams

You film and edit also right? Plus you work at Note shop and do some media managing for them... what aspect of all these jobs do you like the most?

I’ve been working at Note for a long time, filming stuff for them, but more recently we’ve been trying to get the whole squad in the mix with the edits. We sort of scrapped the traditional shop team thing to just incorporate everyone that’s a part of the shop, from riders and workers to lurkers, everyone makes Note what it is. So I guess developing that has been really fun, plus I’ve enjoyed the branding side of things too, like making fun ads with my mates.

Being involved with Note shop a lot, what do you think about skate shops struggling more and more and skaters caring only about paying 8 pounds less for a board online instead of buying it at the local store that helps to support and divulge the skateboarding culture? Is it the future of skateboarding to do without physical skate stores?

Damn, hopefully not, the skate shop is the place we meet up and chill at, and if it disappears the scene has no back bone. People are ruthless though, which I totally understand.

Shit’s expensive, so if you can save money you will do it. I suppose the stuff with Landscape was kinda the same. Everyone would always tell me how rad it was, but then they wouldn’t buy it, ha ha.

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Interview Guido Bendotti + Davide Biondani

What’s next for you Joe?

Lots of camping this summer with my girlfriend Laura and some good times skating some proper shit (but free) skate parks with the VIBESEEKERS! Look out for VibeSeekers 5.25 “No one’s going home.”

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Photography Alberto Chimenti Dezani

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& Davide Biondani

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Mattia Turco | Blindside ollie over the channel | Photo Biondani

Have you ever been on a skate tour?

If you're reading this article then you probably have. Do you know the rule that says you must accomplish the mission? The idea behind "How to Survive a Skate Tour" is exactly that, to present in a decidedly ironic manner a guide to the things to do and especially not to do during a skate tour, so that everything goes according to plan without turning into a nightmare.

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Words Davide Biondani.

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Aref Koushesh | Stale fish transfer |

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Red Camera video grab _Dezani

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Mattia Turco | Frontside ollie over into the bank | Photo Biondani

The location of this adventure was the island of Fuerte Ventura, and the protagonists were Ale Mazzara, Aref Koushesh, Indro Martinenghi, Mattia Turco, Pepe Tirelli, Quentin Boillon and Sam Partaix, in other words the Italian Vans team and two skaters from the French counterpart.

Fuerte Ventura doesn't exactly look like the ideal location for a skate tour. The island is basically an expanse of rocks scattered with conically shaped mountains here and there, with no plants except around the white houses breaking up the chromatic monotony of the landscape which is delimited by the intense blue of the ocean.

Actually, Fuerte Ventura has various spots to offer, both in the main city centers as well as in the smaller towns. There is even a public skatepark with a concrete bowl and a DIY in the back of a surf shop.

One of the reasons we chose this destination was certainly Casa Maccaroni, namely the guest house of our friend Enrico, a skater from Turin who has been living there for 6 years and has created a little corner of paradise, with a garden to have breakfast and relax in, a huge table for memorable dinners under the stars, and a brand new concrete mini ramp. Enrico was a precious guide and helped us in every way imaginable.

The handbook "How to Survive a Skate Tour" contains eight main points.

Don't miss your flight. The first rule is to at least manage to leave for the tour, ha ha. So even if the flight is at six in the morning, make sure to get to the airport on time and have your passport on you.

Warm up before the session. A good warm up before skating is the best way to enjoy the spot, land more tricks and keep your muscles in good shape. And by the way, warming up doesn't mean only exercising your wrist to crack open cold beers!

Never trust the map, always ask the locals. Google maps and street view are game changers to find any spot in any part of the world, but asking the locals if and when a spot is skateable may be a good idea to avoid travelling there and wasting a lot of time.

Got enough water? If you go skate a spot in the middle of nowhere, be sure to bring enough water with you, especially in the desert of Fuerte Ventura with a scorching sun burning your skin.

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Keep it healthy. Eating well is the basis for good health, especially during a skate tour! In fact every morning, or nearly every morning, Sam Partaix prepared some delicious sandwiches with prosciutto, mango, and veggies for our lunch on the road, while in the evening we had some unforgettable dinners that we enjoyed all together at Casa Maccaroni.

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Don’t party too much, just a wee bit... ha ha ha. Actually, during the week we'd get home so exhausted that nobody really wanted to go out partying!

Get out of the way. If years ago the photographer was the most important figure at the spot and the filmer was the least important one, in recent years the order has practically been reversed due to the predominance of video over photography. Nowadays it seems that phone filming has sent home even official filmers who often and unwillingly find the scene taken over by a new jack passing in front or behind the skater being filmed, holding his smart phone to document the trick for his very own moment of cinematographic Instagram glory.

Enjoy the ride, which should actually be rule number one. Enjoy the present moment in a great place to skateboard.

Each member of the crew has his own focus in order to survive: the skater wants to land enough tricks, the team manager wants everybody to be happy and everything to go smoothly, the filmer wants to get enough good clips for the edit, and what about the photographer? He obviously wants to get enough good action and lifestyle shots for the article.

Once the tour is over and the material is collected you head over to the airport, tired, but happy and satisfied of having survived the skate tour and having accomplished the mission.

But just like in football, games don’t always end at the 90th minute, but rather, at the 95th minute. Even as a skateboard photographer I have learned, unfortunately, that you have not fully made it through a skate tour until you’ve reached the safety of your home.

So after having eaten good food, brought water to the spot, avoided partying too much, found the most decent corner from which to photograph the tricks and dodging the filmer, Insta filmer, and Whats App filmer... after having consulted with the locals and feeling comforted by the fact that rebellion is still present in skateboarding to some degree, after having battled with mosquitoes all night long and getting a sunburn on your neck during the day, then comes the morning of your departure.

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And of course you ask yourself what the use of taking a super boring direct 4-hour flight to Italy is... so why not take a longer, 15-hour flight back on 3 different planes with 2 intermediate stops along the way? In the end it’s just another day out with your buddies, and to make things easy on yourself, taking naps from one airport to another is all you need.

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Sam Partaix | Hurricane | Red Camera video grab _Dezani

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So you leave Casa Maccaroni at 8am and land in Milan at 11.30pm, where you happily discover that among 9 suitcases the only one that got lost during the trip is yours. How damn lucky. You spend the next 40 minutes at the lost and found, and then take a taxi and end up sleeping at the house of a friend who was nice enough to have you over night.

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The next morning you head over to the station to catch a train back home, and while youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re walking there it feels strange to be returning from yet another trip without pulling your large, heavy suitcase, so you shrug it off by thinking that they will send it home by courier a couple days later at the latest.

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Aref Koushesh | Ollie over into the bank | Photo Biondani

You console yourself with the fact that you still have your trustworthy “back-breaking” backpack containing not only your photo equipment, flash, and hard drives with all the tour photos inside, but also your glasses, house keys, a pack of memory cards, and your MacBook Pro. Basically, 15 kilos of stuff that somehow keep you company.

So you climb onto the high-speed train at 10am, with lots of people aboard, tourists and businessmen wearing suits and ties... and you put your backpack onto the rack above your head thinking that for once you won’t be spending the next hour and twenty minutes working on your computer, but will instead be spending it looking out the window, replying to some emails on your smart phone, or reading a newspaper, all the while keeping an eye on your backpack from time to time. You then reach your destination and get up to fetch your belongings, only to realize that your bag is not there! And you also realize that, after 27 years of photography, during which you never once left your bag in the car and always brought it with you to the toilet at restaurants, someone has stolen everything, all your photo equipment, including your computer and all the photo material from the tour, back-upped on two hard disks, but that were both in that bag! They stole it in the most unthinkable place, at the most unlikely time and in the most pathetic and professional manner possible. A gang of three followed me from Milan, and at the only intermediate stop, while one of them was asking some information to the other people at the same table I was sitting at, another guy took my bag from behind!

So among the tips of “How to Survive a Skate Tour” I would also add: Don’t get all of your equipment stolen on the trip home. And how do you survive a skate tour with an ending like this? I don’t know, I guess you try not to get too angry, or at least this is what I did, because the situation is just so “big” and incredible that you just don’t get mad. Or at least not as much as you would expect to. Then you take control of the situation so you can at least bring home the article for the magazine, trying to piece together all the fragments. Then, thanks to the few images you had saved during the tour on a friend’s computer for a photo exhibition, and also thanks to the help of an extraordinary person like Alberto Chimenti Dezani who, besides having made an incredible video, also gives you all the lifestyle photos he shot and some video frames he took from the Red he used to film, you manage to put everything together and come up with an alternative solution.

So this article is made up of images that I took with my Canon 1 dx Mark II, images taken with an Iphone with an anamorphic lens, images Chime shot on film, and images taken directly from Chime’s Red videocamera that were edited in postproduction. In other words, a mix of everything we were able to recover and put together.

How to Survive a Skate Tour? Just like we somehow did it, despite everything.

Pietro Tirelli | One foot | Photo Biondani

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Mattia Turco | Ollie | Red Camera video grab _Dezani

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Indro Martinenghi | Backside lipslide | Photo Biondani

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Will Odiete | Nose manual | Photo Biondani

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Aref Koushesh | Frontside nosegrind | Red Camera video grab _Dezani

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Sam Partaix | Crail slide | Red Camera video grab _Dezani

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Mark Baines X a brief glance | Switch nosegrind revert