Get Your Hands On A Fourstar Freebie

Here’s your chance to grab a great limited edition DVD from Fourstar! It includes a collection of videos covering Fourstar’s tours and catalog shoots for 2008, including:

* A Tribe Called Mapquest - Fourstar’s fall haul through the American South
* North of Everything - the team’s summer tour of the great country of Canada
* And the catalog shoots of 2008 shot on location at the Pink Motel, New York City, and San Francisco.

Total Running Time: 35 minutes.

In order to win this exclusive DVD, just email us your postal address, and we'll get one in the post to you. Simple as that.

King Of The Groms 2008 Write up By Schaeffer McLean

Qualifier Event SKATELAB, Simi Valley, California 12th - 14th December 2008

Tour Diary - Schaeffer McLean Age 5 - The first ever entrant from the UK

Dec 8th

Left Heathrow on the 12 hour flight bound for Los Angeles, the nearest airport to one of the King of the Groms qualifier competitions. We arrive early evening and stay in Santa Monica, near the beach, as we hope to visit the much recommended “Cove” skate park in Santa Monica with 20,000 square feet of concrete the next day.

Dec 9th

First went to Venice City beach and skated the small skate park by the beach before heading to the Cove.

We go there to find that the minimum age is 6 and therefore I cannot get in. What a disappointment - but they helpfully recommend Culver City ‘free’ skate park. Although only 7 miles away - it took an hour to get there across LA. What a great place though - their free skate park is still bigger and better than anything in the UK! The Police turned up at dusk and ordered everyone out the skate park - wow. The skaters hid in the bushes and when the Police were gone, they all started skating again - that was funny. After that we made the 2 hour drive to Simi Valley, the location of SKATELAB the venue for the King of the Groms qualifier competition.



Dec 10th

We headed to SKATELAB in the afternoon. This skate park is amazing - with 2 large separate street sections, a huge bowl and 2 mini ramps outside. It was also combined into a skate museum, vintage skateboards are hanging all over the place. As I was starting to practice I noticed some crazy skaters were skating up the walls and holding onto to pipes on the ceiling like Spiderman. (The ceiling was about 12ft high). The staff were so nice and friendly and one of them said his brother was Torey Pudwill (sponsored by DVS) - how cool.


Dec 11th

The day before the comp, I got in as much practice as much as possible whilst still trying to adjust to American time without falling asleep during the day! The organisers of the event arrived and were setting up. In the evening whilst staying at the designated hotel, I noticed lots of little Groms around the hotel - they were checking in from all over the USA.

Dec 12th

Friday - Registration and Riders meeting at 5.30pm. I had already registered from England for the Beginners division (there were also Intermediate and Expert divisions) and thought I may as well enter all 3 events (bowl, mini-ramp and street, what the hell!) I continue to practice while I still can, but it’s getting very crowded now with Groms turning up from everywhere and the experts (the older Groms) absolutely stunning everyone with their skating - very difficult to get a run in the bowl now. Kids who had driven 7 hours from Arizona were getting straight onto the course. There were some seriously good skaters there, including the last years winner and all less than 12 years old. Made a great friend called Harry from San Jose and met some local skate kids too, who found my English accent very funny and kept asking me to say things over and over again! The riders meeting explained all the rules and that those who made the finals would qualify for the Championship in Minneapolis in February. Then some serious practice was put in that evening by everyone. The tension and excitement was immense and we left at 9pm for the early start tomorrow.


Dec 13th

Saturday - Day one of the competition and beginners bowl practice started at 8am but even by then it was so busy I got just one practice run.



There were older beginners but I was sizing myself up against the other younger ones, the 5 and 6 year olds to see how I would do. My first event - the bowl (probably my most difficult event - they don’t make bowls like this in the UK) and in practice I could drop in the 6ft shallow end, but at the 10ft deep end I couldn’t stay quite stay on the board. I got close to it, but even the other young ones seemed to be accomplished bowl riders and were doing better than me. Everyone got just 2 runs of 45 seconds in the bowl. My first run was not very good, but my second run was better.



After the intermediates and experts were done in the bowl, the Mini ramp comp started about midday. The ramp was huge, nearly 6ft and almost vert and some of the kids said they didn’t like the transition. Everyone got just one 50 second run with a rebate if you came off your board on the first run. Even though I did not like the transition I still dropped in and managed to do a few tricks such as a 360. Thankfully I think this worked in my favour and I felt better about the mini ramp than the bowl.



A few hours later and after a good kip in the car (due to jet lag), the Street part of the comp took place. As this was a jam format, my heat consisted of 3 others, but being heat 10 meant loads of waiting (more yawning) I was up against 12 year olds and a 6 year old in my heat.


I started at the far end of the course with a 7ft drop in but went onto have a collision (not a bad one) with Carter the 6 year old in my heat. I carried on but didn’t really do all my best tricks. After my heat I watched the intermediate and expert divisions which were so impressive they were literally flying over my head over the doorway. (The winner of the expert street section is crowned the winner of the competition)

We went back to the hotel for the party in the evening. All the Groms met in one of the conference rooms where we watched the premiere of the Osiris video “Children of the Revolution” I can’t believe that 3 of the kids in the video were in the competition.


Then after that they called all the Groms to have a milk drinking contest. As competitive as ever, the skaters were challenged to drink a gallon of milk to win a limited edition King of the Groms Skateboard deck - and so they did, and they were throwing up afterwards (in the bin provided). So this is how the Americans have a party?? Apparently it is becoming a tradition for the King of the Groms!

Dec 14th

The score sheets were put up, and as to be expected I didn’t make the finals but my scores were ok in relation to my age. In fact in the mini ramp comp - I was the second highest of the 5 year olds, but in the bowl, results showed I hadn’t skated all that well. I knew I hadn’t qualified in the Street, but now the pressure was off, I could just enjoy myself and mess around with all the other kids.

I spent a lot of time skating with the other really young ones, Neo and Tyson and we were trying to out skate each other. The youngest kid to make it to the final was Kiko aged 7, a regular at the Cove and an inspiration to me.


Around 6 pm after the last Street event, it was time for the prize ceremony which was spectacular with the best skaters being rewarded with more stuff than I could imagine. The organisers laid out tons of prizes from all the Sponsors. The top ten finalists won trophies, skateboards, Tech Deck ramps, shoes, and a huge bag of more stuff!! I got the prize for farthest travelled (no skill there - but I got massive cheers) which packed me off with loads of T shirts, stickers, DVD’s and Ollie Pop bubble gum. I was proud to be the first ever entrant from the UK and had officially made the KOTG hit Europe.



When the product toss was finished (and I have never seen so much stuff) I knew it as over. Everyone started to leave and I was sad it was the end of the competition but I had made loads of friends and I stayed the rest of the evening playing and skating with some of them, particularly Patrick the Cannonball aged 6.

Dec 15th

We left Simi Valley and headed towards Hollywood for some sight seeing. We went to the Ronald Reagan Museum first though and went on board the presidents plane - Air Force One then onto Ripleys Believe it or Not Museum that night.

Dec 16th

Universal Studios and I was terrified on the Shrek ride, but the killing machines in Terminator didn’t bother me.

Dec 17th

Left Hollywood and headed for Vans skate park in Orange County. Having learnt from the Cove skate park, I had practised saying I was 6 years old, the whole journey there. When we got there - no problems apart from size of the bowl - 12ft deep!!!! I left that to the adults and just stuck to the mini ramp and the street section and it was so cool to skate at Vans. I even bumped into Corey Frutos who was also at the King of the Groms (he made the finals). His Dad invited me to skate in the bowl (nicknamed the Spider bowl) he built in his garden next time we go over to America as many of the Groms use it for practice.


Dec 18th

The day we had travel back to the UK was such a beautiful day, so we decided to go a little bit out of the way en route to the airport to check out Etnies skate park as we had heard so much about it. It was amazing. The park was just a vast amount of concrete with 2 huge bowls. I skated for about an hour before it was time to head back to Los Angeles Airport. We arrived in good time and boarded our plane. California was truly the best place in the world for skaters and the King of the Groms is the best competition in the world for kids, I can’t wait to go again next year.

Introducing: Schaeffer McLean

Schaeffer first came to our attention back in August '08 when his mum, Eve, e-mailed Route One with some links to videos of her then 4 yr old son, skating. And wow, can he skate! After absolutely no consideration at all, we got in touch and offered him sponsorship, as his enthusiasm and love for the sport is above and beyond anything we would have expected to see from someone of his age.


Schaeffer is a busy lad, always travelling to skateparks with his Mum, he's been to our warehouse and had a skate with Andy Makepeace, (R1 Team Rider) and also went along to the Jib-Vid event in Bristol, to name just a few things he's been up to over the last 5 months.
The crowning achievement was his trip to the King of the Groms 2008 competition in California, where he became the FIRST EVER UK entrant into the competition!
Check back early next week to read Schaeffer's KOTG tour diary, it's an amazing read.

So we at Route One would like to introduce Schaeffer as an official Route One Team Rider! Watch this space as this kid will get better and better!

War Of the Roses Returns For 2009

The fourth (re-scheduled) installment of WOTR returns next month and will be handily taking place on the last weekend of the February school holidays. Saturday's event is at The Works in Leeds and Sunday's at Rampcity, Blackpool (so as to make it easier for the Scots to get home).

As ever there will be both unsponsored and sponsored/pro categories and the comps will work on a ‘best trick’ basis on various obstacles around both parks.

Hopefully the proposed mini ramp complex at The Works will be finished in time which, along with Simparch bowl and full pipe at Blackpool, should make for an interesting change from the traditionally street orientated vibe of the event.

As always, you know it's gonna be massive, so don't miss out.

Elwood Knockout Jam - Coming Soon

If you're at a loose end this Valentines Day, or really want to treat the lady, make your way to the Central Skatepark in Manchester and check out the Elwood Knockout Jam.
With £500 up for grabs for sponsored riders, plus plenty of free Elwood goodness for the rest of us mere mortals, it's well worth a visit, especially as some of our very own team members will be there, well, the single ones anyway...

Offcuts?! Bring On The Oncuts Then!

The recent Route One trip to Bulgaria is really beginning to bear fruit. The most recent addition to the Bulgarian fruit line-up is a video of offcuts from the upcoming Sidewalk edit (due to drop any time now...)
So if these are the offcuts, then we really can't wait to see what they've left in, as there's some cracking footage in this great compilation.

Check it out now in preparation for the main event.

Why, Why, Why?

Is it April Fools Day already? No, then it must stupid rich people's day instead. Not content with making hideously overpriced, ugly luggage, Chintz-mongers Louis Vuitton have produced a limited run of skateboards. Why, you may ask, well your guess is as good as mine, especially when you see the price tag - $8,250. A total bargain, even with the free box.

If $8,250 is a bit out of your price range, check out our £60 alternative, which handily gives you enough money to hire an assassin to take out whoever at Louis Vuitton came up with this rubbish.

So if you see a stick rolling around your local park, accompanied by some high pitch squeaking, then it can mean only one thing, the Beckhams have just taken up skating, just make sure you watch out for the chavs with the fake, market L.V. skateboards though...

Watch the Simpel Session 2009 Right Here

MPORA TV is pleased to announce a partnership with Simpel Session 2009 and the exclusive live webcast of Europe’s biggest indoor skate and BMX contest.

Tallinn, Estonia will host the eighth Simpel Session on Friday 16^th to Sunday 18th January and attract some of the hottest riders in skate and BMX. Riders from both sports will fight it out for a cut of the €6,000 prize purse with Red Bull and Snickers also offering €750 for the best trick. Simpel Session’s skatepark set-up has previously proved a real favourite among riders and this year will be no different. The thinking behind this is that an unconventional course enriches the sport and pushes them in new directions.

The video below will be the place to view the whole event, exclusively live and direct from Tallinn, so grab a (insert favourite poison/beverage here), sit back and enjoy as the action unfolds.
Mpora TV will live streaming directly from Estonia on Saturday from 10:00 – 19:30 GMT and Sunday, from 10:00 – 19:00 GMT.

Sidewalk's Sofia Spotlight

As you should know, we took our skate team out to Bulgaria with Sidewalk last year for a bit of a jolly tour with a difference, and finally it has made it to the hallowed pages of the nations favourite skate 'zine. We don't want to spoil it for those of you waiting for your copy, but it's well worth a read and out now, so go get it.
What we can show you is some of the stuff already put up on the Sidewalk website, namely interviews with the team, so click the link below to continue reading this post, where you'll find an interview with Mr Bernard Leyden himself.


How does Scotland compare to Bulgaria then? Any similarities as far as you could see?

It looked to me that the general population of Bulgaria take a lot more pride in themselves than the average Joe in Scotland. You know, I don’t think I seen anyone wearing trackies or drinking Buckfast. Nearly everyone I saw looked really clean and on point...

The Bulgarian language barrier was hard enough for the best of us - how did the distinctively thick Scottish accent go down with the natives?

I never had any trouble with it really, just as long as I took my time, spoke slowly and threw in some sign language type stuff.

What did you and Ashley get up to when not skating then? Did you manage to take in more culture than the rest of the crew?

Well if KFC and pizzas count as culture, I drew in plenty (laughs). Me and Ash did a good bit of wandering around, there was one point were we ended up lost somewhere in Sofia and I was kind of stressed, obviously because of being somewhere completely different and a bit ghetto, but the missus didn’t seem fazed at all. Women are mental.

What were your favourite three Bulgarian spots that we skated?

Pretty much everywhere we went was pretty rad, so I don’t think anything stands out to me man. I was just really happy to be somewhere rad with loads of potential.

Top five memorable incidents from the trip?

1 - Avid being a total bastard.

2 - Hanging out with new folks and making new friends.

3 - Physically feeling heat from sunshine.

4 - Trying new food and drink.

5 - Just feeling good about skating in general, it was all good! Stoked!

And finally, the most memorable Amir lyric you heard?

Seriously man, Amir is so funny, that boy was spitting mad lyrics, yo! He was waffling some stuff man, f*ck knows what man, he's like like the Pharcyde wrapped up in one big underground hip hop parcel. He's a f*cking good lad.

Interview stolen from Sidewalk.com, 12/01/09.

Manhead Becomes A Vans Man

It's been a while but the blog is now back up and running at full steam after a rather hectic Christmas period and have we got some great news for ya?

First up, congratulations must go out to our Manhead, not content with being merely a Vans Flow Rider, he's just been promoted to the full Vans team in recognition of quite a spectacular 2008 and we're totally made up for him!
After becoming member of the Independent UK team back in July, it's continued to get better for the man from Tingley, with tons of international exposure, he's become one of the hottest talents on the UK skate scene and we reckon things can only get better in 2009.

Good work fella!