Whether 2015 was an awesome or a terrible year is up for debate. If you are more of the “glass half empty” type, then it is undeniable that the state of blading truly is worrying. With social networks slowly killing legit media sources, Magma & [MAG] both quitting this year, iconic companies like SSM gone, more shops closing down, without any money to actually pay our best pros and print magazines becoming rarer and rarer, one has to admit things could be better.
On the other hand, 2015 has brought in the most fresh new faces to blading we have seen in a long time. The steadily rising level of skating is nothing short of incredible, and more diverse than ever before. Dedicated brands are still pushing and new, innovative products like the Aeon skate and CRS frame have hit the market this year. Finally, many contests, festivals & skate camps are putting in the work to raise blade awareness and get new kids on skates… Glass half full.
French powerhouse Julien Cudot is not only known for emptying glasses faster than most, but also his incredible talent on the blades. Although he’s had to deal with plenty of re-occuring injuries in recent years, 2015 has seen the young prodigy come back once again. Touring through 4 different continents, Julien managed to rank 4th in the FISE World Series and made a remarked move from boot sponsor USD to new French company Trigger Skate. As his first signature model just landed in shops last week, let’s take a closer look at Julien’s 2015: cheers everyone!
Words: Freddy White
Photography: Mathieu Hennebert, Dominik Wagner & Antoine Dujoncquoy
My events in 2015:
Winterclash
NL contest Strasbourg
FISE World Chengdu
Halloween Jam Planet Park Brussels
FISE Honor Show Shenzen
FISE World Malaysia
My Tour Life in 2015:
Asian trip with Adrien Anne (right at the beginning of the year)
Impro Tour South of France/Spain with Stéphane, Bruce etc.
Ecualombia tour (just Colombia for me) with Diego, Stéphane, Anthony, Bruce, Ken.
Malaga and around trip with my girl
Asian trip again, Shenzen, KL, Langkawi and probably Singapore to end this 2015 year.
My edits/parts in 2015:
Asia Trip with Adrien Anne – USD Skates
IMPROTOUR 2015
FISE Chengdu China 2015
My Cities in 2015:
Hong Kong
Shenzhen
Bangkok
Phnom Penh
Siem Reap
Paris
Eindhoven
Marseille
Martigues
Tossa del Mar
Barcelona
Brussels
Strasbourg
Lisboa
Bogota
Bucaramanga
Medellin
Cali
Malaga
Chengdu
Doha
Guanzhou
Kuala Lumpur
Langkawi
(+ Koh Lipe and Singapore hopefully, we’re still in Langkawi at the moment)
My Countries in 2015:
China
Thailand
Cambodia
France
Holland
Spain
Belgium
Portugal
Colombia
Qatar
Malaysia
My injuries in 2015:
Broken left wrist, surgery
My old broken right wrist going bad again, probably an other surgery when I get back to France.
Broken brain again and again
Both elbows starting to look really strange
Any specific moment or experience that stood out?
Not really a specific moment, but it has been such a year of thinking things over for me, and meeting the best humans, one especially for almost a year now. But as for a more specific moment, I would say Denis Gul’s preparation for his qualification run here in Langkawi for the FISE a few days ago, that was like a sumo preparation where he had everybody wait for him, look at him, plus his run itself and of course the aftermath with his personal feelings etc. Ahah that was a really important moment for the sport in general!
What was your worst day in 2015 and why?
Probably breaking my wrist skating the Backyard one week before the start of the comps and sunny days, but that was still not such a bad day because I was with my closest ennemies that I don’t really have a chance to be as much with as before.
Is there such thing as a best day in 2015?
Every day where I realized or started to think about things I never did before, and there were kind of a lot this year.
Best in 2015:
Travel Buddy? My brain (never been on trip with it before)
Event? Halloween Jam in Planet Park Brussels (best European skatepark, best working squad ever)
Country? It’s a pity I can’t say Singapore because I’m still not there but I had some really good times there with Alvin Chong at the end of 2014, anyways, Malaysia and Colombia are in my head and heart forever!
City? Singapore
Meal? Chicken rice & miso soup in Singapore so far / Oishi Japanese address in Paris
Song? Jungle – The Heat
Girl? My one, The one
Website? FB
Company? Unknown…
Movie? La vérité si je mens 2
Beer? Picon bière or any pussy beers that taste like fruits, Desperados, Kriek etc.
Party? The ones that I remember, and this simple one in my place in Paris just before Winterclash.
Tricks you’ve filmed? You’ll see enough soon! But it is all about backflips again.
Story? I’ll write a book when I know a bit more about the whole story, but feel free to ask anybody, that is also what people are in blading for ahahah (me included)!
Bestest in 2015:
Blader? Victor Arias / Eugen Enin / Michel Prado
Up-and-comer? Nicolas Servy, he’s already the best park skater but I think we’ll see him soon kill the streets as well.
Bladie? Stéphanie Richer and Chihiro Azuma, nobody can deny
Video? Pastranaland episodes on YouTube
Profile? Victor Arias – Valo 5
Videographer? Adrien Anne, Ken Alor Sory
Writer? Stephen King / Jacques Mesrine (L’Instinct de Mort) / Gérald Délarega
Photographer? Ken Alor Sory / Jérémy Condamine
Visual artist? I’m not sure about what it means exactly, but I’m going for Denis Gul as a visual artist, that sounds pretty good.
What’s planned for 2016 so far?
I’m leaving to Australia on the 4th of January to finish my new section, and for the rest I’d just say giving way more importance to the few things and people I love here.
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