The Winterclash competition has been the premiere blading event for several years running now, drawing competitors and spectators from all over the world to Area 51 skatepark in Eindhoven Netherlands. We aim to highlight some of these individual adventures that brought so many incredible characters into one location to share in our common passion of inline skating.
We had the incredible opportunity to speak with one of the architects of modern inline skating culture, the iconic Dave Paine of Videogroove. Dave made his first trip this year to the Winterclash as a special guest speaker & he took the time to document his unique experience and why this particular event was so memorable for him.
We are beyond proud to present to you, the man, the myth, the legend.
Mr. Dave Paine
A VG Thank you to Rollerblading.
I was honored to be asked to write about my experience at WinterClash 2020. I still find it very hard to express in words how I feel a month to the day later. In short, I feel proud and thankful.
My experience at WC2020 was something I will never forget. I felt like I stepped back into a world I know so well. A world I am still very much a part of. Sure, not on the daily, but it sure felt like it. I was embraced by the entire rollerblading community. Skaters I have never met, some I had connected with on social media, and others I have not seen in over twenty years. They all had their VG stories that they wanted to share with me. They poured their hearts out to me with gratitude for the work we did at Videogroove. Each story lifted me up higher and filled my soul with inspiration. I needed that. I left feeling that VG influenced a whole generation of rollerbladers to chase their passions. All I could do was listen to their stories and humbly thank them. After all, that’s what I did back in 1993. I left a cushy corporate job, with no promises, to pursue my dreams. No regrets. Fortune favors the bold. Seize the day. Isn’t that what’s it’s all about? Doing what you love while hopefully inspiring others to do the same? Pay it forward in a sense.
How do you say thank you to an industry that gave me a chance to fulfill my dreams? How do you say thank you to rollerblading that gave me the foundation for my craft and career? Thanks to an industry that launched me into another amazing opportunity at FUEL TV for a decade. Now I have my own company www.campsitetv.com. I am thankful and proud of rollerblading. I am so appreciative to everyone at WinterClash that I met and filmed. I am especially thankful for Jon Julio and JoJo who helped make it all happen. Skaters kept thanking me throughout the weekend when it’s me that should be thanking them.
I never took the VG as a right, it was a privilege. Our job was to cover rollerblading as best we could. VG was for the people. I thank you all who supported VG through the years and beyond. To all the movers and shakers in the industry, do your thing. Keep it moving. I will be close by.
Dave Paine
Videogroove Videomagazine
1993-2005 but #vg4life
What was the feeling of being at your first Winterclash and explain what made this event special to you?
This is an event that has been on my skate bucket list since it’s inception in the mid-2000s. There is something really special about this contest that you just have to experience in person. Thanks to the efforts of JoJo and Jon Julio, we made it happen. I can not put into words how special it was, even weeks later I am at a loss. The emotions of hearing all of the kind words and their stories from skaters I’ve never met truly humbled me to my core.
What was your favorite Winterclash moment(s) from this trip?
Besides the surprise of getting the “special contribution award” at the end of WinterClash, it would have to be the moment right before the VG History lesson started at the Blue Collar.
I was standing on the stage messing with my iPhone to get a shot of the crowd assembled for VG event. The crowd just combusted into cheer. Not really for me, but for VG and the work we did. The ovation gave me goosebumps. I mean, what a welcome. I didn’t even know if people would show up at 11 am after a big night of drinking late the night before.
Other honorable mentions:
Memorable Moments of VG’s Experience at WinterClash 2020:
1. My very first moment at WinterClash was walking right into Rob G‘s Jumpstreet podcast to say hi.
2. The art of filming on the street course when it’s hectic as hell. This event is major. It felt like ole times. I enjoy that rush. That trust you have with a skater when you are working on something together amid the chaos. The first clip I got was with one of my best friends and one of the mains reasons why I got to came to WinterClash2020. Jon Julio fish brain stall to fakie in the bowl. The crowd erupts.
3. See the VG signs from “The Brians” entitled “Dave Paine gave us Visual Aids” as we DJ’d from above the street course.
*Shout Out to Jason “The Rally Master” Reyna and JJ for always starting the days right with a proper breakfast of reflection.
4. The WinterClash afterparty dancing with Julio and the THEM Team. True B-Boy style.
5. Being reunited with my friend and Master MC of the event Miguel (Martinez).
Do you plan on attending any more Winterclash events in the future?
YES! I will do my best to come to another one. I would love to come every single year. Between WinterClash and Blading Cup, I get to see so many people I miss, but I also meet so many new people I follow in the scene.
What was your favorite VG story that you heard while at Winterclash?
Wow, that’s hard. I had about 50 kids or so daily come up to me and tell me their own personal VG story. That is an incredible feeling. They told me how the Videogroove magazine influenced their life positively in some way or another. Those stories inspired me. Those stories will always be with me.
Who was your favorite skater to watch during the event?
“Fish” aka Billy O’Neill True Fish down the ledge and Diako Diaby’s 450 alley-oop soul from the quarter to the down ledge! Also, anything Montre does cause I love him. So many good skaters to thank that I met and got to film and meet when I was out there. You know who you are, VG4LIFE.
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