PHOTOS & WORDS | MATTHEW JASTRZEMSKI @A_STRANGER_IN_CROATIA
Since moving from the US to Europe in 2016, every February up until the pandemic years, I packed my camera, skates, and a few days worth of clothing to make my way to Eindhoven for Winterclash. To be honest with you, I don’t go to watch skating or even skate myself (of course I do both). I go for the community.
Many of us have a small crews, but Winterclash is different. Winterclash is its own community. It’s one of the rare places where we [as rollerbladers] are actually face to face and not on a Facebook group or adding hashtags. We are there to see old friends, meet our social media friends, and make new ones. It’s a tangible place where we go to reignite our love for skating, to talk relentlessly about it, to nerd out on new projects, products, and ideas.
In between those conversations, there are laughs and good times had as we watch some of the best skating happen—live.
Being at Winterclash reminds us of what this communal interest does for and how it shaped us. It’s about skating as much as its about nostalgia, the future, and love.
FIND MORE OF MATTHEW’S PHOTOGRAPHY ON INSTAGRAM @A_STRANGER_IN_CROATIA
