Competitions

The third weekend of October was a moment many Polish skaters were waiting for. As some of you may know, this year all the biggest skatepark competitions in Poland were linked together to form an official Polish Rolling League. Top skaters were working hard to show up at every stop and place high, so they could gain points for the overall ranking. The main organizer, Green Association, co-operated together with the Polish Federation of Roller Skating, which meant that the winners of the league could be titled as the official Polish Champions in Aggressive In-line Skating. Not to mention the prizes, which were good enough to motivate skaters for their highest performance.

After having a full day of skating yesterday it felt good to get a few extra hours of sleep especially because I knew today we were going to Woodward Beijing, the newest member to the Woodward family. Growing up I never had the chance to visit Woodward, it wasn't until much later in my pro career that I went to Woodward West for the first time. That being said, this morning when I woke up I had the kid on Christmas morning attitude and after doing a bit of exploring around my hotel and grabbing coffee, Franky Zhang picked me up at 12pm. Beijing is huge and even though I'm staying in Beijing we still had to drive two hours to get to Woodward Beijing.

My third day in China started off bright and early. At 8am the phone rang and I heard Frankys voice telling me, "Brian I'm in the lobby, time to go get pants". I did need new pants due to ripping a pair the previous day but I was a little confused by the time that he had chose to go shopping, but hey, when in Beijing!

Waking up periodically through the first night, Thursday morning couldn't come soon enough! My day started when Asian team rider, Franky Zhang, picked me up around 11am and took me to one of his favorite places to eat in Beijing which strangely enough was Indian food. After a nice lunch we headed to the press conference that was being held for the CX games which included all the organizers of the event as well as two pro BMXers.

Brian Aragon arrived into Beijing airport at 3pm, today. Franky Zhang and the CX-Games staff swept in and picked him up. Before he even had a chance to take a breath, Brian was swarmed by the Chinese media. After some interviews Brian and Franky headed to their hotel to rest and chill out before starting their responsibilities for the event. Tomorrow, Brian will attend the news conference taking place before the start of the Beijing CX-Games. Check back tomorrow for more updates.

This weekend we saw the 11th annual Mile High Battle commence as bladers threw down everything they had. This phrase might seem too commonly used when media outlets in the blade world discuss a competition that went on. But, from this writer’s eyes down to the fingertips that press the insignificant keys on a laptop, this competition was all but common. It was an event that saw the likes of Colorado’s top skaters, visiting competitors Brian Aragon and Jeph Howard, who Razors flew in for this special trip, up-and-comers from surrounding states, and a line-up of spots that seemed peculiar and fitting. Some features that at first glance seemed ordinary for a competition like this spawned the battleground for one of the most heated battles that included a front-flip out of a sweatstance.

Last years write up of the comp was done by Brian Weis while sitting in an E.R. waiting room after destroying his leg tying a huge transfer off a Kinker. So I thought it only fit that I'm writing this years comp report as I sit in the E.R. waiting room with a broken hand.

It all started back on April 20, 2000. In a blur, I had way too much fun, but I watched the edit Tri made. I think he won, but it was originally between Louisville and Lexington. I think we all realized that wouldn't work. So, now fast-forward many sessions, parties, and prizes later. Here we are in our 11th year and can now say we are a legit contest. People from all over have been to Lexington or Louisville simply for some bad-ass street skating in some of the spots that we here call home. I can't tell you how to throw a skate contest, because I honestly change the format every year. I test one way and regardless of success or failure, we determine a winner, and everyone either parties or goes home. That is how it has always been, until this year...

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The BOK is the oldest competition in the Netherlands and it has the best vibe. That is why skaters from all over the country come specifically to this skatepark in the east of the Netherlands. Check out this report of the event!

When Pietro asked me to write a few lines about the jam session in Mogliano Veneto – that's right near the Valo factory, by the way – a couple of days ago I was seriously confused. Seriously.

What can I say about a contest with little to no competition? I mean there were competitors, just no competition battling for the 1st! Hands down after the second round we knew who was going to win this event. The 'TacTown Takeover', part of the NWBack2Back Series and little brother to 'Street Battle Seattle', took place on August 27th 2011 in the city of Tacoma.

On August 27th, 2011 the 3rd annual James Short Memorial Session went down at James’ hometown skate park in New Philadelphia, Ohio. The weather cooperated and gave us a perfect day for this outdoor event.

The West Side Comp was the last competition of the Polish Rolling League before the grand finals which take place in October in Warshaw. Read more of what went down at Poznan's Island Skatepark that day! And don't miss the edit!

There are two park contests in the Australian rolling scene that have been happening every year for a long time, "The Aussie's" and "The Vics", The Australian Titles being the higher-profile national event that tends to showcase the finest in the country, and the Victorian Titles that hosts the best skating the state of Victoria has to offer, plus whoever else from around the country turns up, and this year was quite an interstate turnout. This tends to be the case these days when it comes to events put on by RollVic, a group of skaters who basically want to see events like these as an opportunity for the sport to grow, for skaters to come together, and for amazing skating to take place. This year's Vic Titles fulfilled exactly those goals, with four of the top five in the Open finals coming other capitol cities.

Two weeks ago, the Chosen Few 2011 Final took place in Los Angeles, California. Ian McLeod won the comp and Tyler Hester got crowned 2011 Chosen Few Champion. Check this photo-set by Jeremy Condamine and get a feel what went down at the event!

Welcome to the 6th Annual Last Man Standing Street Competition brought to you by Victor Callender and Wheels In Motion. Victor started the contest series to bring more awareness to New York City's Rollerblading scene. This year the contest was held Uptown in a place locals have deemed "The Pit." With its variety of obstacles and acceptance from the parks department, "The Pit" created a perfect setting for the competition for a second year in a row.

The final round of the 2011 Last Man Standing was nothing short of spectacular. Have a look at the final installment of LMS photos from Ryan Loewy.

We come to you with another helping of photographs from this years Last Man Standing Competition, with a view on what went down during the 2nd round. Photos by Ryan Loewy

While we get all of our footage together, Ryan Loewy comes through with a hefty load of photos from the first round of the 6th Annual Last Man Standing Competition.

So the ACF Finals this year were about as crazy as it can get. This may be starting to get repetitive but I will say it again because I really do mean it. Chosen Few's main goal is to expose new talents around the world, challenge skaters to push themselves to their full potential and to put on amazing events for all to enjoy! The Chosen Few Finals are now being known as one of the most difficult competitions around. We're not going to lie about that either. Our finals will always be an intense and challenging competition. You may get one easy spot at the beginning but that's about it. No matter what the last obstacle is, it will not be easy. It might be a huge down rail or it might be something random but we will guarantee that it will always have the competitors pushing themselves and skating their hardest.