Stop #9 of Volcom's WITP Europe 2015 | Paris, France
The 2015 French edition of Volcom’s Wild In The Parks skate contest took place at the skate spot that has been set up by Volcom all summer in the heart of Paris, Place de la Bastille.
The structure isn’t as big as a skatepark and has no big set of stairs or any rails but is really fun to skate, is unique by its material (granite) and calls for creativity and trick variations. Around a 100 contestants signed up, with skaters from all around France and of course Paris locals and expats that spent all summer shredding the spot.
This Wild In The Parks was the last event to take place on this spot of the “Volcom Bastille Days” and it was good to see those familiar faces ready for some good skate action.
The competition judged the best trick of each skater on each of 3 zones chosen in the plaza during jam sessions of 15 min. Zone 1 was the Volcom stone shaped pyramid/hip, zone 2 was the two level curved ledge, and zone 3 consisted on the bump and the curved bank/wally.
As soon as the contest started, a mixed audience was gathering around the plaza to check on the action (skate rats, kids, tourists, neighbors, businessmen, families and even a Buddhist demonstration stopped by…), that’s the beauty of not running the contest at a skatepark I believe.
But let’s get back to the action, lots of kids entered in the 14 and under division but only a few reached the finals. Thomas Pelot took the third place with some fast skateboarding, a bs 360 out of the stone pyramid and some good mini Vincent Coupeau impersonation. Daniel Porto Raya took the second place with notably a hardflip from the bump down the stairs, and Noah Mahieu claimed victory, impressing the judges with plenty of nice tricks such as a flawless bs360 transfer on the hip.
The 15-21 division saw serious hammers go down together with wild tricks. After qualifiers went down, the final was to keep in the books, ending with a banger landed at the last milisecond by Robin Fournier and the crowd getting wild. Robin who has been several times on some WITP podium took the first place for the first time, while his friend Hugo Rauch, another WITP regular took the 2nd place and Binh Nguyen took the third place of this category.
Top 3 is qualified for the global WITP Champs that will take place at the Berrics and apparently they’ll be plenty of Frenchies this year…
The Open/Am division is the sponsored and upan coming skaters division, so the level went up a notch with a couple guys going bananas!
Robin Bolian was skateboarding faster and higher than anyone, he was a total crowd pleaser, he took the 5th place. Marca Barbier is a name you need to be familiar with, style for miles and the best switch Ollie in the biz, he finished at the 4th place. Then Damien Rubis was destroying all areas, landing at least 4 hammers in each zone and took the 3rd place, 100€ cash and a spot at the Berrics WITP Champs. Benjamin Garcia made the trip from Bordeaux and his tech tricks and board control got him the second place and 150€ cash, and the big winner of the day was Vincent Milou, destroying the hip with some massive fs flip lipslides or martyrizing the curb. On top of 200€ cash and tons of prizes, Vincent won his flight ticket to Los Angeles to compete at the WITP Championships at the Berrics (October 17).
There were so many prizes for everyone thanks to Volcom, Skullcandy, Wasted skateboards and A Propos skatemag that everyone went home with a present.
Thanks to everyone who helped organize this event, Mathias Thomer for MCing, ChristianVankelst, Victor Pellegrin and David Turakiewicz for judging, Vincent Coupeau for the photos (colored) and Victor Fromageot pour les photos (black/white), Skullcandy and Wasted skateboards for the extra prizes, Hutch for the hotdogs, DJ Mike Rock for playing some tunes, to Guillaume Perimony for the video.
Volcom Bastille Days are now over but the obstacles have found a new home at Darwin in Bordeaux for the winter. Thanks everyone and thank you skateboarding.
RESULTS:
Best 10 and under: Noah Fransisco
14 and under division:
1/Noah Mahieu
2/ Daniel Porto Raya
3/ Thomas Pelot
4/ Mehdi Mercier
5/ Eliott Pressario
15-21 division:
1/ Robin Fournier
2/ Hugo Rauch
3/ Binh Nguyen
4/ Theo Moga
5/ Amiel Kornicki
Best girl: Charlotte Hym
Open/Am division:
1/ Vincent Milou 200€ + Flight ticket to LA
2/ Benjamin Garcia 150€
3/ Damien Rubis 100€
4/ Marca Barbier
5/ Robin Bolian
The structure isn’t as big as a skatepark and has no big set of stairs or any rails but is really fun to skate, is unique by its material (granite) and calls for creativity and trick variations. Around a 100 contestants signed up, with skaters from all around France and of course Paris locals and expats that spent all summer shredding the spot.
This Wild In The Parks was the last event to take place on this spot of the “Volcom Bastille Days” and it was good to see those familiar faces ready for some good skate action.
The competition judged the best trick of each skater on each of 3 zones chosen in the plaza during jam sessions of 15 min. Zone 1 was the Volcom stone shaped pyramid/hip, zone 2 was the two level curved ledge, and zone 3 consisted on the bump and the curved bank/wally.
As soon as the contest started, a mixed audience was gathering around the plaza to check on the action (skate rats, kids, tourists, neighbors, businessmen, families and even a Buddhist demonstration stopped by…), that’s the beauty of not running the contest at a skatepark I believe.
But let’s get back to the action, lots of kids entered in the 14 and under division but only a few reached the finals. Thomas Pelot took the third place with some fast skateboarding, a bs 360 out of the stone pyramid and some good mini Vincent Coupeau impersonation. Daniel Porto Raya took the second place with notably a hardflip from the bump down the stairs, and Noah Mahieu claimed victory, impressing the judges with plenty of nice tricks such as a flawless bs360 transfer on the hip.
The 15-21 division saw serious hammers go down together with wild tricks. After qualifiers went down, the final was to keep in the books, ending with a banger landed at the last milisecond by Robin Fournier and the crowd getting wild. Robin who has been several times on some WITP podium took the first place for the first time, while his friend Hugo Rauch, another WITP regular took the 2nd place and Binh Nguyen took the third place of this category.
Top 3 is qualified for the global WITP Champs that will take place at the Berrics and apparently they’ll be plenty of Frenchies this year…
The Open/Am division is the sponsored and upan coming skaters division, so the level went up a notch with a couple guys going bananas!
Robin Bolian was skateboarding faster and higher than anyone, he was a total crowd pleaser, he took the 5th place. Marca Barbier is a name you need to be familiar with, style for miles and the best switch Ollie in the biz, he finished at the 4th place. Then Damien Rubis was destroying all areas, landing at least 4 hammers in each zone and took the 3rd place, 100€ cash and a spot at the Berrics WITP Champs. Benjamin Garcia made the trip from Bordeaux and his tech tricks and board control got him the second place and 150€ cash, and the big winner of the day was Vincent Milou, destroying the hip with some massive fs flip lipslides or martyrizing the curb. On top of 200€ cash and tons of prizes, Vincent won his flight ticket to Los Angeles to compete at the WITP Championships at the Berrics (October 17).
There were so many prizes for everyone thanks to Volcom, Skullcandy, Wasted skateboards and A Propos skatemag that everyone went home with a present.
Thanks to everyone who helped organize this event, Mathias Thomer for MCing, ChristianVankelst, Victor Pellegrin and David Turakiewicz for judging, Vincent Coupeau for the photos (colored) and Victor Fromageot pour les photos (black/white), Skullcandy and Wasted skateboards for the extra prizes, Hutch for the hotdogs, DJ Mike Rock for playing some tunes, to Guillaume Perimony for the video.
Volcom Bastille Days are now over but the obstacles have found a new home at Darwin in Bordeaux for the winter. Thanks everyone and thank you skateboarding.
RESULTS:
Best 10 and under: Noah Fransisco
14 and under division:
1/Noah Mahieu
2/ Daniel Porto Raya
3/ Thomas Pelot
4/ Mehdi Mercier
5/ Eliott Pressario
15-21 division:
1/ Robin Fournier
2/ Hugo Rauch
3/ Binh Nguyen
4/ Theo Moga
5/ Amiel Kornicki
Best girl: Charlotte Hym
Open/Am division:
1/ Vincent Milou 200€ + Flight ticket to LA
2/ Benjamin Garcia 150€
3/ Damien Rubis 100€
4/ Marca Barbier
5/ Robin Bolian
