Thrasher Magazine

Starting off last year's celebration, everyone had an initial meetup in Copenhagen to hang, skate and get their bearings. The Kevins—White and Bradley—acted as the de facto hype guides for the week, since wherever they went, a party immediately followed. The plan was to take the train an hour north to Kronborg, which happens to be Hamlet's Castle. K-White and K-Bradley are sophisticated men, afterall.

Julius Rohrberg lends K-White his hat to give him the authority he deserves    

KB on the other hand chose a different prop to command the crowd

A miniature Flip reunion with my brothers Ali and Ian

All Aboard the Party TrainFitting with the rest of the Open, you could drink on the train ride up to the castle. We also had a live band handling the tunes in transit. Even this rail worker was down to vibe out with us, sharing facts and stories about the engine to any dad who would listen. I didn't get this dude's name, though, so we just called him "Mr. Trainguy."  

"This is the ladies department, so ladies could be segregated if they wanted to be. It is also prohibited to spit on the floor, and the gentlemen didn’t like being deprived of their spitting opportunities, so they had trays for it—spittoons." —Mr. Trainguy

Oh shit, look who beat us to our seats! Gerwer sneaks a swig of KB's magic potion

The train stopped halfway for a vertical ramp jam. I couldn't tell how many people were on the ride with us, but soon enough the whole yard was packed. Rune Glifberg gives the people what they came for—blasted FSO

Oski shocks Zion with a frontside air in his face. Then we had to keep the train movin'

"Some architect might say, 'You’re destroying my building,' and yeah, maybe there’ll be wallride marks on it, but at the same time this is life. I don’t think we like super perfect stuff untouched. The city has to get a little bit of flavor and we love that dust, right?"—Santiago Sasson

Everyone hates that asshole who talks on their phone on the train. Strangely, nobody has a problem with the trombone

Steve cracks Alex up with that newfound train wisdom. Quick, someone get the spittoon! 
 
By the time we actually made it up, the whole crew was pretty damn toasted

Once we hopped off the rail we had to get to a seaside skate jam. Sadly, it didn't last long. Oski kicks the storm wall with a backside air before it literally rained on our parade

It's Always SK8 O'Clock at the OpenDespite the rain delay, the skating had to commence. Soon enough, the Skate Gods dried the ground and wheels were turnin' once again. I decided to stay close to Steve as I knew he'd not only be on the best sessions, but he'd also have to get a few rips of his own. 
 
Steve double trucks in Fælledparken's peanut bowl

"When you're locked into a grind—and I’m not into Smith grinds—but when you're locked in, it’s the same feeling. Because you are in the situation where the vibration and the feeling is fucking universally happening within yourself and that is the combination. I don’t even know what I was saying." —Steve Olson

Steve's not a handrail guy either, but he appreciates a good front board. Jafin Garvey obliged and earned a few bucks from KB, who was just tossin' out bread for hammers on this pristine rail
  

"It's pretty strange that we can impact the world through skateboarding. I don’t think of myself as any greater than anybody else, or whatever. I don’t think what I am doing is significant, but some people may think that. To be in that position, to do something that can change somebody’s life or shift how they look at something, that’s really special. And that's weird that it can happen just through skateboarding." —Austyn Gillette

It's not just the fired-up sessions that make CPH a skater's paradise—the city is full of unique experiences that fill in the gaps between demos and parties. This floating brunch ferry was perfect for our weary legs and heads

Kevin White and Steve Olson, always in a class of their own

The breaks weren't long before we were back in action. Luan launches a frontside 180 for the love

"We need to make things durable anyway, because today, the environment demands it. We need to make things that will last anything. If we don’t, they will be replaced, and anything that's being replaced is basically double the carbon footprint. The Frankensteination of capitalism has turned into just one big search for the next juicy income. And we need to reverse back, step by step, to return to things that are more about the people’s needs. So I think maybe in some twisted way skateboarding helps the environment." —Julien De Smedt

Despite what you might think from all the skate-sanctioned spots and events, there are still a few CPH residents not down for the festivities. KB gets shut down just before the flick

"When it's 4 AM, the sun’s coming up and you're like, I didn’t even go to sleep! So you keep going for a couple more hours and you're driving through Christiania, smoking the hash joint, just riding. It’s like a fucking dream. I feel like I’ve been dreaming the whole time. It’s Wonderland, for real!" —Big Hongry

Making friends with Albert, the owner of ALIS skateboards and offical guru of Wonderland

It's All Downhill from HereAfter a week of complete chaos and beautiul conversations, we sadly had to start winding down. What better way to say goodbye than with a high-speed cruise through the ancient asphault?!  

"There is really nothing that sucked that week, except that it ended. I guess what sucked the most happened after. Sraight after the CPH Open, I went to Dewtour in LA. It was just a totally different vibe there—going from the sickest week with your mates and partying to a stupid Olympic contest. I wasn’t old enough to get beer, too, so it was a big change. I’m still bumping into people I met in CPH last year, which is amazing. Moral of the story—you guys gave me the best time. Thank you so much and I hope to do it again soon!" —Maité Steenhoudt

Maité speeds through her happy place

"We went to Svendborg; we took the bus there and it was fucking terrible—40 minutes the wrong way." —Kevin Bækkel

Do as the locals do...

P-Spliff watchin' over these hills

And we out! Kevin makes a clean break with some souvenirs

Even though we didn't get a shot in 2020, the stoke of last year's Open is more than enough fuel to hold us over until we can safely return