WE HIT SOME OF THE BEST SKATE SPOTS IN COPENHAGEN AND ALEC MAJERUS NAILS THE ELUSIVE (AND MASSIVE) 14-STAIR RAIL
We recently found ourselves in Copenhagen, Denmark for the annual CPH Pro skate contest and met up with veteran Volcom team rider and local hero Rune Glifberg to show us around the city. After hopping on our bikes to tour the city with the crew (Chris Pfanner, Collin Provost, Milton Martinez, Alec Majerus) and getting a first-hand look at the Danish capital with a canal tour, we decided it was time to hit some of Copenhagen’s best skateparks.
SKATE SCENE IN COPENHAGEN
Copenhagen really has done an amazing job making the city welcoming to skaters, or maybe it’s just the people. All of the locals seem to have the mindset of “live and let live.” Besides letting skaters from around the world takeover their city for a week for the CPH Pro, Copenhagen has built some of the world’s most amazing skateparks and even a lot of the infrastructure in the city seems like it was made to skate. The last couple days of the trip were plagued with off and on rain, and since we had an open agenda and already did the obligatory Copenhagen canal tour, everyone just wanted to skate.
RELOAD ZIP HOODIE
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The contest transforms the city to a great big skateboard festival with skateboarders dominating the city picture. Everywhere you look there are skateboarders from all over the world riding their boards and bikes around town. All in all, this festive week is the perfect backdrop to go in depth with the Volcom Skate Team. -Rune Glifberg
MAKESHIFT CITY SPOT
In a brief period of dryness, we had to take advantage, so we hit the streets on our bikes to skate all of the spots we’ve been seeing during the week. We pulled up to a spot that Rune had saw, but we weren’t even sure if it was skatable as he had just seen it in passing. After arrival, we took a quick glance and it looked highly questionable: a very long mellow bank that leads up to some high metal poles sticking out from the ground. To most of the crew, it didn’t look that skateable, but to Pfanner, it was his specialty. After a quick roll up, he ollied it first try! A few more tries later he was rolling away from a backside 180 as the rain slowly started again and forced us to find cover elsewhere.
Chris Pfanner
DIY BRIDGE SPOT
Under a bridge by the highways entering the city there is a DIY skatepark that the locals have constantly been building. Only a few months back, Collin was out here on the Volcom X Harley motorcycle trip and he was astonished at how much they added to it since then. The boys quickly fired it up and Collin and Milton were going off, flying around everywhere under the bridge while the locals were chatting it up with the rest of the crew and watching all the action.
MOD TECH SURF/SKATE BAG
Technically a “surf bag,” our skaters have been using the Mod Tech Surf Bag non-stop for their worldly travels. With a ton of different compartments to store your belongings, this travel bag is seamless, comfortable, and a must-have for any traveler.
FLAT GROUND AND THE DISH SPOT
Just out from under the bridge was a park with a playground, some ledges, and a lot of the other dudes just chilling and skating flatground. Sometime during the sesh, a local skater showed up with a little Vespa scooter and Pfanner and Collin wondered if they could ollie over it. The guy was skeptical, but let them try. Almost instantly, the guys were nailing tricks over and over and the dude was happily surprised.
After the DIY spot, we headed back into the city to hit more spots. During the week in Copenhagen cruising around the city, we spotted this interesting dish spot at a public park not too far from our hotel, so we decided to check it out. Collin had a field day as he loves skating small and odd transitions. The guy can kickflip off the side of a curb! Everyone was having an awesome time just kicking it in the park, watching Collin and people watching. It wasn’t too long until the rain came back and we were forced to retreat to the hotel.
THE HOSPITAL
On the very last day we decided to try and hit a spot before we all had to catch our flights back home. Alec had seen this rail in a skate video that he knew was in Copenhagen, but he didn’t quite know where it was. After asking some local skaters, we got a pin to the local hospital, so we decided to go and try to skate it. Turns out, the hospital was a huge complex with multiple buildings and we still weren’t sure where the rail was. Thanks to Google satellite images, we located the massive 14 stair rail. Skaters call this rail a “shotgun rail” because it has two parallel rails about seven inches apart from each other, resembling a shotgun barrel. Alec said he always wanted to grind one with each truck on a different rail, and after a few tries, mission accomplished! Ending the trip at a high point and checking one off the bucket list was not a very bad way to end a trip to the happiest place on earth. Thank you, Copenhagen!
"I WENT TO COPENHAGEN THREE YEARS AGO FOR THE FIRST TIME AND EVER SINCE THEN IT'S BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO VISIT." -ALEC
