Exploring the world through skateboarding is something that Landyachtz has embraced for years. This sense of exploration began early on and centered around road trips with friends in search of that feeling you get while skating a newly discovered hill for the first time. We feel that skateboards can take you places, enhance your fun factor and open the door for journeys you wouldn’t otherwise go on. Heading to South Africa isn’t your everyday vacation, and for the crew it turned into an unforgettable adventure and an opportunity to skate a country not often skated. – Nate Schumacher
Concrete Wave – How did the idea for this tour come about?
Adam Yates -The idea came about during a small chat that I had with Tom Edstrand, one of the owners at Landyachtz, back in the middle of 2013. I first traveled to an international downhill event; Hot Heels, all the way back in 2003. I had the pleasure of traveling with him, Darryl Freeman, Yogi Baumann and Steve Daddow for a period of a few weeks. During this time it became clear to me that I wanted to represent Landyachtz someday in my future and that the future was looking like it was going to focus heavily around skateboarding. The people that I met and the experiences that I had in South Africa back in 2003 were just too good to be a one-off.
After a decade passed, I was fortunate and very privileged to be sponsored by Landyachtz and the opportunity arose that I could potentially revisit the scene where it all began for me. I’ve been appointed the international team and marketing manager at Landyachtz for 2014 and this was to be my first task for the year; organize a trip with seven team members to South Africa for a Skate and Explore tour like no other. The goal of the trip was to generate a strong Landyachtz presence and get more people on skateboards, turning wheels. It’s always been about the stoke and giving back to communities that support our brands! We also had two new team riders to expose to the country and the world.
Who joined you and on the trip?
Our team is full of characters and great skaters so the decision was always going to be a hard one. These Skate and Explore Tours offer a great platform to mix the diversity of our team with a variety of unique adventures. There were the Canadians; Kyle Martin, Kyle Wein, Bricin “Striker” Lyons, and Dave “Guff” Leslie, and the Australians; new bloods Matt Bates, Jacob Lambert, and myself. Our local distributer in South Africa, Baboon Boards, sent their shop manager Alyosha “Yoshi” Diebold, with us for a little local knowledge on where NOT to go!
Did you guys end up finding any local rippers?
Because South Africa is so massive the stoke spreads a massive 2800km, between Cape Town and Durban. Two completely different scenes both in style and age. Cape Town has a reputation of being the birthplace of racers and can date back to early 2000 with names like Stuart Bradburn and Mike Zietsman. Durban has a lot of different terrain; urban, parks and plenty of downhill. The scene here is only around two or three years old, and they already have a massive presence in the freeride scene and also are becoming super competitive in the downhill events. In Cape Town, we have Alex Meyers. His chill attitude changes when he gets on a skateboard. He turns into a machine that does things at one pace, FAST. He’s proven to be a racer as well, taking top spots on podiums at a few of the past downhill events. In Durban we have Dylan de Fleuriot. This guy is very calculated and likes to break things down to their simplest forms. He oozes style with his flailing limbs. He’s always on the hunt to expose new terrain and adds variety to the growing scene. We are stoked to have these guys on the team, representing us there in South Africa.
Were you doing a lot of filming? Was this for documentary?
When we do these Skate and Explore tours we try and get the most out of them. Documenting is a massive part of what we aim to achieve with these trips. Shooting for future advertisements, product videos, and R&D on new equipment, all can be captured and used as we need it. The video that comes post tour will only continue to spread the stoke long after we have left! It’s another way Landyachtz likes to give back to the communities we visit; documenting their people, their culture, their country, and exposing it all for the world to see! There is plenty of kickback as a result of having both a videographer and a photographer in the van. After all, on this specific Skate and Explore tour, we are visiting Mother Africa. Who knows, Bricin might have felt the need to take on a bull elephant, you’ll just have to watch Guffs edit!
What did you think of the skate scene in SA?
The scene in South Africa is growing at a rapid pace. The different communities get behind each other and support the local scenes by hosting a heap of different events. There is so much going on for all types of skaters. They hold get-togethers once a week for beginners as an introduction into skateboarding, teaching the basics in a safe controlled environment. They have slide jams that follow the same style as international slide events with kickers and rails being incorporated into urban downhill runs. The local group SAGRA (South African Gravity Racers Association) holds international events that draw the big names to South Africa each year including the final event on the current 2014 IDF calendar, Hot Heels, which has been around for over 10 years. There are retail outlets popping up in most of the main cities or towns where there’s a need for skate gear. These shops offer a spot for the locals to come, hang out and spend their money, then hit the hills. Local manufacturers are also increasing in number. Precision truck, board, and bushing companies are supporting locals by supplying them with locally built and designed products. The people of South Africa are very passionate about looking after Mother Africa and her people.
What is one key thing that you’ve learned from this trip?
There’s so much that comes from a trip to a place like South Africa. Raw, natural talent comes from so many diverse regions and often overlooked are the communities that have limited means for promotion. They aren’t subject to media or marketing commercialization like other parts of the globe. They don’t do it to get sponsors. They don’t do it to get paid. They don’t do it to build a profile. They do it for the unadulterated indulgence that skateboarding offers them. This is why we all started right? The people of South Africa say that they learn from us, I think it’s fair to say that we can learn from them!
Any final comments?
Thanks to Landyachtz for the opportunity to revisit such an amazing place and share the emotions and memories with my buddies, both new and old. To the people that made our Skate and Explore tour possible, thank you! There are so many people that have helped in so many ways, and, true to the way that the skate family is around the world, accommodated and welcomed us with open arms as their own. I thank you all, for the chance to learn a little more about you as a community.
Lakker Bru, Aweh!
Yatedawg.