Kozakov Day 3: Qualies.

So guess what?! The weather this morning was pretty shocking. Story of the Koz life! They put off skating for quite a while, but some time in the afternoon they figured it was good a time as any to hurtle down the hill in the fog and wet. By this stage I was completely not amped to skate anymore, and the thought of having everything sopping just didn't float my boat. The course was shortened though, to compensate for the rain, but the skaters still went all out regardless. A lot of the riders decided that taping themselves up in black bags would be a good way to stop them getting wet. Doing this apparently improves your tuck and adds a couple of ks onto your speed... but that's all theory anyways.  

Bad Rain Wheel.

Good Rain Wheel.

The Fog.

Saffa riders water-proofing.

Aweh!

Greener Pastures.

The Mud. 

Czech Countryside.

Kozakov!

Beer at the restaurant was slightly cheaper, but the place was so much warmer. 

Evening partying.

Kozakov Day 2: Rain, Rain, Rain...

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain!

I think you get the point. All attempts at skating today were pretty fruitless. Unless of course you were a rogue and bombed the hill anyway, but I wasn't and neither did most.

The tent.

It starts.

Havok.

Breakfast.

What Czech money looks like.

Kozakov Day 1: Let's Skate.

So last night was a storm and a half! Someone said 90km/h winds?? Well my cheap €30 tent stood up against the gales and the rain pretty well. When I woke up I found that not many others could say the same. Due to the previous nights rain the initial 9.00 a.m. practice riding didn't really start on time. Benjamin Malherbe, Matt Arderne and I decided to take a walk down the track to see what was in store.... Needless to say my socks were rocked... The initial drop is out-of-this-world crazy, straight into a 90º right-hander which you somehow have to put breaks on for. At this stage I was kakking balls as I knew I'd done foot-braking, but this felt totally next-level, and on the wet tar too. After we got a lift back to the top we discovered that it was time to skate. 

I have never been around so many skaters at one time. And as many hardcore guys as there were here today. At least they wish you to believe they are hardcore, what with many of them sporting flashy NJK leathers, intimidation was definitely the name of the game.

In the end I skated 5 out of the 6 runs for the day. The first two runs I kept taking the left-handers too wide, and the third time I fell whilst stupidly trying to do footbreak before the last sweeping right-hander. This fall led me to shattering the knee-pad in my leathers and losing my board for about 5 minutes. That was embarrassing....

After the skating was finished the rain and fog set in, whilst everyone moved to the beer tent!

My tent. 

The beer tent at night.

The food stalls.

Playing the bench game.

Marcus Rietema giving the low-down.

Zurich to Kozakov.

Today was a pretty uneventful day. Aside from the fact that I was in the FibretecMobile car driving from Switzerland to Czech Republic, going through Austria and Germany to get there! The trip consisted of being crammed into a car with five guys, PACKED with skateboarding equipment, and some annoying 100mm flywheels! 

When we arrived at Kozakov the sun was setting and skaters were slowing filling the field with their tents and stoke. There were a number of pints to be had before setting in for the night.

The Flywheels.

Lunch in Germany.

Supper in Czech Republic.

Driving through Turnov.

The camping grounds. Note the green grass.

Day 4: Dallenwil.

So today's mission was Dallenwil. The drive was long, but the reward was great. The setup was 20chf each, for 4 runs up a gondola (a cable car) to the top of the hill. As we were on our way up it began to drizzle, however, this did not dampen our stoke which fizzing beneath the surface. The top section of the hill was super sketchy, blind hairpins on uneven ground, with 50 m drops on the side of the road. The last third of the hill was great. You were able to see round the corners, but the road was yet again Swiss narrow.

We hadn't got half way down the road, when our mate Yoshi popped his shoulder. As he was sliding his puck got stuck in some uneven ground wrenching his arm from his socket. He was luckily driven down the mountain to a doctor at the bottom of the hill. The doctor couldn't manage to put it back and from there he was driven to the hospital. It was here that we waited about 4 hours for him to be discharged. Most of the time was spent waiting for Discovery Health back in South Africa to grant him the money to pay for the fees.