Winterclash 2024: USD Edit by Rafael López Maldonado

Fri, Mar 15, 2024

Winterclash, 2024 edition, filmed and edited by Rafael Maldonado. Additional filming by Daniel Enin & Kasper Tillgaard.

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USD Winterclash Winterclash 2024 Rafael Maldonado Armelle Tisler

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I’ve always wanted to go to a Winterclash. For as long as it’s been happening, I remember there’s some old video where Jon Elliott says “If you haven’t been to Winterclash, you’re not even rollerblading”, or something like that. Definitely not an exact quote, but you get the gist. You have to see it to understand it.

Jumbo at Winterclash 2024 + Clips Best-of

I came in knowing this was the worlds biggest contest. Professionally run. The highest level… Two things stuck out to me though. The skating was great, but it was the attendees that brought the energy. Even if I was upstairs, away from the contest, I didn’t feel like I was missing it. No matter where you are or who you’re with, you’re in it. It’s truly unlike any contest in the rollerblading world. Incredibly professional… Which is great… unless you’re trying to show up, unofficial and make an edit of the weekend… Which is what I tried to do.

So as it turns out, this isn’t a contest put on by “one of the homies.” Oh no, no no. You can’t just know a guy and get onto the course to film a couple of clips for your instagram, there was legit processes and procedures you had to go through to get the badge, the jacket, etc… Basically, credentials I didn’t have, haha. But that’s ok! We’re going to find a way to do it. Mick was supposed to skate in the pro comp (he didn’t because he got hurt during warm-ups… we all did). By luck, I just so happened to have a friend who should not be named that procured me a media badge (probably an old one) that was going to allow me to get in early. To maybe be able to actually film the contest well and make a proper edit…

We show up Friday morning ready to warm up. As it turns out, if you don’t practice skating 10 foot high wood ramps, you’re not very good at it. We were off to a bad start. Mick was slipping around a bit, so I thought I’d put the camera down for a while and check out the skatepark. After all, it’s my first Winterclash, I’ve wanted to skate this place for years. I put my skates on, do one royale in the bowl and fall on my face (literally). One tricks, skates off, never skated the rest of the weekend. Shout out to the medical staff on site (yet another perk of the professionalism of the event).

So after a couple of hours of shaking off a mild concussion, the park opened for everyone and it was chaos. Everyone in Europe is good at skating. That’s intimidating. Since I was still rocked from the earlier fall, I was hanging back a little bit. I was missing some of the event, sure, but I got to witness what I’m coining “Stairclash.” I feel like whenever you’re watching a contest edit, you’re always expecting to see “the big hurricane,” “the dangerous disaster,” etc… But you never get to see these super talented people just skate like normal. Stairclash was what I was looking for the whole time. Some of the best, my favorites, just making use of a 6 stair at the largest event at the world. I’m laughing as I type this. I’ll never explain it as well as I’d like.

With all that being said, I don’t want to take anything away from the actual event. It was MADNESS (as expected). I don’t think I captured it as well I would have liked, but that’s part of the beauty I guess. The massive sea of people, the energy from it, there are moments where it feels like everyones in the same rhythm. I dunno.. I just stayed up all night editing this, so as usual, I’m just going to tap out on the writing bit. As I always say… I think only 3 people read these anyway, lol. Good times. Good good good times. I’ve always wanted to come and I’m pretty sure it’s one of the best skate-related experiences I’ve ever had. Ever. If you stopped by to say “hello,” thank you! I might have been a little loopy from a concussion or completely overwhelmed from the experience (and jet lag!!), but I was so happy to meet everyone. Just amazing. I have a thousand little stories to tell but I guess that’s for another time. Love y’all. - Cody Sanders.

Bonus: Best Tricks @ Winterclash 2024 - PLAY ; a compilation by Ivan Higgins.