Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Join our skate squad on the Red Bull Drop-In Tour of Australia!
Our skateboarding demo tour of Australia hit Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney in the space of just eight days – find out how it all went down right here.
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Skateboarding demo tours of Australia are something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Australia is arguably second only to the USA in terms of its contribution to skateboarding culture, is famously friendly and remains home to many famous skateparks like that on Sydney’s Bondi beach and Belconnen, with its iconic spider-web festooned bowl. Element Skateboards’ tour of Australia back in 2002 justifiably became the stuff of legend.
Alex Sorgente – Tre Flip
© Anthony Acosta
Jamie Foy – Flip Front Crook
© Anthony Acosta
The flip side of that coin is you have to bring your A-game. Every city and surf town in Australia has its own ballistic scene – particularly Melbourne. The country has given the international pro ranks skateboarders from Matt Mumford, Chad Bartie and Morgan Campbell through Dustin Dollin, Chima Ferguson, Dennis Durrant, Tommy Fynn, Shane O’Neill and up to today with rippers like Jack O’Grady, Noah Nayef and Rob Pace making their own distinctive impacts upon the world scene.
More Australian Goodness!
So it’s fair to say that if you are going to head into the lion’s den, you better come out swinging. Put it like this: when was the last time you heard of an international team doing a demo tour of Brazil? Same energy.
Torey Pudwill – Backside 360 Kickflip
© Anthony Acosta
Jake Wooten – Pupecki Grind
© Andrew Peters
Jamie Foy – Backside 180 Fakie Nosegrind
© Anthony Acosta
Zion Wright – Backside Nosegrind Revert
© Andrew Peters
Within that context, Red Bull Drop-In Tour of Australia was no light undertaking; demanding in some regards, though our previous leg in Japan had been, it still only constituted two official stops. Australia, by contrast, aimed to touch down in Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney – all in the space of just eight days.
Felipe Gustavo – Blindside Flip
© Anthony Acosta
Session over!
© Anthony Acosta
As well as putting on four jam-packed skate demos at the very different skateparks of Riverslide, Paddington, Pizzey and Sydney skateparks, respectively, our stellar squad – Torey Pudwill, TJ Rogers, Zion Wright, Gustavo Ribeiro, Felipe Gustavo, Alex Sorgente, Jamie Foy and Jake Wooten – also spent every hour between demos filming street footage at as many spots as we could hit up along the way. Flying in for the Sydney finale came the one and only Leticia Bufoni for a demo, which morphed into a best-trick session at a downtown stair set afterwards.
Torey Pudwill – Back Lip
© Anthony Acosta
Zion Wright – Frontside Flip
© Anthony Acosta
TJ Rogers – Switch Frontside 360
© Anthony Acosta
Jake Wooten – Stalefish
© Anthony Acosta
Our wild, ambitious road trip not only played to four rowdy full houses but saw broken boards, fishing trips, impromptu haircuts, signing sessions and even a guest appearance by the aforementioned Australian skateboarding royalty Tommy Fynn along the way.
All that remains is for us to thank Hemley, Parliament, Precinct and Laate Supply skate shops for their hospitality and all the skaters who came out to join us along the way. Our full hour-long behind-the-scenes tour documentary drops on December 19, 2023.
Be sure to download the free Red Bull TV app and catch the skate action on all your devices! Get the app here!
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