etnies

etnies Skate Team Report 03-24-04

Im sure you already know this, but yes, Bastien Salabanzi
did destroy the Tampa Pro contest a week-and-a-half ago on his way to 1st place. When you take a bunch of tricks from his massive bag, combine them in a weekend full of flawless runs, you have nothing but trouble for the rest of the competition.

Thanks to the Skatepark of Tampa for a fun-filled, well-run contest weekend. After Tampa, Bastien took off, along with fellow etnies pro Arto Saari
on a weeklong Quiksilver tour of the East Coast of these United States. Shop appearances and signings were on the menu, as well as some street skating, as they ventured from Tampa, Florida to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and finally, Washington DC. Bastien and Arto are back in Southern California now. Bastien has some last-minute business to tend to for his Skateboarder magazine interview (keep your eyes peeled for that one!), and Arto will be skating and working on getting his knee back to 100%, before summer madness begins in a month or so.

ArtoҒs first pro model shoe
with etnies
should be in shops as you read this. It is a limited release until June, so scour your local shops until you get a pair on your feet. You can check photos of the shoe here
on the etnies website, as well as a brief explanation on why Arto wanted the two trees and the 26 on his shoe.

Stefan Janoski
is back home in Sacramento after being in Miami for close to five weeks. He skated in the Tampa Pro contest two weekends back and made the semi-finals, but was unable to put it together to make the finals. Quite all right, though, as everyone in attendance got a chance to view his smooth style via switch flips and lazy tre-flips, to name a few. Stefan is now on a mission to finish up his TransWorld video part, which will be out in a few months.

Rune Glifberg
has been taking some random trips here and there with the Volcom crew to finish-up their upcoming video. A journey down to Mexico and some other random filming trips will add up to some nice new stuff for your viewing pleasure really soon. Also be sure to check
the first issue of The Skateboard Mag
(collectors item) for a beautiful photo of Rune in textbook back Smith position. Damn, those shoes stand out!

Ryan Sheckler
has also been on the Volcom filming mission (and filming for an Almost Skateboards video, as well). He decided to skip the Tampa contest to head down on one of the Volcom Mex missions to get some work done for the vid. Ryan also just had a short interview in the April issue of Thrasher. Make sure to get your grubby hands on this one҅the backside flip is out of control, ridiculous! Ryan has also been working on his self-portrait photography, as you can see in the photo. Actually, being bored in a car with a digi-cam adds up to self-portrait photography.