Freestyle Orange Cup in Marseille, France

June 30, 2011

There’s a song that say’s, Gimmie the sound of a rolling dice, Gimmie a Whiskey, don’t think Twice, Deal me the card that’ll take my blues away… TAKE ME AWAY to MARSEILLE!!! Marseille, France was the place to be. The World Cup Skateboarding European tour kicked off June 23-27 on the historical Marseille, France concrete bowl that was build over 20 years ago. Embassy was packing Steven Pineiro and Ben Johnson on the trip over the pond. Steven & Ben both made the qualifier on Friday. 48 skaters were scheduled to rip it up in hopes of making the 24 man cut. Ben ripped it to come in 10th, and Pineiro scored a 6th overall. On Saturday it was a different story. Ben had beaten himself up attempting a crowd pleasing invert on the 4 foot vert extention wall in the best trick contest. He made it on his 3rd try. Steven won 4 best tricks on a Blunt-to-fakie, a heel flip body jar were the highlights. On Saturday all 24 skaters came to the park with a mission in tow. The Orange Freestyle Cup has taken off where the Quiksilver Soul Bowl left off. This is the biggest bowl comp in France. The people came out to support. The locals had a killer vibe. We think we have it made here in the States, France has it going on! TEXAS Props to Momo, Matt, Tomas, Julliette, Benoit the whole crew that treated us to the red carpet! Back to the review, Ben tore himself up he could barely walk. He lived up to his Capt Gnar Gnar nickname, THAT’S FOR SURE!!! He didn’t make the 12 cut, however little Pineiro made the cut @ 7th. On Sunday the level of skating was raised. EVERYBODY skated hard and fast. It was a tuff call to judge. Embassy congrats to New Hamshires, Nolan Munroe for taking 1st over Milton Martinez from Brazil. Nolan hadn’t even attempted a 540 in practice or tell anyone he would try one. HE PULLED IT OFF on 2nd try over the hip in the deep end. He kept his 540 in Stealth mode until it was time to unleash it, talk about strategy!! Steven skated smooth, did alot of his tech and lip tricks and did not attempt a 5. Congrats to Steven for coming in 5th overall. Embassy would like to congradulate Alex Sorgente for coming in 3rd, Way to go Alex!! The Master’s had Jason Park take the top honor. It was cool sharing apartments with Sean Goff and Jim the Skin, It was fun packed week of adventure, killer skating, good times, old friends, new friends, Hanging and skating with everybody. Thanks to the WCS crew, Don, Dave, Sasha, Jen, Mica. you guys ROCK!!! The crew that took us to Valmante and the La Caverne on Monday, much respect!!! Next year Embassy plans to do all the European tour which includes after Marseille, Rome, UK and finishes off in Prague Chech Republic. Below are a few pics. SKATE TUFF OR GO HOME!!! RIDE WITH PRIDE

Steven Pineiro 1st trip to Europe, turned out to be a good one! He came back in one piece!!