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Blast from the past

Adrian Demain had been the first US-rider who, in 1986, attended the Mastership to see what’s going on. But just a few months later some real American top-pros made it across the Atlantic, and so it was no surprise when Steve Caballero and Lance Mountain impressively raised the bar at the ’87 Mastership in Münster’s Eissporthalle. Of course, that was a metaphorical bar, and not the one used in the ‘high jump’ discipline which, yes, was still a part of the competition at that time. Steve and Lance rocked the street course and the vert ramp, and the German locals like Claus Grabke, Florian Böhm, Anders Pulpanek and others had to go all out to keep up with the Americans.
Not only the attending riders had improved their techniques, thanks to the state-of-the-art late ‘80’s technology, we can show you some real super-slow-mo pictures which are especially impressive in Tony Hawk’s victorious finals-run. Tony and the guys from Powell-Peralta also ruled the street course and you could already see the difference between them and the European pros who, although they gave it their best, could not really compete with the Americans. Later at the halfpipe-demo with Hawk, Steve Saiz, and Ray Underhill that difference was painfully clear. Tony pulled off stalefish 540’s, Saiz landed his first McTwist, and Ray rocked blunt-to-fakies.
That year marked a turning point in skateboarding. Until then, helmeted vert riders like Bod Boyle, who took 1st place, or Chris Miller, who took the 2nd, ruled the contests. But with the 1990 attendance of genuine street pros like Ed Templeton (1st place), Eric Dressen (2nd place), Jason Lee, Tom Knox and Natas Kaupas, the tide began to turn. It was no longer the vert-elite who took home the “Streetstyle” trophies, too, just because the area consisted of giant quarterpipes – rails, curbs and banks required actual street skating.
The only one who scored in both vert and street was Danny Way (3rd place) and only because he pulled off the most innovative and technical tricks in the pipe and on the street parcours. A similar development took place in the “Freestyle” competition – thanks to Rodney Mullen, who redefined the term with an unbelievable run that included countless street tricks and had the crowd go bananas. First place for Mr. Mullen – completely without headband, kneepads and skintight shorts that are shorter than socks. A new decade began and by the time of the Mastership it was clear: “Skateboarding has changed”.
A truly exceptional year in the history of the Mastership. Since the NSA contest took place in the USA that year and not many US-pros made the trip across the Atlantic, 1992 was just a European championship instead of a world cup. However, that did not at all kill the mood in the jam-packed event hall, because with EU-pro’s who already established their reputation far beyond Europe’s borders, the level of skateboarding was high as usual. Riders like Rune Glifberg, Tom Penny, Mike Manzoori, Jan Waage, Alex Moul, and a phenomenal Sami Harithi, who could call himself “official European skateboarding champion” after the weekend, made sure of that. Finally, a little bit of American flair brushed through the hall, when Tony Hawk, Chet Thomas, and Frank Hirata performed shows between the runs, turning the heads of the crowd – pretty much a warm-up for 1993, when the Mastership was once again the Worldcup and everything was back to normal.
In the early ‘90’s the skateboarding industry wasn’t just not well, it was miserable. Too many companies, too many pros, and unfortunately way too few customers which would, in the end, redirect the cash flow back into skateboarding. With that in mind it is almost a miracle that the organizers of the Masterships once again pulled off the contest and assembled everybody who is anybody in Münster. Street was the main discipline and Ed Templeton murdered the obstacles just as Tony Hawk did with the vert ramp. The best German that year was Sami Harithi who took 12th place. Not bad considering that the first 9 were held by US-pros.
The first real skatevideo by a German company is called „Trouble“. Riders like Jan Waage, Klaus Dieter Span, Holger von Krosigk, Emjay, Richie, Markus Müller, and Patrick Eling show some fine street skating in vintage 90’s style – small wheels and wide pants. Conspicuous: indoor footage in videos wasn’t frowned upon yet, but fun parts were just as celebrated as today. Some things never change.
Just like in the years before, the ’95 Mastership was opened with the obligatory pool-session in Berg Fidel, Münster. A session that already gave away who would be at the top of the vert–finals that year. In spite of the attendance of US-pros like Omar Hassan, Max Schaaf, Mike Frazier, Mike Crum, and Andy Mac, it was a Brazilian guy who claimed the first – and with good reason! Rodrigo Menezes delivered insane runs that even Colin McKay (2nd place) could not top. On the street course, Chris Senn literally raced to the top – super-fast and with incredible transfers from the halfpipe into the street area. What?!?
Münster Monster Mastership - Hall of Fame: Christian Hosoi, Steve Caballero, Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, T-Mag, Claus Grabke, Jeff Hedges, Colin McKay, Anders Pulpanek, Lincoln Ueda, Jeff Kendall, Rodney Mullen, Bucky Lasek, Danny Way, Bod Boyle, Omar Hassan, Brian Lotti, Tom Knox, Ed Templeton, Jason Lee, Jan Waage, Ray Barbee, Frank Hirata, Chad Muska, Rick Howard, Willy Santos, Wade Speyer, Mark Gonzales, John Cardiel, Ethan Fowler, Chris Heitmann, Natas Kaupas, Eric Koston, Rune Glifberg, Tom Penny, Geoff Rowley, Sami Harithi, Mike Frazier, Chris Miller, Matt Hensley, Chris Senn, Arto Saari, Bob Burnquist etc… ‘Nuff said!
What began on a small parking lot in the early 1980’s reached entirely new dimensions in ’99.
The Mastership had become the worlds biggest and most important skateboard contest, which not only brought the skateboarding elite on to the scene but 25.000 spectators as well. A volume which the exhibition center in Münster could not handle and so the organizers were relived and happy that they had booked the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund in time for this mega-event. It was an unbelievable scene and an incredible line-up. Everyone was there! In the end, Brian Anderson (Street) and Bucky Lasek (Vert) really could be proud of their victories. After all, they had left behind street-pro’s like Rick McCrank, Andrew Reynolds, Ed Templeton, Arto Saari, Eric Koston, and others, and vert-pro’s like Tas Pappas, Andie Mac, Sandro Dias, Bob Burnquist, Colin McKay, Rune Glifberg, etc.. That weekend made skateboarding history!
2nd round for the Mastership in Dortmund, but only indoors – fortunately, riots like 1999 did not make a second appearance. Bob Burnquist and Eric Koston came in first on vert and street respectively, but the crowd went absolutely bananas because of an unstoppable little French guy. Although the then 16 year old Bastien Salabanzi could not yet celebrate his first international success that year, it was clear that the guy would soon be one of skateboardings greats!
There’s a lot to see in the spring episode of the Movie Mag. Anyone who was a regular on the Domplatte in Cologne will definitely enjoy this video and maybe even shed one or two tears. We took a closer look at Roland Oppenheimer and Jürgen Horrwarth and visited the Xtra Sport European Open as well as the Street finals of the COS Cup in Frankfurt.
The name of this issue is not random. We visited the Lorenz brother, Jo and Danny, in the beautiful city of Lörrach. And since we were in the south anyway, we made two very interesting stops. First we went to Munich to see the Munich Contest and then we made a trip to our Austrian friends to attend the Austria Skate Series in Vienna.
In this episode we’re taking a stroll with the Rough Team who picked all parks and street spots on the way to pieces. We visited the Emerica Tortilla Jam in Barcelona and witnessed who became the mack daddy of the Barca spots. Furthermore, we accompanied the lifeguards Oppenheimer and Kliewer to an abandoned indoor swimming pool where they did their dry runs.
It’s the year 2001. The Mastership once again takes place in Dortmund and, taking in mind the last year, it was pretty clear who would dominate the event this time. Of course, we are talking about Bastien Salabanzi. The French prodigy had the entire crowd as well as Rick McCrank and Rodil Junior who he relegated to 2nd and 3rd place, mesmerized with a jaw-dropping performance. Now that was a well-deserved victory – you should not miss this one!
What can you say? The 2000’s began great for Bastien Salabanzi. Although it was very close, the little show master from France succeeded against Chris Senn who himself delivered an insane run in his usual, energy-driven style. It was much discussed who would deserve the victory. In the end, the judges decided for Salabanzi. What do you think? Check it out and decide for yourselves…
Dude! Andi Welther, Michele Danze, and some car tuners took on an old Manta and gave it the lead foot – not only on the streets!
Aside from that, we visited Team Titus rider Wilko Grüning. Back then he was only 14 years old but on his board he already could easily mess with the grown ups. Last but not least we attended the COS Cup finals in Hamburg where the guys shredded the old fashioned way.
What do you mean, you don’t have a living room gap in your favorite skate park? Well, then you have to check out the footage of the Etnies European Tour, they got one.
The entire Summer episode was dedicated to the big shoe-brands in skateboarding. Lakai, Osiris, and És were on tour and, with Eric Koston, Rick McCrank, P-Rod, Tom Penny, Mike Taylor, Arto Saari and PJ Ladd, És had a team that possessed so much talent it would make your head spin.
In spite of their fear of flying, Andi Welther and Michele Danze made it safely to Barcelona, where they enjoyed shredding the Catalan spots at the Emerica Tortilla Jam.
Cruiser boards are not just the latest trend of today, back then they were also quite popular as one could see at the Adidas Tour with Jeremy Reinhard, Jascha Müller, Matt Beach, and others. A lot more going on there than just cruising to the bakery. Also in this episode: all kinds of COS Cup action from Chemnitz, Böblingen, and Münster.
It had been 10 years since the last real Team Titus video, “T-Boards: Trouble”, and the pants were getting tighter (although they weren’t on a skinny fit level, yet). Pro-rider and team manager Benni Markstein along with mastermind Thorsten Frank and a team consisting of Lem Villemin, Jeremy Reinhard, Ilja Judizki, Lung Kailung, Thilo Nawrocki, Michi Dufner, Jascha Muller, and Armin Löwenstein, started an ambitious project. A real, half-hour video should be released with the intention to turn all kinds of heads. This quality of skating, production, music and the over-all flow of the video was, for a German company, pretty much groundbreaking!
The title of the video means “shot or cut”, the idea was that a trick had to be super bad-ass or it would be cut. Ain’t no half stepping!
The Mastership was already well-known for using only the finest obstacles but in 2003, Dave Duncan really outdid himself. That alone is enough reason to take a look at this! But 2003 did not only see new skate elements, it also saw a new street champion. Greg Lutzka pushed Bastien Salabanzi from the throne with his flawless style and technical tricks.
The guys at Titus logistics cannot only deliver your packages, they can also deliver a pretty rad skate session. Like the one we have here, with Patrick Streiter, Bennie Markstein, Ingo Naschold, and a few others. They bagged quite a few tricks. After the session it was time to kick back with a cold one, while watching the premiere of the then brand new Emerica video “This is Skateboarding” and an interview with cinematographer Jon Miner.
On top of that, we visited the Osiris Winter Open in Essen and the COS Cup finals in Hamburg.
After 5 years, the 23rd Mastership was the last one that took place in Dortmund, and it was quite a spectacle! For the first time, the ladies mixed up the street course and a miffed Bastien Salabanzi claimed the first place with an in-your-face style after being welcomed rather unfriendly. Chris Senn took a shot at the loop, which celebrated its Mastership premiere, while Sandro Diaz took the cake with a 900! Dortmund went out with a bang.
Skateboarding is coming home! The Mastership finally was back home and everybody agreed that it was a good thing. The Brazilian pros especially felt comfortable in Münster and took the first and second place in street, with Daniel Vieira and Ricardo Oliviera Porva, and the first place in vert with Sandro Diaz. Young gun Ryan Sheckler landed the third place in street.
Muito obrigado Brasil!
What a project: after the monster called “Schuss oder Schere”, the first team video of the new millennium, Benni Markstein prepared the next sure shot. “Life Loving Skateboard Movement” is the name of the half-hour team video which came out just in time for the 30 year anniversary of Titus and might have cost the team manager some nerves.
The video features renowned pros like Bennie Dietrich, Michi Dufner, Armin Löwenstein, and Jerry Reinhard and newcomers like Vladik Scholz and Wilko Grüning. A young guy from Rostock, named Denny Pham who would later become a Titus pro, celebrates his first part in this Team Titus video.