Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

Arto Saari shooting Peter Ramondetta in Copenhagen Collected Thoughts 050

Arto Saari shooting perter ramondetta for what youth by scott chenoweth the copenhagen project

So you may be wondering: just what the hell are we doing in Copenhagen? And we’ll have you know that that is no longer something we ask ourselves. It’s more a question of: why haven’t we been here sooner — and more often? I was just talking to a new friend who is one of our local guides and he told me that the government here calls the skateboarders in the community when they put in any new infrastructure to make sure it has “skate-friendly” features. And from what we can gather, skaters and business men and tourists and the beautiful girls who blanket the city, all coexist peacefully in a well-balanced ecosystem of appreciation and understanding. And a lot of that amazing vibe can be attributed to the crew of hard working, rad people who put on the event we’re here covering: The Copenhagen Pro.

The Copenhagen Pro is hardly a “contest” in a traditional senses — it’s more a gathering of like-minded people who like to skate and do rad shit, all going down in a location that seems to be the epicenter for appreciating a variety of cultures and subcultures who are more or less allowed to flourish as opposed to being shut down for being illegal. Beers, fires, skating, families, groms, pros, locals, babes and tourists all mingle together enjoying the never-ending daylight however they please. And it’s all good.

Arto is a unique photographer. If he points his camera at you, it feels like an honor and you don’t want to let him down. Every skater from Pierre-Luc Gagnon to Peter Ramondetta (seen above) gladly give it their all for Arto to snap a few. And he does it all with the sickest style. He’s friendly and exciteable, and when he shoots, he points his camera at everyone and everything — still managing to make it feel like an honor. It’s really all just beautiful here. From concrete to the sea to architecture to women. And we just heard there may be waves tomorrow. Yes, waves. Dion Agius and Brendon Gibbens are psyching. There must be something in the tap water here — which I’ve actually heard there is. Like it’s good for you and makes the women beautiful. I’m not kidding. It’s as pure as tap water gets.

Tonight the festivities really begin here in Copenhagen, starting with the infamous rings of fire in a few hours. Which reminds me that we have to get going. It’s nearly 10PM and still daylight. We back at it. —Travis

Vans us open of surfing what youth scott chenoweth

What a difference a day makes Collected Thoughts 051

Today marks one of my favorite days of the year: the end of the Vans US Open. It’s the first sign of many things that I love as a newly transplanted Huntington Beach resident. The crowds will soon dissipate, vacationers will retreat back to their beloved homes, kids will soon again be scribbling waves in…

Arto Saari shooting perter ramondetta for what youth by scott chenoweth the copenhagen project

Arto Saari shooting Peter Ramondetta in Copenhagen Collected Thoughts 050

So you may be wondering: just what the hell are we doing in Copenhagen? And we’ll have you know that that is no longer something we ask ourselves. It’s more a question of: why haven’t we been here sooner — and more often? I was just talking to a new friend who is one of…

Arto Saari the copenhagen project what youth

Arto Saari and Dion Agius in Copenhagen, Denmark Collected Thoughts 049

You ride bikes in Copenhagen. It’s just what you do. And last night, not 20 minutes off the plane we were straight into it. Hugging the back tire of Arto Saari, our guide and photographer for the trip, our rapidly growing crew navigated the stunning and pictureque streets of downtown Copenhagen, trying to get a…

kolohe andino signing what youth issue 2

Win a signed copy of What Youth Issue 2 Featuring Kolohe Andino Collected Thoughts 048

Since today’s contest is over now, and we’re all out of signed copies, Kolohe requested that we shout him out and tell everyone that he systematically smoked those of us not in France at a game of S-K-A -T-E yesterday. He’s got a mean variel flip and big spin that is tough to beat. Kolohe…

Noa Deane in france for this is us france what youth surfing

Noa Deane in France filming for This is Us: France Collected Thoughts 047

Today was one of the weirdest days of filming ever. Fun. Sick vibes. But after a couple days of shredding we realized it’s going to get really flat later this week. We drove everywhere looking for waves this morning without much luck. Then the dice came out. The Doors. Pond. Iggy. A carton of Kronenberg,…

Kai Neville France what youth

Kai Neville in Paris, France, July 3, 2013 Collected Thoughts 046

We went to Paris a bit early to prepare for the upcoming This is Us: France trip and shop for camera gear. We spent all afternoon in several camera stores in the Canal District, on Le Republic Ave. Wild European camera stores here, stocked to the gills with film and antique cameras. We loaded up…

Austyn Gillette fairly normal collected thought what youth skateboarding

Austyn Gillette at home in Los Angeles, California Collected Thoughts 045

We went to Austyn Gillette’s house this week. And for those of you who haven’t met him, the two best places to start would be here, his section for Habitat, and then in what is probably one of our favorite short films of the year, a collab shot across and amongst the streets of Los…

Craig Anderson slow dance what youth

Slow Dance is a wrap and it has a new trailer Collected Thoughts 044

Dane Reynolds and Craig Anderson recently bolted on a surf trip after handing over the hard drive of Craig’s new surf film Slow Dance. They released a new trailer, which you can see here, and a page of wild imagery and vids here which should keep you occupied until the film premieres in Huntington Beach…

Warren smith collected thoughts what youth

Warren Smith describes what happens when Dion Agius is the boss Collected Thoughts 043

Dion Agius is a boss. Like really, he’s our boss. Like a really sexy, handsome boss. And bosses can really fuck shit up sometimes. He’s been punching his keyboard faster than Goro from Mortal Combat, planning every twist and turn of this trip for nine people, from villas and flights to dinners and motorbikes. But…

Shane Oneil what youth skateboarding

Shane O’Neill at Arto Saari’s house Collected Thoughts 042

Shane O’Neill has been on a surf trip before…sorta. “I went to Malaysia with Julian Wilson once,” he told us the other day at Arto Saari’s house. And for those who don’t know him, he’s considered to be one of the most technical street skaters in the world and recently competed against Paul Rodriguez in…

Craig Andersone Mark Occilupo Occy South Coast surfing what youth

Craig Anderson and Occy, filming for Slow Dance, South Coast Collected Thoughts 041

“Those boys have some epic tales…” said Craig of his recent trip to the South Coast of Australia with Occy and Matt Hoy. Later this week we’ll dig into some of those tales and begin chronicaling the final few months before Craig releases his new film, Slow Dance, which will be released this summer. Craig…

Sam Nolan for What Youth Issue 4

What Youth Issue 4 Is currently being finished Collected Thoughts 040

PHOTO: Sam Nolan During our stay in Australia this year, we linked up with photographer Sam Nolan from Byron Bay to shoot very fashionable photos with very sexy Australian girls. Amid the human mosh pit that takes residency on the Gold Coast during the Quiksilver Pro, we managed to slip into a dive of a…

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