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

Brendon Gibbens and Nate Tyler in Australia What Youth

Brendon Gibbens and Nate Tyler about to join a cauldron of ramps and sharks Collected Thoughts 039

PHOTO: Lawrence You don’t expect to feel like there’s a chance Jeremy Wade the River Monster fisherman will pop up at any moment when you’re on a surf trip, but after three straight weeks of incessant rain, it felt just like that this year in Australia. Every river we saw was swollen and bursting at…

Luke Davis and Kai Neville check out surfboards What Youth

You don’t have a clue who Luke Davis really is. Neither did we. Collected Thoughts 038

PHOTO: Ferré “Can I just style the movie?” Luke Davis asks us as we review footage high above Coolangatta yesterday afternoon. “I’m thinking combat boots…” Luke is in Australia filming for Reef and What Youth’s rapidly approaching film, Anything Sing, but he’s more interested in talking to us about what’s going on behind the scenes….

Creed McTaggart This is Us Australia What Youth

Creed McTaggart, Filming for This Is Us, a new What Youth Series Collected Thoughts 037

PHOTO: Lawrence It’s long been established that surf trips are difficult. Wind, swell, angles, coastlines, sand, reefs and human behavior all combine for a wild social cocktail. And the thing that’s rarely spoken of is how much time we have to get to know each other while chasing these conditions in a car. With the…

Chippa Wilson rides for Fox photographed by Nate Lawrence What Youth

Chippa’s new stickers Collected Thoughts 036

PHOTO: Lawrence This morning at 6:30 a.m. I heard someone out on the deck, scraping wax and drinking coffee. The sun was just starting to peak around the morning clouds and it was quiet aside from the prehistoric dinosaur birds that lose their minds in the Australian morning. Chippa Wilson had begun the process of…

Anything Sing crew What Youth

On the set of What Youth and Reef’s new film Anything Sing Collected Thoughts 035

PHOTO: Lawrence We were worried. We hadn’t had any communication from What Youth photographer Nate Lawrence since he said he would call from Marrakech. We began to think the waves never showed and the boys resorted to the local tea and hookah shops for salvation. But then we thought how could the swell that produced…

Dion Aguis Creed McTaggart What Youth

Old Fashioned road trip down the South Coast of Australia Collected Thoughts 034

PHOTO: Neville A mix of young and old, hunting for onshore reefs but also rising before sunrise in search of golden light. Are we getting old? I remember filming for Modern Collective, the photographer would bang his tripod on the ground, accidentally knock your mattress at first light and roust you awake. We wanted no…

Ben Nordberg and Curren Caples in Venice photographed by Scott Chenoweth What Youth

Ben Nordberg and Curren Caples, Venice, California Collected Thoughts 033

PHOTO: Chenoweth Ben Nordberg is a 23-year-old professional skater from Bath, England and Curren Caples is a 17-year old professional shred-on-everything-he-rides from Ventura, California. This odd couple find themselves sharing four walls in Hollywood (actually Curren has only stayed at their apartment for three nights in almost four months, but still, roomies!). They’re Flip Skateboard…

Craig Anderson What Youth

Craig Anderson Post-Flight nap on a cold California Day Collected Thoughts 032

PHOTO: Beren Hall Craig Anderson got here yesterday. He strolled into our place bright eyed and bushy tailed, toting coffee and post-flight chit-chat buzz. We talked skateboarding and surfing, holiday breaks, and how his film (the reason he’s here) is coming together. He’s got a pretty booked couple of weeks here in California going through…

Pretty Sweet What Youth

A What Youth Press Release Collected Thoughts 031

PHOTO: Screenshot from Pretty Sweet I think it’s the scene in the new skate video Pretty Sweet where they are spraying, toasting and blasting beer into the air. It’s snowing and it’s shot on RED, just a brilliant moment. Someone must have stomped a sick one. It’s unfiltered fuck it! Right there on the screen….

Hawaii photographed by Scott Chenoweth What Youth

Dane and Gabriel in Hawaii Collected Thoughts 030

PHOTO: Chenoweth I’m trying to keep calm. I’m trying to carry on. But after doing some responsible drinking, I’m going to chime in. Since Friday, two maneuvers were pulled off that were crazy. One by Dane in competition — a turn that perfectly demonstrates his disregard for things like waves, surfboards and competitive strategy. The…

Craig Anderson photographed by Kai Neville What Youth

Craig Anderson, Changed ticket Collected Thoughts 029

PHOTO: Neville When we spoke to Craig he was just home from Europe before coming to California, then New York and New England. Europe didn’t end well. Craig is a kind soul and to move against him is an awful sin, and a Frenchman had sinned. It happens everywhere.   CRAIG ANDERSON: I’ve been home…

Dion Agius in France photographed by Kai Neville What Youth

Day one in France with Dion Collected Thoughts 028

PHOTO: Neville Little did they know that this would be one of the only successful surfs of the trip. Kai and Dion were to meet up with Craig and Dane but had one free day while those two took the opportunity to rip Wave Garden, the fake European wave in Spain. Walking up this day,…

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