German Skateboard Slalom Championship
German Skateboard Slalom Championship, August 9./10. 2003 in Cologne
Slalom Racing is back! The last German Skateboard Slalom Championship was held in 1978 and we are therefore very proud to present the first German Slalom Championship in Cologne for the first time in 25 years. We are looking forward to a great race, international competitors, good vibes and hard rides!
Date: August 9./10. 2003 in Cologne
Saturday, 9. August Giant Slalom
Sunday, 10. August Tight Slalom
Location: At the crossing Gleueler Street/Decksteiner Street
Registration: On both days, starting at 10:30 a.m., at the location. Registration will be closed as soon as the races have started.
Training: 11.00 a.m. until 1.00 p.m..
The races will start approx.1.00 p.m.
Entry fee: 10 € per race
Safety gear is obligatory during the race.
Categories, rules, classes:
First of all: Everybody is allowed to enter!
There are two categories:
-Giant slalom (Saturday). There will be an offset course
with a cone spacing between 1,80m – 2,50m
-Tight slalom (Sunday). There will be an offset course
with a cone spacing between 1,70 – 2,20m
If you hit a cone 1/10s will be added to your time.
Classes:
There will be two main classes for entering the race.
The German competitors will start in the class
"Deutsche Meisterschaft". You need to bring your
identity card or passport.
All international competitors will start in the "Open class ".
These two main classes are each divided in four subclasses:
-Men (17 years and up)
-Men Juniors (16 years and under)
-Women (17 years and up)
-Women Juniors (16 years and under)
How to get there:
Public transport from city centre (Cologne):
Follow Aachener Straße, Dürener Straße or Luxemburger Straße in city outbound direction until you reach "Sülzgürtel". Change to Gleueler Straße and follow city outbound. Shortly after the junction Gleueler Straße/ Militärringstraße there’s a parking area on the left side
of the road. Please leave your cars here! Follow the road for another 400m and you will see the race location on the left side of the road.
From the freeway (A4):
Take exit Köln-Klettenberg (no. 11) on A4. Follow Luxemburger Straße (B 265) in the direction of city-centre. Turn left at the junction Luxemburger Straße/Militärring into Militärring. Turn left into Gleueler Straße after another 1,8 km (That’s the second crossing!).
You will cross "Militärringstraße" again. Shortly after the junction Gleueler Straße/Militärringstraße there’s a parking area on the left side of the road.
Please leave your cars here!
Follow the road for another 400m and you will see the race location on the left side of the road.
We will also post direction signs at the race weekend on the relevant junctions.
History:
Back in the days
Slalom skateboarding is as old as skateboarding itself – skating around cones was already quite popular in the mid-sixties. Although, it had its peak in the late seventies when plenty of new technical innovations (invention of urethane-wheels, of flex-decks and specific slalom trucks) and more polished techniques did open new opportunities.
Slalom-Skateboarding underwent a quantum leap.
Legendary American slalom-specialists like Henry Hester, Bob Skoldberg, Denis Shufeldt, John Hutson and naturally Bobby Piercy– who was famous for his incomparable parallel stance – were the measure of all things.
But the Swiss were also rocking back then, as the case of Martin Eggelin proves. Slalom disappeared in the early eighties. Vert riding was the big thing and only some ten years later, in the early nineties, slalom had a gradual comeback when a small bunch of enthusiasts
- mainly in the US and Switzerland – took care of the forgotten sport.
Since a few years, slalom is experiencing a renaissance: there are regular contests, many new products are appearing in the market and the number of drivers in continually increasing
Party:
If you are looking for something to relax from victory or defeat and to digest your experiences from the race, don’t
miss out the record-release-party of the Cologne based Diggler-label (www.diggler.de) on Saturday night!
Watch out for the presentation of a new compilation with skateboard music from the heydays of skateboarding
– back in the 70's!
There will be plenty of space for remembering the good old times of your youth and to shake athletic bodies to
skateboard-uh-ah-chorals!
Location to be announced.
