Stunts with the skateboard

The Vans Holy DeTour — the international skateboarding and surfing tour — organised in association with Vans and The Shaka Surf Club in Manipal was a fun experience for all those who participated in it. There were athletes from over 10 nationalities and eight states who joined the tour.

The tour had 20 amateur skateboarders chosen from 53 entries from all over India through an Instagram contest promoted by ‘Holystoked’. The contest was open to all skateboarders of Indian origin, above the age of 18, on the 50-seater bus. All the skaters had to upload their best trick and a jury from ‘Holystoked’ chose one winner each day who got a seat on the bus and an epic skate/ surf trip of a lifetime.

This year, they flagged off the tour from Freedom Park. Then they headed further with two buses packed with 66 skateboarders and a follow truck loaded with ramps and rails to the Vans store in Indiranagar.

Then they popped and flipped the three stairs and got some supplies to head on the bus towards the beautiful camp grounds of The Shaka Surf Club (Udupi). They had a surf session with 50 skaters, an evening skate session at Manipal University and a skate workshop with the local school kids organised by The Shaka Surf Club.

The group stopped enroute as well for some fun with their ramps and rails.
It finally culminated at the DIY skate infrastructure of Cirrus located at Anjuna, Goa. They also visited Alis Bowl in Morjim, Goa for a big evening session. At Cirrus, they had their best trick and longest grind contest.

Somanna from ‘Holystoked’ said, “It was a fantastic experience overall. It gave us a multi-dimensional perspective of looking at the same place to skate. We also got to know a lot more senior skateboarders. For me, the best part was surfing.”

For Tribhuvan, a skater from Hyderabad and a doctor belonging to the ‘Holystoked’ Collective, the tour was filled with a lot of surprises. “We got to meet a lot of people and make many friends. It was wonderful to see the level of skate progression of our local home boys. I got to surf for the first time and am looking forward to double the fun next year.”

Venki, a software engineer from Bengaluru, expressed, “We were like a family doing so many adventurous things together. The best thing that happened is that we got connected to each other through our passion, irrespective of skateboarding, BMXing or surfing. I felt the vibes and energy that everyone was carrying all the time which kept me in high spirits.”

Jovani Majaw, a student and skater from Shillong, said, “The tour was like more of an experience — meeting new people from different parts of the world with different perspectives and different backgrounds. I would call it a life-changing tour.”

For Attita, another participant, it was definitely one of the best tours she had been on. “I got to visit a new spot in the timid village of Kodibengere. I met old friends and made new ones, skateboarded inside a university campus in Manipal and stayed inside a treehouse right opposite a skate park in Cirrus, Goa. There were artists doing tattoos and people learning to skate and surf. There was a higher level of skateboarding this year, two times the number of female participants and an extra bus because of the rise in numbers overall. I am now looking forward to seeing the video that will be released on the ‘Holystoked’ Collective page.”