ISSUE NO.10 BUENOS AIRES

Skateboarding in Argentina is different from other places. While they have security guards all over the city, the cops don’t give a shit. You can keep trying your trick until security tries to physically stop you because you know that the cops will not come and do anything. This makes for a unique game of cat and mouse where you run back 2 or 3 different times, trying to get one last shot at the precious trick that you have your mind set on. When you win, it’s heaven. When you loose, you come back again tomorrow. This is the spirit of the skater.

Tomas “Koala” Scicchitano is one of the top dog Argentinos. His love for the street and street skateboarding is unrivaled, evidenced by the way that he skates and the spots he chooses. Koala never picks the easy route and is constantly learning new tricks. This Mar Del Plata native recently moved to Buenos Aires about a year ago and has been killing it with the crew since he arrived.

Skating in Buenos Aires is not always easy, but it is always rewarding. The streets can be rough and security can be a bitch, but the thing that makes skating in Buenos Aires so great is the skaters. The crews are strong and there is little to no beef between anybody, which is different than what we have experienced in other cities. With six or seven subway lines, five or six lines of regional train and more than 200 bus lines, the public transport will get you almost anywhere you want to go. The best part is that the tickets are less than 50 cents for each ride. With fruit shops and corner stores everywhere, you are never too far away from water or refreshments while on the session.

Fede Gonzalez and the boys from Quilmes are your classic definition of skate rats. They eat, breath and sleep skateboarding. They have been roaming Buenos Aires and the world for the last 10 or 15 years, filming, skating and living it up with gigantic smiles on their faces every step of the way. Not only do they all skate and most professionally, they also all play with cameras and shoot photos and make videos of their adventures.

Buenos Aires is not only the cultural and political capital of Argentina but also the center of the Argentinian skate scene. Built like a European city, this nearly 500 year old metropolis was once the richest port city in the world due to extensive silver trade. It has had lots of ups and downs and has gone through many changes in the past centuries. Full of plazas, antique and modern architecture, rich and poor neighborhoods, Buenos Aires has just about any different kind of terrain that you can think of.