adidas Glenburn Tour Brings World-Class Skateboarding to Rollersnakes Derby 

On 23 July, the adidas Skateboarding Glenburn Tour rolled into Derby, bringing an absolutely stacked team of professional skateboarders to Rollersnakes for an afternoon of signings, giveaways and, most importantly, skating.

The Glenburn Tour was travelling around England, stopping at independent skate shops in Manchester, Leeds, Derby, Brighton, Bristol and London. For the Derby leg, that meant one of the biggest collections of professional skateboarders we’ve seen descend on the city in a long time, and judging by the turnout at Rollersnakes, plenty of people knew exactly how special the opportunity was.

By the time things got going, Rollersnakes was packed. There were local skaters, younger kids clutching boards and posters ready to be signed, older heads who had followed some of these names for years, and plenty of people who simply wanted to watch some ridiculously good skateboarding at close quarters.

The line-up certainly justified the excitement.

Dennis Busenitz is one of the most recognisable names on the adidas Skateboarding team, known for his incredible speed, precision and powerful approach to street skating. He has been part of adidas Skateboarding for two decades and remains one of those skaters who makes difficult skating look frighteningly natural.

Riley Hawk has built a career and style entirely his own, becoming known for smooth, technical street skating across rails, ledges and stairs. There is obviously a fairly famous skateboarding surname attached to him, but Riley’s skating has long since given him an identity beyond being Tony Hawk’s son.

Vincent Milou is one of France’s leading skateboarders and a two-time Olympian, bringing the sort of technical ability and consistency that has made him a regular name at the highest levels of competitive street skating.

Lawrence Ravail, originally from Réunion Island before moving to mainland France, represents another generation of adidas talent, with powerful street skating and a technical approach particularly suited to ledges and bigger obstacles.

Sam Narvaez rides for Krooked Skateboards alongside adidas and has developed a reputation for creative, technical skating and finding interesting ways to approach spots rather than simply taking the obvious line.

Gustav Tønnesen is a Norwegian skater with an almost effortless style, combining technical ability with the sort of creativity and board control that has earned him a serious following within skateboarding.

Tim Debauche is part of adidas’ European skateboarding roster and another technically gifted street skater, adding yet another international name to what was already a pretty ridiculous team to have gathered inside a Derby skate shop.

Shin Sanbongi brings a completely distinctive style to the team, with a surf-influenced flow and relaxed approach that can make even rough street spots and difficult tricks look incredibly smooth.

Before anyone started throwing themselves at the obstacles, though, there was plenty of time for the people who had turned up to actually meet them.

That was one of the best parts of the afternoon. Despite the size of the crowd, the adidas riders were incredibly approachable. They chatted with fans, posed for photos and happily worked their way through boards, posters, shoes and various other bits of skate kit being passed across for signatures. There was none of the feeling of being hurried through a meet-and-greet. They genuinely seemed happy to spend some time with everyone who had come down.

Then came the demo.

Watching professional skateboarding online is one thing. Watching skaters of this level work with the relatively small obstacles at Rollersnakes while you’re standing just a few feet away is something completely different.

The whole session had a loose, spontaneous feel to it. There wasn’t some enormous competition set-up or a carefully choreographed performance. It was a group of exceptionally good skateboarders looking around the park, finding things they wanted to skate and then seeing what they could do with them.

Rails, ledges, banks and whatever else they could find quickly became fair game. Tricks got bigger, people started feeding off each other’s skating and every time someone landed something particularly ridiculous the crowd surrounding the park erupted.

What made it even better was how much fun everyone appeared to be having. For all the talent packed into the place, it never felt overly serious. It felt like a skate session, just one where some of the people skating happened to be among the best in the world.

adidas also made sure the local skaters weren’t simply there to watch. Clothing, shoes and other adidas gear were being given away throughout the afternoon, giving people another reason to get involved and skate rather than stand around the edges. The result was a properly lively session where professionals, locals and the crowd all felt like part of the same event.

And it was hot. Properly hot.

Packed into Rollersnakes with a huge crowd, boards flying around and everyone getting increasingly hyped as the session went on, it became one of those sweaty summer skate events where the atmosphere is probably better because everything is slightly chaotic.

More than anything, though, the Glenburn Tour was another reminder of what Rollersnakes brings to Derby.

Founded in the city in 1985, Rollersnakes has been part of British skateboarding for more than four decades. Its history stretches from pioneering skate videos and legendary visitors such as Mark Gonzales through to its current Derby home, where its skate areas remain free for people to use.

That history matters, but so does what Rollersnakes continues to do now.

The team regularly puts on events, supports local skating and somehow continues to bring some genuinely huge names in skateboarding to Derby. There is a welcoming little community around the place too. Whether you’re somebody who has skated for decades, a kid learning your first tricks or someone who just wants to turn up and watch, it never feels particularly intimidating.

Events like the adidas Glenburn Tour show exactly why spaces like this are important. Having Dennis Busenitz, Riley Hawk, Vincent Milou, Lawrence Ravail, Sam Narvaez, Gustav Tønnesen, Tim Debauche and Shin Sanbongi skating in Derby is brilliant in itself. Having local kids able to stand beside the park, meet them, get their board signed and then watch them skate the same obstacles they use themselves makes it even better.

A very hot, very loud and very hyped afternoon of skateboarding, and another fantastic event from Rollersnakes.

Whatever they manage to bring to Derby next, we’ll be there.

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