There’s an old 70’s snakerun park in the Het Hulsbeek recreation park located in Oldenzaal, Netherlands. For the past handful of years they’ve been holding an annual contest series there called “Oerend Hard” that looks like it’s more of a weekend festival of skateboarding and fun than a strict contest. Events typically include a standard downhill race, boardercross, jump ramp, best trick, and something you never, ever see anymore, the two man catamaran. The Netherlands Skateboard Federation, or Skateboard Federatie Nederlandis trying to have the park designated as a national historical monument, if for no other reason than they claim it is essentially the last preserved skatepark in Europe from the 70’s that is still in widespread use. I know there are still some 70’s skatepark remnants in the U.K., so perhaps the key phrase is “widespread use.” I don’t think the park is in any eminent danger of being destroyed, they are just being proactive about it. Check out the press release presentation that includes photos through the years, including the construction. It made the news, but I can’t understand a word they are saying, and it’s buried in a long video. I did find a nice video run through of the park. Catch it after the jump.
– Thanks to Mike Estes for the tip.
Oldenzaal Snake Run video from Blue Mystic
ED: Well this old video was on MySpace and has since disappeared. Instead, enjoy this hard-to-watch clip that has weird stabilization artifacts.
9 comments
Campbell
Got taken to this snake run the first time I visited the Netherlands. Great fun to skate, and it is in a beautiful big park. Ollies over the grass gap from the snake to the drain are good for laughs.
matt
catamaran? like when two dudes sit on two boards across from each other interlocking their legs?
Kilwag
Yes, that catamaran…
Jerkins
Looks like a giant Derby Park. Awescum!
curtis
the catamaran as described by this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eaEbJ5MG1I
DocMurdock
I wonder how old Marseille Skatepark is.
brk
i don’t speak french, but i think this says marseille was built in ’91.
http://marseilleskatepark.free.fr/Story%20V2.htm
bobcat
‘the bowl has existed since july 13, 1991.’
something else cool at the bottom about making the bowls like hulls of a ship. my shitty 5 years french in school didn’t get me far. should have taken spanish.
Patrick Quinn
“there are still some 70