2020 was a most unusual year, but it will be remembered as one of skateboarding’s most globally successful years.
The reasons for that are many and varied, sometimes overlapping, but a perfect convergence of circumstances saw skate shops around the world unable to meet demand, small brands suddenly able to clear out entire inventories, and uptake – oftentimes re-uptake – of skating worldwide at a level not seen since the headiest days of decades past.
It was at breakfast the morning after Red Bull Skateboarding’s 2020 planning meeting last January that the newspaper headline spoke of a city being locked down far away. It’s doubtful that anyone back then could have foreseen the last 12 months playing out the way they have, but with so many projects already under way globally the race was on to bring them all in – safely, and in whole.
From Patrik Wallner’s pioneering Uzbekistan skate project to contests like Simple Session, Red Bull Solus & Red Bull Bowl Rippers to RAW EDITS with Jamie Foy, CJ Collins & more to introducing the world to Madars Skate Tales to skating Larvikite with Torey Pudwill & crew to exploring the spirit of skateboarding in Africa, 2020 will go down in as an epic year in our history books!