Rise Above Skateboards

So you actually clicked on the “about“-button. That’s sweet. And you really wanna know the whole story? Yeah? Ok, I’ll tell ya the whole story!

Once upon a time….The story of Rise Above Skateboards is basically the story of my life. My name is Basti and I was born back in 1981 in a country which doesn’t exist anymore, the GDR or East Germany. Riding a skateboard back then was almost impossible, first of all there were no boards to buy and second: almost nobody knew about that there is a thing called “skateboarding”. I remember watching a TV program of a West-German TV channel together with my uncle who was ten years older than me. It was a documentary about skating and surfing in California and we were stoked. My uncle said that we need to build skateboards and I was hooked. I begged my mom that I can build a skateboard out of my stupid roller skates which I never used. She said: “OK.”, and actually helped me building my first skateboard out of crap wood and one of those roller skates. About six months later the wall came down, the GDR was history and I was able to buy a “real” skateboard. I grinded curbs, rode walls and learned to ollie on this board. It was a 10” fish tail with wide pink wheels and heavy trucks.

Two years later the wheels got smaller and the pants bigger…street and miniramp were the new deal but I kept riding “old school” boards and never learned to kickflip. I still can’t…haha.

The early and mid 90’s were a tough time to grow up in East Germany, lots of disappointment and despair caused a raise of fascism and violence. I remember me running home from school every day because of all the nazi-skins and hooligans hanging ‘round in my hood trying to beat the living shit out of me. Going to punk and hardcore shows at a club called “conne island” was really like escaping to an island, it had a ramp right next to the stage and we were able to skate while the bands played and the crowd went wild. The first show I saw there was in 1993 while I was skating the ramp and it changed my life. All I wanted was punk rock and skateboarding!

After a few years the music got more important to me, I started playing in some bands and toured a lot. But all the time I always rode my board and never quit. It just wasn’t that important to me. I just skated when I wanted to.

In 2003 I first saw the documentary “Dogtown and Z-Boys” and it blew my mind. From that moment on I knew that there where other guys out there who cared about the old school and that riding big boards in transitions is not dead at all. It pushed me so much that I skated a lot and the idea of making big boards with the old shapes for the old guys started growing and growing. In 2005 I made the first deck, it was a 8.5” wide and 33” long board and Rise Above Skateboards was born. It was founded by me and my good friend Walli, who still helps me out when my skills are not enough….I’m a skateboarder but no businessman, haha.

Right now I live and skate in Berlin and I love this city. I hang out with lots of rad guys who are pushing skateboarding in a real way. Radio Skateboards, Mischief Skateboards and Rise Above. No competition. No fakes, no posers. Just 100 percent skateboarding. Basically I have the time of my life since twenty years. Because of riding a wooden toy. I guess there is no bigger middle finger in the face of society…haha!