Karelia is the name of the geographical area at the North-West of Russia. Some people call this land along the Russian-Finnish border Scandinavia of Russia. Similar nature with large forest areas, numerous lakes, swamps, rivers and fresh summers makes this part of Russia a big destination for hikers, campers, fishermen, mushroom and berry pickers. But how good can it be for skateboarding?
Vans Russia's Eugene Nikolaev was born in Karelia and this was where he started skateboarding. His proposal to visit his hometown with the team perfectly fit the moment when the pandemic closed all the borders and international traveling has become mission impossible. Due to nice weather, endless daylight and proper tour guiding a week-long expedition up North with 20+ people resulted in unforgettable experience and solid tour clip named after this place. Karelia is also a title of newest tour video from the Russian crew.
Rough spots of Petrozavodsk and Kondopoga that had been shaped by Soviet architectural traditions and harsh winters provided a unique terrain for improvisation on skateboards. Vans Russia's main division mixed with national flow riders, girls and legends went did another great one for the books. Eugene Nikolaev showed us Karelia and now we want to show it to the rest of the world.
Skaters
Dima Shatalov,
Lilya Sukhankova,
Andrey Melnikov,
Denis Yuzefovich,
Eugene Nikolaev,
Alexey Krasniy,
Igor Smirnov,
Sasha Petrova,
Nikita Kozhemyakin,
Alexey Meleshko,
Ignat Mazurin,
Boris Berestov,
Max Kushevskiy,
Pasha Tretyakov,
Valera Doganadze,
Yura Renov,
Vova Pavlov,
Vadim Abramov.
A video by Dmitry Kononov
Filmed by
Dmitry Kononov,
Marat Delianov,
Eugene Nikolaev,
Max Kushevskiy,
Nikita Kozhemyakin,
Alexey Meleshko.
Photography by Alexey Lapin.
Art by Denis Yuzefovich.
