Photography ©Johanna Pardo

On September 6, as part of TAKEOVER (Barcelona), we celebrated the OPEN JAM CONTEST, a skatepark competition and a small but important moment for roller skating: for the first time, roller skating was part of Extreme Barcelona, one of the biggest action sports events in the world.

Getting there was not exactly straightforward.

For months, we had been talking with the organisation about adding roller skating to the official programme and using the street course. Eventually, we were told there was no available time for us . We kept talking and managed to secure one hour at the open park, which this year was booked by ScootWorld. They kindly helped us out and made the space available for the contest.

The problem? We didn’t get confirmation of the new location and schedule until just a couple of weeks before the event. At that point, we seriously considered cancelling. Instead, we decided to move forward and treat it as a trial run, a chance to see how roller skating and Extreme Barcelona could work together in the future.

That meant announcing the contest at the last minute. We had no idea how many people would actually be able to make it with so little notice. Turns out, plenty.

All the spots were filled on the same day we announced the event, with skaters travelling from different parts of Spain and Europe. We ended up opening an additional group to make room for more people.

With only one hour of park time, things were understandably hectic. We had to organise the prizes and judges, explain the format, brief the competitors, arrange the groups and somehow squeeze in a warm-up. It was stressful, to say the least.

But everyone showed up ready to help. That was the biggest reason we managed to pull it off. People jumped in wherever they were needed, and thanks to Mascotte, we even managed to add an extra obstacle to the course.

We had five groups, and from the first minute you could feel the energy taking over the park. The ramps were big, the floor was rough, and the clock was ticking, but everyone came ready to skate. As more people gathered around the course, the atmosphere kept building.

The jam format meant three or four skaters were on the course at the same time. It made for a great show, although it also gave the judges a serious challenge. There was always something happening somewhere.

Handstand by Barbara from Bahia skateshop

Blondie skated super solid and clean, while Isa was locking every grind she tried. Carlota got creative with stoppers, handstands and spins, and Cai laced a super clean hotdog grind up into a toe manual down the box.

Sasa skated with confidence, flowing around the park and putting together tricks like a total pro.

As the groups progressed, the level kept getting higher. Barbie joined as a non-competitor and put on an absolute show, skating fast and clean and flying all over the park.

Amtari caught plenty of attention with her style and technical tricks, while Eipril made the big box and the high flat rail look like her personal playground.

Maca was killing it during the warm-up but had a few falls during her run. Aylen, meanwhile, completely crushed it with one of the strongest performances of the day, throwing her signature airs and stopper tricks and landing a mind-blowing toe-heel grind on the big box. She didn’t end up taking home a prize, which might seem unfair considering what she put down. But that’s contests sometimes. You can have an incredible run and still miss the podium.

Then Bomba Hache arrived and took over the park. Speed, aggressive skating, flips, grinds, spins and a few slams along the way. It quickly became pretty obvious that she was heading for the podium.

In the final group, Toni delivered some seriously solid tricks, including a kind grind down the rail. Ragnaroll wasn’t competing but couldn’t resist joining the session, while Ryan had travelled all the way from London and brought incredible energy and skills to the park. A few tricks didn’t quite make it, but there were still bangers landing on pretty much every obstacle.

And then, just like that, our hour was over.

We had to leave the park, but the day wasn’t finished.

We headed over to the ROLALOLA booth, where DJ Bart was already on a session and roller dancers were starting to jam. Shortly afterwards, a ramp appeared and things got even more chaotic, with people jumping, falling and going completely wild while showing off the new ROLALOLA clothing collection.

The music kept playing as the sun went down.

Eventually, it was time to announce the winners and hand out the prizes. And after everything it took to get the contest there, seeing everyone together, skating, cheering and helping each other make it happen felt like the real win.