Trucks and Fins is a huge present to the whole skate community - not just for the skating people, but also for shops, builders and schools. Super easy to use and can't believe how complete it is.
Pascal Lieleg aka Official Bowlshit
Pataias skatepark tour
Our mission to skate every skatepark continues. This time we went to Pataias, a parish in the municipality of Alcobaça, on the West Portugal coast. Next to the Perforated Valley Beach and surrounded by trees, the park offers a combination of nature and skate, with a variety of obstacles that make sure you can ride multiple lines.
The iodine from the Atlantic air enters deep into the pores, that’s a sign the beach is very close. A journey where we can fall on concrete or water. It’s good to have a menu of choices. Diversity is what Pataias Skatepark offers, with a variety of obstacles that provides multiple lines, with a pyramid dividing the park into a transition and street section. Who said a small park has to be boring?
“When you have a bank with two quarterpipes it’s possible to go to the sides and not just back and forth. It’s a detail that matters deeply”, says João Sales, chairman of Wasteland Skateparks, the builder responsible for its construction in 2017.
The broom is mandatory, but not because of human garbage. It’s the only drawback of having a pine forest as neighbour. But once it's clean you're ready for your fresh air session.
Wasteland Skateparks carries the flag all the time: every park must be unique. This one, for instance, has a special feature: a single piece of pool coping on the quarterpipe. “There is nothing like this elsewhere in Portugal”, João Sales ensures, explaing why each skatepark must have its singularity: “There is so much to create in skateboarding, that it’s not worth to replicate ideas. The fun thing is to visit different parks and meet up with different people to learn from them and teach them at the same time.”
Special note: Sunday might even be the best day if you want to skate and travel to Pataias, because the Sunday market, right next to the park, is the perfect way to finish off your session. The small tents with barbecue are irresistible, especially after a three-hour session where we gave it all. It was the perfect fuel for the next stage: a long and challenging downhill toward the Perforated Valley Beach (it’s how it is called, like if there was a hole in the valley). There is no greater sense of freedom than this. It’s the hidden secret of Pataias.
Visit Pataias skatepark Find out more about Wasteland skateparks
