Fast Fingers 12 Montage

Mike Schneider just put up this video from Fast Fingers 12.



More can be found on his youtube channel.

Kaiju Box Battle Results!

Alright everyone! After long deliberation Tim Alexiel, Andre Coral and I have finally come up with the Winners of the 1st Kaiju Box Battle. There were over forty entries from around the world in this contest. I could not believe the quality of the fingerboarding sent to me. I kept on seeing a video and thinking "That guy is the winner" and then I'd see another video and think the same thing. I wish I could send prizes to everyone who entered, but I don't have that kind of resources to haha.

Anyways, here are the results:

3rd Place
Mike Schneider - Kickflip B/S Tail F/S 180 Noseslide Lazer Heel



2nd Place
Elias Assmuth - Kickflip B/S Noseblunt Nollie Tail Bigspin out



1st Place
Steffen Bonsert - Switch Bigspin Footplant Back Tail 270 Out



Honorable Mention:
Brandon Robert - Nollie Heelflip B/S Tail Body Varial Nollie Tre



We got a little something for Brandon too ;)

We felt all three of these entries brought something unique to the table. Mike's trick was extremely tech, and the way he popped from tailslide to noseslide in that finger position is amazing in itself. Elias had the best use of obstacle out of all the entries. The obstacle he used was made of rusted metal that would be extremely difficult to slide on, and he still did that trick flawlessly. Steffen's trick, I think, is self-explanatory why he won. The judges had never seen anyone do anything like that trick before, and he did it as smooth as can be.

Anyways, it was extremely difficult for us to come up with our winners. But after much deliberation we feel satisfied with the results. The whole point of this competition was to see how creative people could get on the obstacle and trick selection, and overall everyone did an amazing job! Thanks everyone for participating!

Rendezvous 6 BRR Park Pics!

Here are the pictures of the custom-made BlackRiver Ramps park made for the Rendezvous 6. I love how creative the whole park is. My jaw is still on the floor! I can't wait until April 18th!

FastFingers 11 Footy!

Mike Schneider posted some footage from his trip to FastFingers in Germany that he attended last May. It's epic!

New Flatface Site! Flatface DVD soon!

Flatface has released a new site layout. This marks a shift from using the osCommerce engine before to an engine by Interspire. According to Mike Schneider, the owner of Flatface, the new site will provide more flexibility and control, as well as let customers view products that are not in stock. I really like the new layout!

http://www.flatfacefingerboards.com/webstore/

By the way,




The Flatface Team DVD will be released shortly!! The movie has been in the making for quite some time, and was set to be released probably 20 or more times. But the wait is finally over!

Mike Schneider Featured in Newspaper!

Here's a news article that features Flatface Fingerboard Distribution owner Mike Schneider! It's amazing to see how much influence Mike has in Fingerboarding!There is also a video of Mike on the newspaper's website here!

Flatface News

Mike Schneider posted some pictures of the new Flatface G7 wheel colors! They look really sick, and from what I've heard, they perform amazingly well.
Presenting the new G7 colors!
G7I
G7X

G7A


The 4th Rendezvous is complete, so be on the lookout for some great footage from the event.

Contests

Massacre Webshop is hosting an online video contest! This is one in a recent surge of contests within the Brazilian scene.

Best translation I can do.

Rules:

1 video per contestant

15-20 seconds max

Any obstacle

Any type of fingerboard

Videos will be judged on technique, style and creativity.

Must be posted (poster?) on the fingerboardbrasil.com forum.

Must be posted on Youtube.

Deadline for videos is the 30th of June

More info here!

Mike Schneider is looking for graphics for Flatface decks. There are some prizes involved. The winner gets a few surprises plus they get their choice of a deck from any one of the rider's decks. More information.

Tricks Leaving a Lasting Impression.

I've just had a few tricks on my mind lately. These ones stood out to me alot, and i thought i would show some respect, and give kudos to where it is necessary.

-Chris Daniels(Nollie tre fs blunt bigflip out, Switch varial fs noseslide, Rail Jam 08)- Wow, this left an impression on me because i still have not been able to land it, and he landed it like it was nothing. The nollie tre in the was perfect, and he just landed it solid. This isn't a trick you see much either. The sw varial fs noseslide was what really stood out to me. When i first saw it i was like "What was that?". I think it's safe to say this was the most epic trick i have seen in a while. It's original, and totally cool looking. :23, :34

-Alex McMillan(Switch heel fs tail switch heel out, MNO)- This was amazing, for me at least. I came to FFI when MNO first came out, and i remember seeing this move, and being blown away by it. I still am. And, what makes it even better is his reaction. Any one that knows McMillan's footage knows that its full of tricks like this. I am still trying to land this move. Alex is a god at fingerboarding. 2:50

-Mike Schneider(Kickflip late impossible bs blunt tre blunt kickflip blunt kickflip, Crimbo Combo entry)- Umm, this trick speaks for itself. EPIC

-Brett Gagliardo(Switch flip front flip, A Little Mini)- This trick is not only cool looking, but i haven't seen it ever before. Brett loves fingerboarding, and it shows in his minis. The creativity of this trick was awesome, and it was crazy clean.

I know there are many more tricks that are epic, but i thought i'd do a little entry.

News: June 16th 2008

News:

Mike Schneider from Flatface Fingerboard Distribution is taking pre-orders for BlackRiver Ramps. To see what is available, check out the thread here!

My jaw dropped when I saw this video.. Taylor Rosenbauer has a BRR G6 Park in his house. So sick. I can't wait to see him post a video of him shredding the monstrosity. 

The Gripskin video trailer featuring our favorite fingerboard.de members is up on Youtube. The video features Sheryl, Fabi, Valler, Esche, Felix, Peter, Lukki, Jojo, Wag, Philli, Stefan K, Ziggla, and my boy Manu Oberle. 

Can you say hawt??!?

Flatface, an acomplishment.

When looking at Flatface now, I, and along with many other people are blown away by Mike's success. His shop now not only contains his own products, but it contains products from other companies in which he distributes. His popular bearing wheels are almost known throughout the entire fingerboarding scene, as well as his company. It's safe to say Flatface is here for business.

Mike Schneider, 15 years old, runs Flatface. Between getting 20 and 70 orders a day, I don't see how he has any time for school, let alone fingerboarding. This however, didn't happen over night.
Flatface started in 2003, selling grip tape. According to Mike, he barely got any orders, but that didn't stop him. Slowly he moved onto decks, which he was most known for for a while. Meanwhile, for a short period of time, he started a grip tape company called Eulogy. This according to Mike, only lasted a week =[. Not being phased from that, he kept on making decks. Over the years, he went through what seems to be 100 generations, but in reality was only 9. The decks improved greatly, and he began making lots of sales. Unfortunately in 2006, he stopped making decks due to having no time and no good mold (according to him, but many people would beg to differ).

Mike then released his greatest product ever; the Flatface bearing wheels. The wheels started out as a prototype as most all products do. These were small, white, and bearingless. According to Taylor Rosenbauer in his review, "These are the most incredible wheels i have ever tried". Little did we know that they would become even more incredible. Then came G2 wheels. These were very popular. They came with or without bearings, and were very smooth. G4 wheels were even more of an improvement. These were wider, more rounded, and had bearings as well. G5 wheels, you guessed it, were even better. Made of a different material, these were more rounded and a little narrow. Just when people thought they couldn't have gotten any better, Mike released the G6 wheels in 2008. These were named G-A and G-X after the materials it was made out of. They came in red and blue, and we smoother and faster than ever. Presently, Mike is selling different variations of the G6s, which are in various colors such as clear, black, amber, and solid white.

Flatface is a one of a kind company in the American fingerboarding scene. Not only does he make his own products, but he also sells other companies products including world famous company; Blackriver-ramps. He is the first company in the U.S. to sell BRR for other people in the U.S. cheaply. Probably the biggest accomplishment for him is that now his wheels are begin sold in the BRR web shop in Germany. His company has grew in both America and Europe.

There is nothing more to say about Flatface, other than it's one of the most legit companies out in the fingerboaridng scene right now. It's been around for a while, and Mike knows what hes doing. So, check out his site (www.flatfacefingerboards.com) for all your fingerboarding needs. In around September, Mike will be selling Flatface decks again, which are made from a precise metal mold. They look beautiful. Mike always has plans for upcoming products so keep your eyes out, and check his site from time to time.

The results are in...

And the winners for the second annual FFI rail jam are.....

1st: Taylor Rosenbauer
2nd: Chris Daniels
3rd: Mike Schneider
4th: Tim Hurley
5th: Taylor Lucas
6th: David Lyrio Auster
7th: Matt Lieber
8th: Andrew Bowman
9th: Guillaume Ouellet
10th: tobias phieler
11th: Rodrigo Rossi
12th: Tim Zagrebelny
13th: Jader M�ller dos Santos
14th: MASSERRA
15th: tim alexiel
16th: Ethan Ebeling/Edgar Vargas
17th: Dimitar Krasimirov Kanev
18th: Philipp Reinhard
19th: Brody Davis
20th: Jay Linehan/Martin Beckmann
21st: Vinny Germade
22nd: Ben Beebe / Aaron Kuppin
23rd: Harald Sch�n
24th: Julien Radiu
25th: Daniel Durku / Tobias Engelhardt
26th: Nick pearson
27th: Peter Ringel
28th: Zahari Tsonkov
29th: Justin Rodriguez
30th: Erik Vehmeyer
31st: Ramon Angelow
32nd: DARIO MARCHINI
33rd: Jeremy Forget
34th: Rafael Costa
35th: Kyran Barry
36th: Rafael Malmegrin
37th: Chad Spradlin
38th: Shane Young
39th: Kyle Seis / julien macaluso
40th: Maggie Nadeau
41st: Nico Frank
42nd: Alan dos Anjos Teixeira
43rd: LAUPIES Thomas
44th: Eddie Sharples
45th: Daniele Comuzzi
46th: Brandon Sentnor / Giovanny Mendez
47th: Filipe Caba�a Rodrigues
48th: Vebjoern Pedersen
49th: Jake Hart/ Tim Dufour
50th: Dan Cordero
51st: John Friedl
52nd: Marc Carrillo
53rd: Tom Phillips

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!
Well done to ALL who entered the standard was so high this year.

Rail Jam Update

 Rail Jam News

The Rail Jam deadline is within sight! At the moment, 17 people have submitted their entries, and over 60 people have registered. So far, the submissions have set the bar very high. Tim Hurley's Nollie 360flip B/S Nosegrind Nollie Kickflip out was smooooooth and his Nollie F/S Tailslide Hardflip Late Revert out was ridiculous! The Nollie F/S Tailslide 360flip by Andrew Bowman, 360flip B/S 5050 kickflip roll thingey 5050 180 by Mike Schneider and Jay Linehan's Polejam tricks all stood out to me. 

With more entries sure to pour in at the last moment, it certainly will be a fight to the end.

My own Rail Jam entry is nearing completion. I feel it has some of the most difficult and smooth tricks I have done, so I am feeling pretty excited to get it complete. I do feel, however, that I am not yet done. I am going to film one more trick tomorrow night and hopefully upload it Thursday morning.

Tim Hurley released a mini video.

So good.. Lol at the anger though :)

FFI Rail Jam Preview

(The fight for the top prize will be intense.)

With the FFI Rail Jam well underway, I have decided to write some of my thoughts on some of the competitors I expect to place well.

Eric Smith - (1st) As defending champion of the last Rail Jam, Eric has a target on his back for this years rail jam. Eric performs super creative tricks which he executes flawlessly, and it will be tough for the other competitors to dethrone him. Eric hasn't released any footage in the past three months, but hopefully he is saving up for the Rail Jam.

Taylor Lucas - (2nd) Last year, Taylor proved he is one of the elite fingerboarders in the world by taking 2nd place. If it wasn't for Eric's fingerboard perfection, Taylor would have had the target placed on his back. Taylor performs super difficult tricks with a very clean style.

Nic Herzog - (3rd) Nic's video was the most visually stunning of the lot last year. I was actually surprised when Nic placed third, as I had thought he was going to win it all. The tricks he did film were really smooth, but I don't think he filmed as wide of a variety as Taylor or Eric. Anyways, expect Nic to show up for this contest.

Boris Dietschi - Boris displayed his mastery of Nollie popshovit variations. Even with perfectly performed Nollie 360 Shovit Nosegrinds to Nollie 360 Shovit F/S Blunts, Boris did not make it to the top 3. The judges felt that he did not perform a good variety of tricks.  This year I expect him to put together a video with greater variety of tricks. If Boris has more variety in his entry, it would be no surprise if he got in the Top 3.

Elias Assmuth - (Did Not Enter) Elias Assmuth is one of the most skilled fingerboarders in the world. A butter smooth style coupled with robot-like consistency, Elias has proven himself by winning contests in Germany. Who knows if Elias will enter this year, I personally doubt it with Fast-Fingers 11 just around the corner. If he does decide to enter, he could easily win it all.

Alex McMillan - (Did Not Enter) Alex didn't enter last year. Alex doesn't know if he will enter this year. Alex is super good. Alex better enter because Alex performs the most technical tricks possible.

Other people I expect to place high would be Mike Schneider, Taylor Rosenbauer, Tim Hurley

My Predictions:

3rd - Boris Dietsche, Taylor Lucas, Alex McMillan, Nic Herzog (Any of these dudes lol)

2nd - Elias Assmuth

1st - Eric Smith

I have around 25 seconds worth of stuff I am going to use for the rail jam. All my tricks are going down within the first ten or so tries. It's almost ridiculous. I was disappointed with my submission last year. I rushed it out and filled it with only a couple tricks I thought were good. I was lucky to get 9th place with the crap I submitted. So far my submission is much better. Every trick I have done for it is as difficult as any trick I've done in my life. I don't know if it will be Eric Smith-quality but I'll let the judges determine that ;-)