Kyle Walker was crowned Thrasher Magazine’s ‘Skater of the Year’, then Daan van der Linden was named ‘European Skater of the Year’for the 2nd year in a row, and to top it all off, Australia’s longest running skate magazine, Slam Skateboarding, named Jackson Pilz as the ‘Australian Skater of the Year’! 3 SOTY’s, 1 Stone! How did it all happen?
The most prestigious award in skateboarding is Thrasher Magazine’s ‘Skater of the Year’ and with only 23 recipients in the past quarter century, we are proud that Kyle Walker is one of them. He had some of the gnarliest tricks in our latest full length video Holy Stokes! a Real Life Happening, not to mention his footage in the Vans ‘No Other Way’ video and also winning Street Leagues ‘Trick of the Year’.
This smith grind in Australia was one of the HEAVIEST tricks in Holy Stokes! a Real Life Happening. With all hard tricks, there’s a battle and this tall out ledge was no different. See more of Kyle’s epic year by clicking here!
Kyle also landed himself on the cover of Thrasher Magazine with this 2nd story kickflip. Photo: Burnett
After Kyle Walker was crowned Thrasher’s ‘Skater of the Year’, voting for ‘European Skater of the Year’ had just opened. Another one of our riders, Dutch wonder boy Daan van der Linden, was2015’s ‘European Skater of the Year’ and a heavy contender for 2016’s award thanks to his part inHoly Stokes! a Real Life Happening along with various footage from travelling with the Anti-Hero crew. It was a crazy year for Daan, Anti-Hero turned him PRO and there was never a shortage of epic skate footage that seemed to pop up everywhere. So when it came time for the Bright European Skateboarding Awards, Daan not only took home ‘Video Part of the Year’ but also clinched the back to back ‘European Skater of the Year’ title!
Having extra footage is good problem to have and Daan definitely had so much that his Holy Stokes! ‘Over Stokes’ was packed with clips that didn’t make it into his part. Get a more in depth look at Daan’s SOTY years here.
Daan backside Noseblunt on the July issue of Thrasher, came with a FREE poster and sticker too! Photo: Burnett
Every year the Thrasher ‘Skater of the Year’ gets to pick a destination and crew to skate with for one epic trip. Since Kyle Walker won, he decided to go to Australia with back to back European Skater of the Year Daan van der Linden as well as other Volcom riders such as Louie Lopez, Dustin Dollin and Jackson Pilz. While on the trip, Australia’s longest running skate magazine, Slam Skateboarding, surprised Jackson Pilz by awarding him ‘Australian Skater of the Year’! Slam Skateboarding had tallied all of the votes from their online poll and as it turns out, Jackson was the winner.
Not to be out done by the larger mags, Slam Skateboarding also released their latest magazine with Jackson on the cover olling over the pole, down the stair set and into the hill at Sydney Station!
Jackson has a bright future ahead of him and we can’t wait to see what he does next. In the meantime watch a remix of his Holy Stokes! part and get a full recap of his 2016!
#3SOTYs1Stone!
