This is a bit of a special issue as it’s loosely focused around the European skater of the year awards with interviews from Rookie Of The Year Tom Knox and European Skater of the year/winner of the Kingpin Reader’s choice award Madars Apse. The Burn section is also packed with photos from various nominees such as Pontus , Willow or Jesus Fernandez.

This issue doesn’t  limit itself to a being BESA recap though and amongst other things we’ve decided to offer you interviews from 2 very different skaters: Leo Valls and Hjalte Halberg. Leo justifies his original approach to skating by comparing it to any other artistic activity: “where would painting be if people had only explored figurative painting and it’s technical aspects?”. Further on in the mag Polar’s powerhouse  shows off some of his stylish moves and discusses the difficulties of being a professional skateboarder in a city with such harsh winters: Copenhagen.

We’ve also managed to fit in a warriors trip to Bulgaria and an Indy/Lifeblood tour around Europe. The edit documenting Jake Collins, Kevin Kowalski and the rest of the gang’s drunken ways should hit the web some time next week, so be sure to keep an eye out for it.

Oh yeah, the guy doing a Danny Gonzalez on the cover is Antiz’s Sam Partaix. Is it the first time we see a European wallriding his way onto the ceiling?

Anyway, now that you know what’s in the mag, go and get yourself a copy!

Be sure to make your voice heard by casting your vote here and telling us why you picked who you picked (or leave us a dumb comment for my speech!)!

Merry Christmas!

Willow’s part from Almost’s 5 Incher.

Youness’ part from Almost’s 5 Incher.

Madars’ Where EU At part from DC.

Josef Scott Jatta’s Where EU At part from DC.

Tim Zom’s part from the Bombaklats Promo video.

Nassim’s part from the Bombaklats Promo Video.

Mark Frölich’s part from Jart’s All You Need video.

Bastien Salabanzi’s part from Jart’s All You Need video.

Chris Pfanner’s Anti Hero pro part.

Jesus’ part from Pretty Sweet (we obviously can’t host it but you can buy it! On iTunes or at your local skateshop now!)

Well it’s that time of year again where we’re giving you, the public, the chance to vote for the Kingpin Readers’ European Skater of the Year. It’s going to be a tough call with all the amazing skateboarding that’s gone down over the last 12months. The award will be given to the winner at the annual Bright European Skateboard Awards along with the industry voted categories. To vote just click the button next to your choice’s name!

But wait. there’s more… You can have your voice heard too!

Leave a comment below about the guy you just voted for and I’ll pick some of the best ones to use in my speech for the winner of the award… And, yes, I’ll name check you!

Votes are in! We’ll announce the winner shortly.

Leave your comment below!

March issue is out and it’s dedicated to the best skating Europe had to offer in 2011. Winners and nominees for various prices in the Bright European Skateboard Awards are featured in the issue. Eniz, Lucas and Abbe all get interviewed. Thought you were done with Pontus after last month’s overload? Think again, he’s back this month. On top of the awards hullabaloo, there’s a thing about Pontus’s board company Polar in Poland and an article on Vans in New York. Eric Dressen answers Questions. Just one issue shy of 100, we decided to kick off a couple of new bits as well in the front of the mag to make easier to dip in and out of. In Quick 5 we’ll be asking three skaters each month the same set of questions about their current top of the list and bottom of the barrel things to do. My Phone is a silly feature for the terrifyingly shallow digital age. Arguable the most tech savvy professional skateboarder out there, Colin Kennedy, kicks off the new monthly feature and shares his most recent phone screen grabs and snaps, including tweets and chats and the like. You get the picture – but only if you buy the magazine though. Colin is really quite good at everything he does, be it skating, team managing, sound compressing or filtering the noise out of a rush-hour information motor way.

Hate to miss another issue? Subscribe it here.

As a part if the awards we are giving you, the public, the chance to have a say too.

Just follow this link or click the image below to access the voting page for your chance to decide who should receive the award presented at Bright tradeshow in Berlin on January the 20th, 2012.