LIVE NOW - “DITCH JAM 2 VIDEO” BY WEOUTHERE

Why did you decide to pull your very own events?

A: It as a mere event for the sake of doing the event by the time, just to shook the dust a bit. But as it went further, we started getting creative and realized we wanna add an aspect of fun, relaxed vibe and family feel to that. Casual contests were such a bore, even though we didn’t have much of them at all. In a sense, we strive to conduct an educational work - show what the BMX can look like, how it can be presented and what unconventional things can be embedded there. We wish to drive the community inspiration to create own creative ideas and dope events, so we could drive the country to visit those and enjoy. Obviously, we also wanna test ourselves as event-makers as well.

I think DITCH JAM is your current signpost. Why did you decide to stick to a particular spot instead of doing classic street ride-through’s?

Volodymyr: Perhaps, it’s our place of power - this is where it has all begun, where we have put all our efforts to make this low-key location extraordinary.

Roma: You can do whatever you like here with no time limits. It feels like you are out in the nature, whilst staying in the city. Perfect place to create and chill - here you have nobody to disrupt. Should it be adjusted with a set of concrete obstacles… probably would be the coziest DIY spot on a planet.

E: River gaps, massive banks, BBQ party - where else could we put together such a combo?

What upgrades and obstacles has the event met compared to last year?

E: This time we have brought a plenty of ready-made equipment on the spot instead of building them. It has released a burst of passion towards the familiar obstacles as well as allowed some equipment to be multi functional as compared to immovable concrete objects.

Eugene: Also, an independent pop-up contest and communication have been developed for each event sponsor, from the heavy hitter like “The Lybid Crown” to fun ones like “Lakecaki Challenge” - where you had to pull crankflips in Skorik’s prom shoes. It’s a big bite of work to do and it has seemed like we are nailing it, until…

R: … until we came down for the final location check after the heavy rain one day prior the event and saw the entire spot drowned beneath over 1 meter of ditching water. Well, this is what the ditches are meant to be, after all. I was struck, didn’t know what to do. But the level of water has stabilized quite soon, so we could see all the digging was in vain. Next day we were on the spot as the sun rose - to clean up the mess and dry the puddles down. This is just one fuckup, along with many others, like local nomad dwellers, who steal every single thing we leave out of sight, or the constant rain which hits us literally every single time we are down to do the event.

What’s the story of this spot? How it has been discovered?

V: I have first visited Lybid in 2014… Local rider Anton “Alladin” Mishchenko has drove me there and we’ve got the first footage to be ever filmed there.

What inspires you to do the kind of stuff you go after?

A: I am going crazy from the series of event by the Canadian skate-brand DIME, called “Dime Glory Challenge”. In my mind that is the benchmark. Paramount of fun, big idea, attention to detail and preparation. Skateboarding is generally way more developed in this field, there’s something to learn not only from the Western scenes but from the local crews as well, like Slish. Also, I am always down to add a bit of local absurd to whatever we do - in that sense I grab a lot of inspiration for the things like some marginal seaside resort - say Zalizniy Port or Zatoka.

E: All the smiles and emotions we bring to those around us. There’s no better motivation for me!

How do you see the current position of the local BMX industry?

E: It feels like we’re back to growth again. A plenty of young talents is emerging, but the conditions to prosper are not there yet.

R: The industry is not moving fast-forward, but neither it stands still. It’s critical that we still miss the society and authority understanding on just how important the extreme-sports are to the contemporary youth. Many countries have already grown a couple generations of “extreme guys”, thus having a strong contemporary standpoint and vision on developing and supporting extreme sports and associated lifestyle.

There’s a big room to grow in Ukraine but the trend is devastatingly slow. That’s why we want to break through the media - otherwise you won’t have the impact.

What should we expect to see from WEOUTHERE in the future?

A: We do plan to add one more event on the new location to the calendar as well as keep driving the DITCH JAM, adding more infrastructure and entertainment to that event. There is a bigger vision behind this: as soon as DITCH JAM fortify as a brand and tradition, we’ll proceed to the national series of this event - traveling the country in search of the coolest ditches to drop epic contests there.

R: Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with crazy and massive ideas that I can’t accept the valid point of the team that we are not yet ready to handle such scale. While we are not having the constant financial or resource support from partners and sponsors, loads of ideas are filtered out on a stage of planning and bringing the ideas which have made it takes longer time due to low-cost methods. There is no plan to conquer the UA industry, but there definitely a plan to make BMX more Ukrainian :)

E: Our plan is to develop what we love the most!