Norwegian teenagers to hit the road on European longboarding trip

Four adventurous teenagers from Norway have decided to give the standard family holiday miss this summer and instead are planning an epic longboarding trip through Europe.

Norwegian teenagers plan to longboard through Europe. Image by Peter Pearson / CC BY-SA 2.0

Fredrik Ringen, Tobias Skammelsrud Madsen and Johannes Veine Wiig (all 18 years old) and Mathias Aleksander Hansen (who is 17) have planned a route that’s over 700km long, which will see them wend their way through five European countries. The young men kick off their longboard tour in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, heading south through Belgium and then on to Luxembourg. From there, they’ll skate over to Leuk in northwestern Germany before rolling on into Metz in France.

The Norwegian teenagers are starting their trip in Amsterdam. Image by Andrés Nieto Porras / CC BY-SA 2.0

It’s not the first time the longboard enthusiasts have embarked on such an extended trip. “Johannes and Fredrik did a similar trip last year where they skated from Skagen to Copenhagen in Denmark to raise money for the Norwegian Cancer Society. After that trip they wanted to do another one, and of course I wanted to join, and so did Mathias so then we started planning the route,” Skammelsrud explained to The Local. The team have allocated around 17 days to complete their journey and, since they’ve already booked their flights from Paris, they’ll be aiming to stick to their schedule. In order to keep costs down, the four teens are choosing to camp, rather than stay in hotels, and will try to eat as much low-cost yet high-energy food as possible. Surprisingly, breaking a longboard isn’t their biggest concern. “While pushing and breaking with the sole of the shoe they quickly get worn down. Extra shoes may cost a lot!” said Skammelsrud. The teens will be filming their experience and plan to release a movie when they return to Norway in August.