FISE Montpellier 2008

Festival International des Sports Extremes, this is how they call it. It’s one of the biggest Extreme Sport Festivals in Europe and a great chance to give the masses a taste of the current level of rollerblading. The FISE now exists for 11 years and the organisers are still motivated to present new ideas and develop the whole project, even though it’s hard with today’s marketing mentalities. In addition to the main event in Montpellier, the FISE has some more events all over France. Make sure to visit one of them!


The superstars

I arrived in Montpellier on Monday and had the chance to be part of the development of the festival area and spend some time with the organiser of the inline part and some other great people. The whole team of organisers and construction workers is just really nice and motivated to make something big happen. I didn’t feel like I was part of a mega money event, but more like chilling at a bigger grassroots event. Everybody cared about the sport itself and not in the first place about the sponsor placement, which is a bit “special” I think!


The crowd

Besides Rollerblading they had BMX, Wakeboarding and Mountain Biking and all the action (besides the BMX Dirt) was going on next to the river in the centre of Montpellier. They even built part of the skate park on a platform that was actually built IN the river. To the right and left there where big banks / ditches where tons of people could chill and watch the action on the course. Definitely a great spot to hold an event like this and get as much public attention as possible.


Stephane Alfano - Air

So, here we go. 4 days of action. Girls, Amateurs and Pros. Qualification and Finals. And last but not least a spine ramp competition.

I missed the girl competition since it started in the early morning. Martina Swobodova eventually won with a 540 over the big jumpbox, topsoul on the kinkrail, wallride and other big tricks.

Amateurs… I don’t know how many of them participated, but it must have been hundreds. I’m always surprised about the big scene in France. So many good skaters you have never even heard of or seen in action. I will not talk about all the names and tricks, but you can be sure that the level of some riders was topnotch. The best riders even got qualified for the pro comp on the next day.


Roman Abrate - Transfer to BS Savanah

And what can I tell you about this one? Big names like Frankie Morales, Chris Haffey and Dre Powell skated the comp together with some of the best riders from Europe. Nick Lomax, Jacob Juul, Mathias Silhan, and Stephane Alfano just to name a few. It was a whole new level of sickness since the skate park had lots of transfers and other possibilities to go nuts. However one guy stuck out most. Mr. Mathieu Heinemann (remember his Life+ section?) is back in the game ladies and gentleman. He was skating with fitness / speed frames and wheels. You will never be able to imagine what’s possible with such a setup. He skated different than everybody else, did the highest and biggest transfers, 5 meter long ao fishbrains on the curb, huge wallrides and much much more. It’s really hard to explain it with words. Mathieu makes skating look different and more stylish than I’ve ever seen it before. After placing second in the qualifications he had a couple of falls in the finals, but the ranking in this contest doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that he is motivated and back in the game, with a smile on his face!


Chris Haffey - Mute to Disaster Royal

But yeah, this doesn’t mean that the other skaters where skating badly. In front of one of the biggest crowds possible, Rollerblading had a great show. Frankie and Haffey, Roman Abrate and Steven Swain, Mathias Silhan and Alfano, everybody got some special tricks and the crowd went crazy. In the end, Franky got in first place after landing a big 540 drop-in and high level tricks everywhere.


Chris Haffey - 180 Mute

The conclusion; The FISE is exactly what Rollerblading needs. I’ve never seen such a big crowd going crazy for Rollerblading. The city of Montpellier is the best place for such an event because southern France got an incomparable vibe. Everybody seems to have a good time all day long.

There were special after parties every night and with a riders wristband you could get in for free everywhere. But this is just one small detail.

I would like to thank Ignition for sending me to the event and for sure I would like to thank Johan for making it all possible. I had a great time in France and I’m still impressed by the event. I’ll return next year - that’s for sure.

See you at the FISE!

Text by Jojo Jacobi
Photos by Dominic Swagemakers


Jojo Jacobi, Momo and Mathieu Heinemann


The skatepark over the river


Ilia - Flatspin


AO Topsoul


Martina Svobodova - 360 Safety Grab


Busting out for the crowd

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