Skateboarding
Skating Greek islands in search of the Blu Enigma
Join Brad McClain, Alex Hallford, Chris Haslam, Keith Walsh and Jorge Simões riding unseen terrain.
4 min
In Search of the Blu Enigma: skate Greek islands!
Join Brad McClain, Alex Hallford, Chris Haslam, Keith Walsh and Jorge Simões skating in paradise!
The story of the Blu Enigma is an interwoven one that jumps across countries so let me try and unpick the strands of it as best I can recall.
In the first instance, let me thank a few people who help make this search and destroy mission a reality – our Greek friend Notis Aggelis, who was originally going to lead the expedition, but instead had to go under the knife to have his ACL recostructed; without him this trip wouldn't have happened.
In his place came Thanos Panou, the Antiz rider from Athens, who helped out a lot with language barriers and local knowledge. Rounding out the support squad was Bulgarian ripper, Yavor Stoyanov, who as well as driving one of the two vans required, also put it about a bit at every skate session.
The Blu Enigma, as you'll see in the video above, is a little hotel on the Greek Cycladean island of Andros, just off the coast of Athens. There the owner has built one of the most unusual and challenging bowls we've seen within the footprint of the compound, for the use of any rippers who may pass through.
Nikos Garyfallos, who owns the Blu Enigma, is one of the Stockwell BMX crew from London in the 1990s, who inherited his grandfather's little hotel and turned it into something mind-blowing. Not content with that, he then turned the BMX trails high above the island into a massive DIY concrete skatepark.
So there you have it – a skate paradise on an unknown Greek island that we were invited to session. Who could say no?
Chris Haslam – Crooks
© Sam McGuire
Keith Walsh – Kickflip to flat
© Sam McGuire
Alex Hallford – Feeblegrind
© Sam McGuire
Keith Walsh – 50-50
© Sam McGuire
Our mission would take two van-loads through the islands of Paros and Tinos, before we finally located the Blu Enigma nestled into the hillside of Andros.
Departing from the port of Rafina in Athens, Brad McClain, Jorge Simões, Chris Haslam, Alex Hallford and Keith Walsh covered every square inch of terrain the three islands offered on a skate trip without precedent, and one which nobody involved will ever forget.
Get involved with part one above, and click below to watch part two:
Athens airport serves most major countries in the continent and beyond, so you can do this, too!
#SearchForBluEnigma