A concrete skate wave has reached Scandinavia. Here, small wheels roll on gray concrete and accelerate in soft curves, roll towards new ones, lose speed on the way up before the wheels roll down again. New speed. New tricks. The skaters float, absorbed in the moment. They hunt for fluency, constantly searching for those they haven’t learned yet. Here you can learn about the best skateparks in the Scandinavian capitals. Concrete waves are on the rise in Scandinavia.
Whenever you go skateboarding, you need to protect yourself.
Stockholm
In Stockholm, there are many really good skateparks. Here we’ve put together a list of the 10 best skateparks in Stockholm.
Highvalley Skateworld
A skatepark in the suburb Högdalen.
The skatepark has a large bowl area in three different heights, a Mega Ditch, a mini ramp and a small area for street.
Area: 5500 sqm (59200 Square feet)
Here you can go: skateboarding (not BMX or kickbike)
Inaugurated: 2012. Designed by: Pillar Studios. Built by: Artisan Skateparks.
Brotherhood Plaza
A skatepark in Skarpnäck. A large and creative street has become a unique skatepark. Here you find a skatepark like no other, a must go when visiting Stockholm. There is also a bowl with spine.
Skateboard Plaza park project designed by skateboarder David Krug and the skateboard company Brotherhood for the city council of Stockholm and Skarpnäck.
The park is a live ongoing project that was started in 2004. Brotherhood Plaza includes interesting looking skateable architecture, art objects and monuments combined with beautiful scenery like Swedish trees, grass, rocks and nature. A place for skateboarders to skate, all people to chill in the sun and kids to play.
Rålis skatepark
In the Rålambshov Park (Råklmbshovparken) you find the large skatepark situated under the bridge ”Lilla Västerbron”. This is a very popular and well-known skate park (with many kickbike riders), which means that it often gets crowded. If you want some space, visit early mornings.
Area: 1400 sqm (15069 Square feet).
Inaugurated: November 2010
Fryshuset skatepark
This legendary skatepark, named ”Stockholm Skate Park”, is the best indoor arena for skateboarding in Stockholm. The skateparks has two halls covering a total of 1600 square meters with street, miniramp, pool and vert ramp.
Gubbängen skatepark
Large bowl area with nice flow. The skatepark was designed and built by Evergreen skateparks.
Vårby skatepark – Ravinen
A concrete park with large flow bowl and inner smaller bowl connected by a spine.
Designed by Sub Surfers Johan Sandström and Stefan Hauser /Placed To Ride(PTR) and built by Nord Skateparks. Initially Ants Neo and stand up comedian Thomas Oredsson were involved.
Åva skatepark, Täby
A skatepark with street, bowl and kidney pool with separate space for kickbikers.
Area: 800 kvm.
Inaugurated: 2013
Kristineberg Bowl
Kristineberg Bowl features many sweet transition lines for all abilities. There are also some nice little ledges incorporated as benches into the park that provide a good variety. The bowl fits both beginners and professionals. A successful collaboration with Nord Skateparks, where the end result was one of Stockholm’s funniest bowls. The heights in the bow are between 1.4m to 2.1m with a couple of “roll-ins” that make it easy for beginners to drop in.
Area: 750 kvm
Drakenbergs skatepark – Tantolunden
Small but nice street skatepark located in Södermalm near Zinkensdamm and Hornstull. The skatepark featurs a wallride, curbs and manual pads. Fun spot for street skaters.
Norrköping Skatpeark
A couple of hours’ drive south from Stockholm, Norrköping municipality has invested in a concrete park just west of the city center, close to the city’s sports hall. From the highway, the park looks like a sculpture folded out in the grass, an almost iconic installation of 1,000 square meters.
Copenhagen
Individuals that are trying to find skate parks in Copenhagen can unearth a countless number of choices to consider. Here are our recommendations for Copenhagen.
Superkilen
A skatepark in Nørrebro with unique benches, playgrounds and trails, incorporating aspects from its diverse neighborhood. There’s a fountain inspired by Morocco and areas for skateboarders and bikers.
Inaugurated: 2012.
Fælledparken Skatepark
The 4600 square meters large skatepark is one of the largest skate parks in Denmark. It’s also one of the most used and loved parks.
The park is divided into three levels and thereby targets both the six-year-old boy who has never tried skateboarding before, as well as the skilled skater.
For the professional skater, we recommend using the park in the late afternoon and evening hours to get an undisturbed skating experience.
Nørrebroparken skatepark
Nørrebro Skatepark is one of the most popular street parks in Copenhagen and offers a lot of challenges for the street-oriented skater. The park is rectangular and provides a natural flow throughout the park with several obstacles along the way, including ledges, banks, rails and stairs.
Easy for beginners, technically challenging for experienced skaters.
Inaugurated: 2007.
Designed by Teit Andersen.
Enghave Skatepark
This concrete park is located only about a 1/2 mile from Copenhagen’s main train station and has some really fun lines and good hips as well as some street obstacles. It’s mostly concrete with a couple wood ramps but very fun for a city center. Enghave skatepark is a good place for kids and beginners.
Related: Extreme Artists and Extreme Sports in Norway
Oslo
Skateboarding was first introduced to Norway in 1978 when the first boards were sold. It was banned from 1978–1989. These days, however, there are skate parks in almost every suburb.
Gamlebyen Sport Og Fritid (GSF Skatepark)
The park was officially founded in the summer of 1999 at the intersection of one of the main arteries leading out of Oslo, nearby a massive railway. Today it is one of the best known “spots” for skating and graffiti art in Norway. Skaters and artists roll in from all around Scandinavia to visit the park.
Alto Braveboy, who has been the spokesperson of GSF for all these years and lives right next to the park, recalls when he first found out that kids were using the area for skateboarding.
Alto and his friends put in years of work to concretize their first ideas. Funding was scarce and public interest low, so GSF recurred to the direct help of close friends and direct actions.
Today GSF has expanded both spatially and in outreach. The park now extends to the other side of the road, where an abandoned railway bridge was repurposed to include various practice areas, a “flying” playground, and public toilets.
Hausmania Bowl
The bowl is a private indoor bowl inaugurated in 2012 and built by Skate Fight Club.
Frognerkilen minramp
The miniramp contains hip, rainbow corner and extentions and a microramp with bumps and spine.
Inaugurated: 2014.
Oslo Skatehall & Skatepark
The skate hall at Voldsløkka is an important meeting place for young people, and help meet the growing need for low-threshold services and self-organized sports.
The skatehall contains 2300m2 indoor and 840m2 outdoor skatepark
Inaugurated: 2017. Designed by Glifberg+Lykke with architects Darkarkitekter.no. Built by IOU Ramps.
There is a large floor space for street skating, One bowl, a micro ramp and a full size vert.
The bowl looks nice and you can carve it very fast. Corners are a bit “square” and the coping is challenging; it sticks into the bowl, but not up, it is granite and, in my opinion, real concrete pool coping is easier, but you can get used to it and you can make long grinds.
Jordal Skatepark
The skatepark was opened at the end of August 2022. Today’s facility, which is built in wood, has been replaced by a new skate facility in concrete. The skate park has different skate elements for varying skill levels and new LED lighting. With 2,200 m2, it is Norway’s third largest skate park in terms of area.
Skur 13 indoor skatepark
This skatepark with 1,500 square meters of rails, pipes and ramps, open seven days a week, offers some equipment which can be borrowed free of charge.
The park is normally free to use on weekdays 2–6 pm, but after 6 pm and on weekends you have to pay 30–50 NOK to get in.
The skate park in Skur 13 was built for X Games 2016, and is now operated by the Oslo Skateboarding Association.
Concrete Waves Are on The Rise in Scandinavia compiled by Tor Kjolberg
Feature image (on top): Photo © Devin Avery / Unsplash