2024 - A Thank You From CSC

From cross-continental trips to Cardiff Council's Skateboard Strategy, it's pretty crazy how much can happen in just one year so join us as we take a look back at what we've been up to in 2024 - all thanks to you lovely lot.

It's that time again: we're coming to the end of another year and maybe it's all the Baileys we've been drinking but we're feeling a bit soppy, so let's take a look back at what we've been up to over the last year while we're in a sentimental mood. As always, we couldn't have done any of the cool stuff we've been up to this year without your support so we also want to say a huge thank you to you, our beloved customers and shop lurkers, for helping us keep doing what we do.

Every penny you spend with us helps us keep the doors open so we can keep sponsoring skaters, employing skaters, supporting other skater-owned brands, making videos, organising fun events for you and all the other things we do to try make the Cardiff skate scene as dope as possible. So if you've showed us love this year, whether that's dropping fat wads in the shop or just popping in for a chat, we see you and we appreciate you. Big up yourselves!

We all know skateboarding's changed a lot over the last few years and supporting independent, skater-owned shops is more important than ever to help keep the soul of skating alive. We know we can't really compete with the prices of some of the bigger online retailers but we always try to make it up to you however we can by giving back to skating and we really appreciate any support we get. So, whether you shop with us or with one of the many other bangin' skater-owned shops we have in the UK, you're doing the Lord's work and it definitely doesn't go unnoticed.

Year of the Dragon 

After welcoming young legend, Gabe Gorman, to the squad last year, 2024 saw the CSC team grow even bigger with two new Dragons joining the thunder (which is apparently what a group of dragons is called, had to Google that one). While we did tease the news in our 2023 recap, this year we officially announced Jack Branch's long overdue addition to the team in typical fashion: with a premium double page ad in The Skateboarder's Companion alongside an accompanying clothing collection, both featuring the suitably trippy 'Shrooms' artwork by the one and only Nat Jones.

Doubling down on the Js, we've also welcomed another one of Cardiff's finest young legends to the team as we rescued Jacob Price from the Route One flow graveyard. From killin' it at Plaza Comps and other events to consistently laying down hammers in the streets, Jacob's got that winning combo of style, skills and psyche and we were hyped to be able to welcome him to the squad with his first print appearance in Companion Issue 16 with a hectic hardflip at the Museum.

Big Things Coming Soon

As you probably know, we've been working hard behind the scenes for a few years now trying to push for better skate facilities here in Cardiff. This year, we were hyped to find out that all the hard work has finally paid off as Cardiff Council's proposed Skateboard Amenities Strategy was finally approved this year. If everything goes to plan, we could be seeing a load of new skateparks and spots popping up around Cardiff - including the highly-anticipated destination skatepark in Llanrumney which should begin being built soon.

As well as the Skateboard Amenities Strategy being approved, this year has also brought some slightly less positive news as our beloved Bute Square is set to be redeveloped as part of the Council's proposed Crossrail Project. While we're obviously pretty gutted to be losing our most iconic spot, this isn't the end for Bute as Transport For Wales have said that they're keen to work with skaters to make sure that the new space works for everyone, so hopefully we'll be seeing something skateable there.

However, we can't take all the credit as we couldn't have made any of this happen without your help. Whether you showed up at a consultation, filled out a survey or just helped spread the word on Insta, none of this would've been possible without all of your support. But saying that, just because the plans have been approved doesn't mean that the graft is over and we've all got to keep up the pressure and keep filling out those surveys to make sure we get the best results.

International Men of Mystery

It goes without saying that one of our favourite things we get to do through the shop is being able to go on trips with our mates and this year we spread our scaly wings further than ever as we jetted off to the exotic lands of Lithuania and Malaysia to catch up with some of our most distant homies. We wouldn't be able to do half the cool shit we get to do without all of your support so, once again, we want to say a massive thank you for helping us keep doing what we love.

Earlier in the year, we teamed up with the Carve Wicked lads for a trip to Lithuania to link up with the Space Cowboy himself, Lloyd Houston, for a week filled with chum, fishing and the finest spots the former Soviet nation has to offer. If you haven't already, make sure you check out the full 'Chum Bucket' video as well as the Gaffer's write-up of the trip on Grey to find out more about what the boys got up to.

More recently, the boys also jetted off to Malaysia to link up with everyone's favourite Cute Asian Boy, Don Irfan, for a guided tour round some of the country's finest spots, from premium downtown banks to a load of niche rural crust. Obviously everyone killed it - with Jake and PJ stacking up a load of clips for Carve's new 'Cheers Dean' video and all the boys working their magic for the Gaffer's lens in the Companion article - but Don managed to steal the show with his surprise Companion cover. Shoutout to Ry and everyone at Companion for making that happen!

Another Eventful Year

It's not all about us though, we're always hyped to be able to put on a load of fun events to help spread the love to you guys too. While we had pretty big boots to fill after last year with the Vans Shop Riot and Sabbath's Black Mass coming through, we still had plenty of good times. Organising events isn't always the easiest (or most enjoyable) job but it's always worth it seeing everyone come together so big up all of you who get involved!

We might have stuck to the classics this year but we still got a fair few surprises, whether it was our 14th annual Plaza Comp ending with a splash as the Merthyrnator launched himself off the bridge, all the new faces we saw killing it in our Easter Edit Comp, or how many people actually turned up to just skate a curb for our Go Skate Day event; it's never boring putting on these events and you guys always manage to make it worth all the last minute preparation panic.

Boys On Film

On top of all this, we've also seen more than our fair share of Cardiff-adjacent video content over the last year with all our Shop Dragons killin' it at home in Cardiff and away on their adventures. Back in February, we rounded up a load of footage we've racked up over the last few years in our 'ABD VID', bringing together the visual evidence from a load of our most iconic print ads with Cardiff-based bangers from Oscar Evans, Jack Branch, PJ, Jack Steele, Dylan Hughes, Don Irfan ;and the rest of the squad.

But it's not just us who've been busy documenting the South Wales scene as we've also had the legends from the Ben Raemers Foundation shine a light on our humble city with the first instalment of their 'Feeling Scene' series as they came down to Cardiff with Barney Page, Jamie Platt, Brian Delatorre and Chris Jones to hit up some of the local spots, chat to some of the local legends and of course host a belter of a jam at Spit and Sawdust.

Outside of Cardiff, we've also had CSC's very own vertical virtuoso, Conor Charleson, linking up with Don in Malaysia and Borneo for Grey Skate Mag's 'Borneo Function' edit as he sought out a load of South East Asia's most steeply inclined terrain. More locally, we also had Jack Branch bidding farewell to Ashmore's legendary mini-ramp with his surreal 'A Journey To Remember' edit which definitely helps explain why we opted for his 'Shrooms' graphic...

That's more than enough chit-chat from us though. Thanks again to everyone who's supported us this year (and any other year), hopefully 2025 will be even better! Safe.