"Nobody is building boards this good"
...An easy claim, I thought to myself.
I was fresh-faced, barely 17, and fresh off the bus in Freiburg.
And these Hackbrett people, they seemed kinda kooky. Hack was driving an orange soft-top Suzuki Samurai adorned with Jägermeister decals. They rolled cigarettes, the boys had facial hair and the girls were tanned.
They were everything I wasn't, and I couldn't understand a word anyone said.
Luckily, I was here to skate, not win a beauty contest.
And we were off, up winding roads, avoiding the snowy peaks of the Blackforest by sticking to the steep vineyard-covered foothills.
I secretly thought I was pretty hot shit and - arguably, compared to anyone else living on my parents street at the time - I was.
Could these guys skate?
Opting to freeride a narrow 17% section with a few guys at the top of the hill, I soon had my answer.
Every slide I could barely scrape round, they swizzled with ease. I was a toddler barely crawling, they were men, toying with the mountain for their own pleasure. And then Hack, Tom and Tiki Alex appeared back at the top with a modest grin and a GPS that said they'd just hit 115kmh (over 70mph) on that run...
These guys could skate, and their playground was beyond my wildest dreams.
And so it is bittersweet now, that we have just four boards left from the dream factory.
Hackbrett is going for a long sleep, our last special orders have arrived and we're on our very last stock:
I only wish that more of you could experience the pure joy of one of these under your feet in times to come.
Nobody is building boards this good.
Surf it like a wave,
Matt @ Vandem
