Category: Memory

Sancheski, the first skate in Europe

Posted on by joseba

SANCHESKI

Text: Naia Zubeldia / Photos: Mito
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The Basque skateboard, Sancheski, has never had any reason to be jealous of its counterparts across the pond. Thanks to an Irun family who have been able to ride the new wave of urban sliding sports.

In 1964, when surfboards were sweeping over waves off the Basque coast, another type of board landed at Biarritz airport. The “roll-surf” or “pavement surfboard” arrived from California and took up residence in the region’s urban spaces. A day without waves no longer meant a day without sliding. A minor revolution had hit the streets.

From snow to asphalt
The event did not pass unnoticed by one particular family in Irun. At the helm of the ski and sports equipment manufacturing company, Sancheski, founded in 1934, the Sanchez family was struggling to sell its products in the face of growing competition from French and Austrian brands. In 1966, the head of the family decided to diversify the company’s business activity. In addition to catering for the snowy slopes, Sancheski adapted its machinery to create boards intended for hurtling along the streets.

All that remained was to promote this new sports activity, which was only at its beginnings in Europe. The Sanchez brothers created the Sancheski Team and travelled across Spain and France to provide skateboard demonstrations at schools and any other places that were willing to welcome them.

Trailblazer in Europe
The first European brand of skateboard had been rolled out. Different models were made from the same set of materials: a solid wood deck mounted on trucks with roller skate wheels. Then came bent plywood, fibreglass and, finally, polyethylene for the “Top Naranja” model, which quickly became the yardstick model at the beginning of the 1970s. It was renamed the “El Sancheski”.

Skateboard demonstration by the Sancheski team in Madrid – 1978

“The continent’s first skatepark was constructed in Erromardie (Saint-Jean-de-Luz) in 1977.”

Surging renown
Technical improvements were soon made to the deck and the urethane wheels, rolled out in 1973, were a veritable revolution. These wheels were longer lasting and held the road better; they triggered an explosion in the skateboarding phenomenon worldwide. Indeed, enthusiasm for this sport crossed the borders of the Basque Country and spread throughout Europe. The continent’s first skatepark was constructed in Erromardie (Saint-Jean-de-Luz) in 1977. Others followed in the towns of Getxo, Gernika and many towns installed ramps in order to attract riders.

Sancheski has inspired numerous other local skateboard brands, but the company’s pioneering spirit continues with the next generation of the Sanchez family and their offering of skateboards, which are increasingly high-performance and innovative. The latest to be rolled out is the Surfskate, created in 2016 to celebrate the brand’s fiftieth anniversary. It has a more flexible truck that enables the rider to carve the streets using similar manoeuvres to surfing. The beach… on the pavement!

Orbea: from canons to bicycles

Posted on by eki

ORBEA

Text: Nahia Zubeldia / Photos: Orbea
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Founded in 1840 in Eibar, Orbea Hermanos, a company specialising in armaments, embodies the golden age of this industry in the region.

The original Orbea Hermanos emblem, which combined the initials of the company, is engraved on a multitude of weapons around the world.

A two-wheeler turn
In 1926, the company made a radical change: gun barrels became bicycle frames. Eibar, the historic heart of the gunsmith’s business, was transformed into the nerve centre of bicycle manufacturing. Orbea joined companies such as BH, which had begun this transition in 1923. The company divided its activities: Orbea y Compañia, based in Eibar, concentrated on bicycles, while Hijos de Orbea, in Vitoria/Gasteiz, continued to produce cartridges.

This period also saw the rise of cycling in the region. In 1910, Eibar organised its first race, Eibar-Elgoibar-Eibar, 25 years before the Tour of Spain was created.

A two-wheeler turn
In 1926, the company made a radical change: gun barrels became bicycle frames. Eibar, the historic heart of the gunsmith’s business, was transformed into the nerve centre of bicycle manufacturing. Orbea joined companies such as BH, which had begun this transition in 1923. The company divided its activities: Orbea y Compañia, based in Eibar, concentrated on bicycles, while Hijos de Orbea, in Vitoria/Gasteiz, continued to produce cartridges.

This period also saw the rise of cycling in the region. In 1910, Eibar organised its first race, Eibar-Elgoibar-Eibar, 25 years before the Tour of Spain was created.

“This period also saw the rise of cycling in the region.”

The cooperative, a new start
Despite its initial success, Orbea went through a crisis in the 1960s. In 1969, on the verge of bankruptcy, the company was taken over by its employees in the form of a cooperative. This new corporate model enabled the company to bounce back. In 1975, the factory moved to Malaria, reinforcing its commitment to professional cycling with its own professional team.

A brand at the cutting edge of innovation
Orbea is constantly innovating and expanding. Today, the brand offers a varied range of racing, mountain, triathlon, city and electric bikes, as well as helmets and accessories. In each discipline, it offers customisable models, like the Orca, an ultra-light road bike with integrated cabling and a frame weighing just 833g. This model perfectly embodies the balance between aesthetics and technical features.

Riding tall in the saddle
With subsidiaries all over the world (USA, France, Germany, Australia, etc.), Orbea is a key player in the bicycle industry. Still based in Mallabia, Orbea combines long-established expertise with innovation, powering the company forward to conquer new summits.

Hemendik liburua: Euskal Herriko 50 objektu ikonikoren istorioak

“Ombuaren Itzala”, or in the shadow of Otaño, the bertsolari

Posted on by eki

“Ombuaren Itzala”, or in the shadow of Otaño, the bertsolari

Text: Christine Holmes Photos: Ombuaren hitzala
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With the support of public participation, this film has returned the cultural heritage bequeathed by Otaño to the Basque people.

“Ombuaren Itzala”, made by actor and director Patxi Biskert, aims to raise awareness of the life and work of the bertsolari (improvisational singer) and poet Pello Mari Otaño Barriola (Zizurkil 1857 – Rosario, Argentina 1910).

Although Otaño occupied a place of honour in Basque culture for a long time, this once-leading figure gradually fell into oblivion. The film, produced by Eguzki Art Zinema, aims to revive the memory of Otaño and pass his works on to younger generations.

Origins and development of the project
Patxi Biskert has been working tirelessly for many years to bring the film “Ombuaren Itzala” (in the shade of the ombú tree) to life. To finance the project, he set up a large-scale collective and participatory process, involving citizens, municipalities, cultural associations and the educational network. The project, which came about thanks to institutional support and ticket pre-sales, has been shown around the Basque Country since November 2024.

Content and plot of the film
The film is set between 1889 and 1910, Otaño’s most productive years. At that time, he emigrated with his family to Argentina, where he wrote many poems and bertsos that would make him famous among the Basque diaspora. Phytolacca dioica, commonly known as the ombú, is a remarkable tree that grows in the Argentine Pampas. It inspired Otaño to write one of his most recognised poems, which made it a symbol of nostalgia linked to exile.

“The film “Ombuaren Itzala” adds to our collective memory, by highlighting the figure of Pello Mari Otaño and his contributions to Basque culture.”

Production and distribution
The film was shot in Zizurkil and Argentina, Otaño’s two main places of residence.
It was previewed at the church of San Millan in Zizurkil on 30 November 2024, in the presence of its director Patxi Biskert, lead actor Joseba Usabiaga and other actors and operators who participated in the project.

It is currently on tour in several towns in Hegoalde, the Southern Basque Country. Although no date has yet been set for a screening in Iparralde, the Northern Basque Country. Let’s hope we will have the opportunity to see it in our cinemas soon.

Moreover, the film will not stop at the cinema doors. As a fitting return, the documentary has been designed to be shown in other community and cultural venues in the Basque Country and used in schools in the region.

The film “Ombuaren Itzala” adds to our collective memory, by highlighting the figure of Pello Mari Otaño and his contributions to Basque culture and putting them in the spotlight they deserve.

This documentary is also further proof of the strength and solidarity of the Basque community in preserving its cultural heritage. Le film « Ombuaren Itzala » vient alimenter notre mémoire collective, en repéchant la figure de Pello Mari Otaño et sa contribution [CH : contributionS ???] à la culture basque pour les mettre sous la lumière qu’elles méritent.

Otaño wrote at the end of one of his bertsos, “I am motivated by the desire to help the Basque language. The subjects available to me are modest, I have very little to say, but I will happily spend my nights, days, weeks and holidays on it. My brothers, I ask you for a small place in the Basque Country”.

Ama euskerak hau esan zidan
jarririk begi alaiak.
Horregatikan nakar honera
berari lagundu nahiak.
Gutxi nezake, oso txikiak
dira nik dauzkadan gaiak,
bainan pozkiroz egingo ditut
gauak, egun, aste, jaiak;
leku pixka bat Euskal Herrian
eskatzeizuet anaiak.

(…)
Thanks to Patxi Biskert, Eguzki Art Zinema, and the operators and citizens involved, the place of Otaño is now assured in the Basque Country so dear to his heart.