Simple Session 2025: Regional Gladiators Bring the Heat.

Meelis Erm.

Hold onto your helmets, comrades—Simple Session 2025 is back, louder, heavier, and gnarlier than ever. The long-awaited skateboard circus is storming into town, ready to crack the sky and shake the Unibet Arena to its concrete core. After a couple of exile years in Tartu and Põhjala Tehas—where the air smelled of burnt plywood and cold sweat—the beast is crawling back into its natural habitat. The arena, once baptized in the name of Estonia’s finest liquid courage, now bears the Unibet stamp… but the gladiators couldn’t care less. They’re here to bleed on the big guns.

Romario Siimer.

The park? A monster. An Everest of transitions and death rails rising from the cold void. Walls so steep, they’ll have you questioning your own mortality just by looking at them. Volcanos belching into vert? Rails stretching into oblivion, like they were stolen straight from the Trans-Siberian railway. It’s a fleeting mirage in a land where every town is hell-bent on building the worst concrete wasteland imaginable—except Tartu, whose new concrete oasis is the lone middle finger sticking out of the Estonian flatlands.

Luca Karhu.

For one wild weekend, the mad rats trade their pothole-strewn battlefields for a stage that’s biblical in scope. Urethane wheels against virgin plywood. The smell of fresh paint mingling with the sweat-soaked souls of the warriors grinding into eternity. And then—poof—it’s gone, like a bad trip you wish would haunt you forever.

Jarmo Kangro, took a quick work break to take part in the contest.

And the Regional gladiators? This is their shot at a taste of the main North European showdown. Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and even the northern cousins took a sauna break before heading to Tallinn, ready to grab a few bites off the big-names bone. The Estonian crew was stacked— Meelis Erm, the now-established Nightwood warrior, Romario Siimer of Major Label fame, and Rain Lindemann—all geared up to battle physics itself and show that the wood wasn’t gonna win this time.

Rain Lindemann during practice.

From Finland, Marius Syvänen, the Times crew, and the Naplam Custom Team rolled in, ready to tear the vert up like only they know how. Young gun Sampo Martimo from Tampere and the stylish Luca Karhu showed no mercy on the steepest walls, proving that Finland is still where skateboarding gets its vert fix. Oh, and if you haven’t seen Naplam Customs’ work—get yourself to Tampere, ASAP. These Finnish wizards are creating indestructible magic, and pros from all corners of the globe are bending the knee to their wood sorcery.

Sampo Martimo.

Down south, Latvia and Lithuania sent their own stunt legends—Rokas Ignotas, Rūdolfs Rorbahs (a Converse teammate of Meelis), and the ever-smiling Artūrs Bogdanovičs, whose spirit animal is basically a good time on wheels. These guys don’t just skate; they bring the vibe, the joy, the energy—everywhere their duffel bag goes.

Rūdolfs Rorbahs.

Artūrs Bogdanovičs.

The park didn’t make it easy, and while the squad didn’t make it to the finals, their presence was felt. These brave warriors pushed the level higher for the next generation, showing the kids what’s possible when you skate with pure joy and relentless heart.