adidas Skateboading – The search for Glen Burns Issue 49 Article

To coincide with the video release of ‘THE SEARCH FOR GLEN BURNS’ supported by adidas Skateboarding, we thought we’d upload the accompanying article as printed in Issue 49. Click here to purchase any back issues and here if you fancy any mag merch. All photography by Reece Leung and words by Steve Hampton.

We arrive in Barcelona to continue our quest; the search for Glen Burns, creator of the Glenburn shoe. Mike Arnold is the first to join us on day 1. Mike really wants Glen to feature in his next video game, Spiral Beast.

Alongside Mike and myself, on the first dawn our company includes; our team leader, Benny Fairfax; documentarian Torsten Frank and chronicler Reece Leung; Grand General Lawrence Ravail the Unbroken; local heroes Brayan Albarenga and Mikel Vidal; our fiercest warriors, Lilli Werner and Sam Narvaez; Akira Shiroma, the Whispered One; Rocco Lifestyle (Patrick Rogalski), our spiritual DJ; and the magician and navigator of suburban lands, Gustav Tønnesen.

First we travel to Glen’s last known location, MACBA. Alas, searching for fossils at MACBA was harder than one may think. We find his mythical essence is almost impossible to track down alone, so we are joined by the psychic Morph-eus, an oracle from 2026 MACBA, to assist in finding any clues to his whereabouts. Morph-eus tells us of Rufus Skate Shop, within eyeline of MACBA. There they have a surplus of Glen Burns creations waiting for us. From there, our team leader Benny takes great care carrying around Glenburn product, hoping to snare him into an appearance. To no avail… Turns out that two left shoes cannot trick him, or us. Unfortunately, nothing on day one. Instead, tacos and quesadillas for all.

The second day of our quest arrives. First up we travel to Montgat to find a mysterious brick structure. The team grows with the arrival of Lau. She kicks off our search with a back feeble on a rail, gapping out into this brick bank, thinking it may provide a clue. Alas, nothing. We hear rumours of a bounty from a bygone time, €1,000 for a hippy jump over the rail instead. Mike ponders this and decides it is worth a try. He even tried jumping over the rail backwards! Unfortunately, it turns out Glen had set up this prize as a joke. Disheartening to say the least. We start to believe Glen himself could be a mirage, something made up. Or a deity perhaps.

The better half of our crew think it may be wise to search some bars in Las Ramblas but, as a last ditch hope of the day, we end up in Arenys de Mar at Torsten’s acclaimed ‘Best Ledges in the World’. This was a regular stomping ground for Glen and his crew. They had been known to raid the spots along the coast from Barcelona to Girona. We used a fourth try fakie 5-0 hardflip from Lawrence as an offering to see if we could summon his vessel. Was that a mast of a ship, or were our eyes deceiving us?

Upon the arrival of the third dawn, those of us less accustomed to the Barcelona sun hear a familiar rattling on the window. Rain. Glen notoriously hates the falling of water from the sky. His predecessors were not named Burns for no reason, with fire breathers and hot coal steppers scattered throughout his lineage. As it will be nigh impossible to find Glen on a day like today, we take the morning slowly, almost eating an English breakfast at a Tapas restaurant. Motivation was low. By noon, however, we see a glimpse of blue sky. Lau and Torsten rally the company and we make a break for it. We travel to Forum. What used to be an iconic Barcelona spot is now dribbling from the ceiling, and inhabited by a strange population of scooters. We decide to leave, although not before Lawrence hardflipped the biggest thing he could find.

Just up the hill from the swamp, Lilli sets her eyes on a portal. Could Glen have travelled to an alternate dimension? Now I know why Mike is so keen to download him into the digital world. Unfortunately, despite jumping through this portal multiple times, Lilli finds no record of Glen. Perhaps Mr Burns banged his head on the way in and lost his identity. The transformation of Glen Burns… into Montgomery Burns. Shocking, truly a lot to take in. Vowing to look into this conspiracy at a later date, we decide dinner and rest is imperative.

After the possible revelations of the previous night, on the fourth day the crew feels lost. There is a disagreement over who will commandeer our vessel. After a morning of unknowns, our team leader finds a solution. Ludi (Dennis Ludwig) will join our crew whilst we look for Glen in Barcelona’s suburbs, deep Gustav territory, whilst Torsten leads a side mission to a mystery spot aeons away. Plunder is high; there’s no sign of Glen on either of our excursions, however.

Our final dawn dawned. We are tired of our search, even Barcelona seems tired of it. The Badalona ledges have broken down in despair… Onto our last resort, Barceloneta. Among the rollerblades and dancers we look for an answer. A selfie is taken, a game of Mario Karpark, dinner at the round table. Nothing suffices to conjure an answer.

For now it seems Glen is just a myth, but his stories will be told forever. From man to myth to legend, and now shoe. Introducing the adidas Glenburn.