Timo Kranz thought he was the only fingerboarder in the whole world when he started out with the sport after a skating accident left him in hospital. Exposed to the Berlin scene after moving here from his hometown Leimsfeld in 2002 (Berlin held the German championships in 2003), Timo saw there were no fingerboarding-focused skate stores and went on to open ASI Berlin in 2010. With fingerboarding kit as well as a smaller skating range, ASI (“alles schön in Berlin”) stocks the full range including boards, grip tape, trucks, house-made screen printed shirts, and concrete ramps cast in the basement. Whether you fingerboard to improve your skateboarding or just want to avoid bad weather, the space has two rooms with ramps to cruise, grind, trick, and tag your name. Passionate boarders come from all over to visit the miniature skateparks here and realise that, like Kranz, they’re not the only fingerboarders in the whole world. (Text: Scarlett Peeters / Photos: Savannah van der Niet)
ASI Berlin, Boxhagener Str.14, 10245 Berlin–Friedrichshain; map
Mon–Sat 14–18h
@asi_berlin_shop
