Re-Up: Interview with Eurocamp's Axel Jurgens. By BdJ.

Jul 21, 2013

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 12917 times

2012 FATBMX REVIEW: AXEL JURGENS INTERVIEW.
This summer FATBMX visited Eurocamp, a fairly new place in Spain ran by Axel Jurgens and his wife Rosario, home of the 2012 Vans rebeljam. Simply put, the place is amazing and the hospitality by the Eurocamp and Camping Pola crew was awesome. Setting up a place like this doesn’t come easy. We sat down with Axel Jurgens to see what it took to get Eurocamp going.

FATBMX: Where did the plan come from to start Eurocamp and how did you end up in this place in Tossa de Mar?
Axel: It all started by coming to Europe every summer to ride different events and ride with people from different parts of Europe. Since Europe isn’t such a big piece of land compared to other continents, I thought it isn’t so hard to get people to come to one place to have a session together. I thought Spain, with its good weather and being next to the sea and next to a big city (Barcelona), was a good spot to start a camp. It’s close to the border of France, and close to other countries which means you

can drive to this place. The whole idea started getting more intense and we needed a place where we could get it done. I started talking to a lot of local governments but that didn’t work out so we had to go with a private place because all the governments of locals towns promise a lot, and hold you on the line, but they never confirmed anything and took forever. I couldn’t wait so I went with a private place and that’s how it started, exactly a year ago.

FATBMX: What was around when you started and what did you have to do to turn it into the place that Eurocamp is right now?
Axel: When we started we had two tennis courts and a jungle pretty much. It was a lot of plants, and a bunch of rocks that we had to move out. We had two tennis courts that weren’t running very well, it was just some old people coming to shoot some balls at night in August and that was it. That’s also why the resort was interested in the idea of Eurocamp because it would mean more than what they had going on before.

FATBMX: So with the facilities already around like the hotel, campsite, and ramps, what can people expect when they show up?
Axel: Well basically what it is here is a whole resort with a camping site with bungalows or a place to park your caravan or set up your tent, and a hotel with rooms for families or two people. It’s got sports facilities where you can play tennis, mini golf, snorkelling, scuba diving, fishing, wakeboarding, and football.

Also there are outdoor swimming pools, an indoor pool, so there are a lot of activities available that you can do during your stay at Eurocamp. There’s a boat that takes you to caves and can take you to Tossa de Mar city, the closest city to Eurocamp.

If you’re 18 and over you can come on your own or with a group of friends and book a bungalow, a place on the campsite or at the hotel. And if you’re younger than 18 years old you can come with a parent or tutor that can sign a waiver for you to skate or ride the parks. The whole idea was to get families here that can come over with their children, or couples that come with their wives and both

have something to do. Sometimes we BMX-ers or skateboarders, we do trips and care more about the riding or skating and the girl or family tries to find something to do. But this is, or I am hoping it is, a good place where everyone has something available to enjoy themselves.

FATBMX: You’ve lived at Woodward Camp and now you’re also doing camps at Eurocamp. What sort of camps have you worked with already?
Axel: We did a few camps ourselves with Eurocamp. But at the moment we’re so busy running the place and doing the Ramp Building side of our company called Eurocamp Build, that we hired a company that runs some camps already here in Spain.

What we have here is a combination of us providing them the facilities and supervising their job, and they bring the instructors and the kids and run the camps for us. Our plan is to have different camps from different companies that organise camps and bring them here because we have all the facilities, not only the sports facilities, but also the hotel, the camping and the beach right next to the skateparks.

We want to invite all those companies to have their camps here if they’re interested in our facilities. We provide everything they need to provide their campers.

FATBMX: What are some of the companies that have visited to shoot videos and photos?
Axel: A bunch of BMX companies have visited like the Carhartt Team, Nike riders, Vans riders as well, Flybikes riders came to shoot photos, riders from the Red Bull and Monster teams and just a lot of pros in general. I’m amazed by the number of pro BMX riders that have visited in the short time that we’ve been around and we’re hoping to welcome many more.

FATBMX: When can people come visit and how much is it?
Axel: Basically we’re open all year round but in a different way because there’s high season that comes from June through August, all those months we’re open every day. After September we’re open every weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30am – 13:30pm and then from 16:30pm – 21:00pm. During the break people go to the beach, chill and/or have lunch.

The rest of the year, like after the end of October, we’re open every Saturday and Sunday from 10a

m till 18:30pm. That’s because the days are shorter and it’s not as hot so there’s a full shift with no lunch break.

Summertime we’re open the same times as September but every day.

The prices for riding: Low season is 8 Euros for a whole day. High season is 12 Euros for a whole day. 8 Euros for a half day if you’re staying in the camping and the hotel.

If you’re under 18 you have to be accompanied by a parent or someone older than 18 to sign the authorization. If you’re 18 and older, you sign a waiver, you pay, and you’re good to go. Helmet always!

www.clubeurocamp.com
www.campingpola.com