FOR IMMEDIATE CONSUMPTION

January 22, 2001

Matzger Climbs the Great Pyramid of Cheops on Skates


Click on a picture to see it enlarged.


If living for ultimate thrills is your thing -- and it certainly is, if you're inline skater Eddy Matzger -- nothing comes close to skating up and down the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Giza, Egypt!

The renegade climb up the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World had to take place on the sly, under cover of darkness. In the middle of the night, Eddy rode the back way through the desert on camel and donkey to get to the base of the big one.

"I didn't want to roll too much on the narrow ledges of each successive level of stones," said the delighted daredevil. "One slip from up high and you're bound to meet certain death below and cause a lot of problems for all concerned."

To mount the massive structure, Matzger had to get a leg up on massive granite blocks and push himself up with all his might, over and over again. Any loud scraping noises with your skate frames would have been sure to alert the police, which might well have left Matzger languishing for years in an Egyptian jail.

Once onto the flat top, bracing himself against the wind, Eddy was treated to a magnificent view of Cairo glittering before him. Marveling at how in God's name those stones got up there, he risked the forbidden flash to steal a photo. Then, whipping out a Salomon skate tool, he extracted an Explore wheel from his Mg-Lite skates, stashed it and the TWINCAM bearings deep within the rocks, and thanked both his sponsors and Cheops for letting him live the greatest adventure in the world.

Then it was time for the hard part: getting down!

www.skatecentral.com