A
A
Miniature powerhouse Harry Williams hangs on to a backside aerial during a
heated Amateur final against Chris "Cooksy" Cook.
34
m
Photos by KT.
Story by Craig Ramsay
P
Contest
The ramp stood firm in the backyard. It
was skated for two weeks, then severe
complaints from the neighboring hags
forced us into immediate action. We had
to cart this 26' long, 16' wide, 9' high
monstrosity 22 miles by flatbed.
With great apprehension we made the
first cut, four cuts later our once godly
ramp was laying in six misshapen pieces.
Amid numerous freestyle sessions and
other sidetracks (i.e., football, TV and
eating), we were able to round up enough
guys to heft the pieces. Time flew on that
grueling Sunday afternoon, and the net
result was that our ramp lay strewn in an
exploded fashion at the prime spot in the
Santa Cruz Mountains.
It lay there for two weeks while rain and
flood devastated homes all around it. This
catastrophe defying feat was a good sign,
and so we set forth on our reconstruction
mission. Slowly but surely this engineering
wonder was re-erected (a feat rarely
duplicated by lesser humans than
skateboarders). A celebration of this
monumental accomplishment was in-
line-and what better than a full-blown
contest? I didn't even know the meaning
of the word until Sat. the 30th of January,
1982.
A month prior to the critical date, Bob
Denike and I had frantically been making
preparations for the event. The over-
whelming response seemed to be taking
the whole project out of control. At this
point we were pretty stressed due to other
obligations as well as practicing. Our
savior turned out to be Duane Berendsen,
who stepped-in to organize and assume
responsibility for the contest.
Skaters from all over Nor-Cal were
showing up weeks in advance to practice.
Through the heavy underground wire, the
word had spread like wildfire. The ramp
sustained heavy pounding from powerful
sessions. Every available daylight hour
was utilized by the skate-fanatics to wire
the wood environs. Numerous incidents
occurred during these hectic sessions.
Madman Randy Katen managed to bail
off the ramp during a hectic roll-out, land
on a pile of unused (spare) wood and
instantly recover to snake once again.
Another guy slipped on the steel coping
during a hairball maneuver, fell straight
down on his chin so hard that his head
ripped off the cope and caused his helmet
to burst off his head 10 feet in the air.
I was getting nervous, partly because of
the intensity of the skating, but mainly
because of the near death slams-you'd
think with a 16' wide halfpipe, a guy
wouldn't grind off the end of the ramp and
plunge into a tick weed bush 10' below.
Well, that's the breaks when you have a
bio ramp in the sticks. On contest day
Harry Williams arrived at 6 a.m., clicked
on his ghetto-blaster, and began skating
by himself until all neighboring farms had
been aroused. Milo, the resident mountain
hermit and gun-wielding hunter-terrorist
soon set Harry straight, but blowing a hole
in the roll-out deck isn't my idea of gentle
persuasion.
The day of the contest, a beautiful
sunny Saturday, twenty-plus carloads of
people showed. Between 75 to 100
people came to witness the event, a
welcome sight to the organizers. It was by
far the biggest vertical event in Nor-Cal
since the Winchester Open. At this point, I
was convinced that the closing of a
neighborhood park only helps to intensify
the skate energy. Here was a place where
limitless crowds of people could gather,
watch a free show, drink brews, rap about
skating and generally enjoy an afternoon
of high energy skating. The events were
as follows: first amateur practice, then
qualifying for seeding in the head-to-head
chart; the same program applied to the
Pro entries. Prizes for the Ams consisted
of wheels, trucks, bearings, shirts and
plaques. Our thanks goes to the following
companies for their donations: Gremic of
Los Gatos, Santa Cruz Skateboards,
Thrasher Magazine and Independent.
There were 14 amateur entrants and
eight semi-pros, with $75 for first, $50 for
second and $25 for third, making this a
highly competitive backyard event.
Various skate dignitaries were amongst
the crowd, Thrasher Mag flowed issues
to be sold as part of a "Coors Fund" for
refreshment purposes. A general buzz of
excitement could be felt as the warm-ups
began for the first elimination heat. With
the judges set and the lovely scorekeepers
at the ready, the timekeeper blew the
whistle to start the contest. Everybody got
two runs with their best score the indicator
for advancement. After the qualifying runs
were completed, four Ams were tied for
first!
Madman from Sacto Randy Katen powers a late evening frontside air on his way
to second place in the semi Pro event. Inset: A sweeping overview shows the
mountain top locale of Ross McGowan's 16' wide Summit Ramp.