Take,
SAN JOSE
Y
for example
by
Craig Ramsay
Introduction
by KJT
eah, let's! San Jose and surrounding burbias have produced several generations of skaters who rip hard and work hard
at keeping skateboarding a fun and exciting pastime, all the while continuing to skate a wide inventory of available
terrain. Situated 50 miles south of San Francisco, The Pit (as it is fondly referred to by some) might be considered a
perfect example of the total skate environment. A post-World War II baby boom and the ensuing suburban sprawl of the '50s
and '60s saw to that. Lush apple, cherry and prune orchards were bought, sold and developed with no concern for city planning.
Places where one used to hunt for lizards and ride Sting Rays through creek beds are now being ridden in a different way. On
skateboards. The terrain is now made up of drainage ditches, pipes, loading docks and empty pools. Billions of tons of concrete,
asphalt and plaster have been poured into the valley floor to accommodate the massive flow of auto and pedestrian traffic.
Skateboarders have adapted naturally to unnatural changes in their environment. Perfect skate surroundings.
"We were here before, we will be here after...we're here to stay!" When I spoke those words in regard to a "Northern
California" article printed in Skateboarder magazine (June '80, Vol. 6, #11), I was speaking as a typical "hardcore" skater from
a typical area with a typical "skate to the death" attitude. The fact that MoFo and myself spent our prime years growing up in
San Jose (although 'Fo got his initial training in another typical area, Escondido) might have something to do with our running
this feature. Or, that the local roster (Blackhart, Caballero, Gifford, Foss, Del *13, the Buck Brothers, "Bug," "Fly," "Stone
Toes" Gula, Townsend, etc.), and the visitors' register (Waldo Autry, Rodd Saunders, Wally Innouye, Steve Olson, Doug
Schneider, T.A., Billy Ruff, Lance Mountain, Per Welinder, "Gator," and too many other names to mention here) reads like
a who's who of skateboarding for the past ten years. Regardless, the main purpose of this article is to show that skaters will be
skaters, no matter where you come from or what you're into.
So let's take San Jose as an example. Not as a glorification of the area, but as an inspiration to the thousands of skateboarders
out there who live in similar communities. Go out and make it happen.
For two years I worked at Winchester Skatepark. For that matter, I
lived there. Being one of the top two skateparks in the country I had
pride in it, and furthermore, I couldn't imagine life without the smooth
plaster walls in this structure designed solely for the art of getting rad.
Skate on the street? That's no fun. Why do that?
Well, it's been almost two years past and I am now that much the
wiser. What my friends and I didn't realize at the time was that living in
a metropolis such as San Jose was like having the whole world around
you become a skatepark. For all you skaters that still dwell at your local
park this means that the paved, plastered, tiled, bricked, and sculptured
architectural structures that you take for granted all around your city
were put there for more reasons than to serve only the needs of the clue-
less sector of society. In other words, out there in the concrete jungle
exist literally thousands of shreddable terrains in the form of banks,
ramps, pools, curbs, loading docks, steps, parking garages, your drive-
way, anything!
Did you ever choose to terrorize the local mall instead of cruising to
the local skatepark? Probably not. But what did you do at the park any-
way-yak with a bunch of socials, cruise the same crowded run 222
times, listen to rules, pay admission, or whatever?
When you rip the streets you are under constant surveillance by au-
thorities, and you're under pressure of the bust situation, or an accident
with other vehicles or pedestrians less aware. Therefore, there is little
time to do anything but heavy full-on sessioning, the way skating should
be done.
The skaters in San Jose have become streetwise and the sport has
grown tremendously in the past two years. At first, the hardcore locals
established neighborhood "hangs" where they could meet with fellow
shredders and session their spot. These spots have names like "the
scurbs," "the box," "the pit," "the skanks," "the bricks," and others,
with the most infamous by far being V.C. Pool, or Punk Pool. This
spot, now a flower garden, was the meeting and proving ground of hun-
Tom Nicodemo, Jakie 180 ollie at The Pine Tree ramp, located in one of San Jo's last remaining open spaces (notice windblown pine branch namesake in background).
"The Sink" is a new hot spot that didn't even exist two years ago. Ramsay photo.
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