ANY
DAY
NOW
Eagle Rock ramp. Photos: Chuck Walstead,
Bemard Grivel in the cavem, France. Photo: Gilles Lazennec.
Tony Magnusson
Marawiler, Eagle rock builder/shredder, frontiside channel
Secret skater ollies in the Palmdale twilight.
Photo: Unknown.
THE EAGLE ROCK RAMP JAM
Saturday, April 28, 1984
The original idea of this jam was to
get together a bunch of skaters and
have a rad session. In addition it was
intended to familiarize the skaters
with the ramp for future contests,
jams, or whatever. My friends Rab
and Mark thought it would be a good
idea so they left some flyers down at
the Del Mar Contest the weekend of
the 20th and 21st.
Only a few pros and ams showed
Saturday due to the practice at Kona
in Jacksonville and the CASL free-
style event at Covina City Park the
same day. The bulk of the riders
today were locals. The ramp had
just been resurfaced with new ply-
wood and new masonite over the
plywood. We were anticipating a rad
session
The Eagle Rock Ramp is a culmi
nation of wood from small local
ramps, our old halfpipe and various
wood from construction sites all over
the LA area. The ramp was con-
structed by Mark Mundwiler and me,
starting in August '83, but it didn't
reach its fullest riding capability till
two weeks before the jam. The ramp
dimensions are as follows: 32 ft.
wide, 10 ft. high, 12 ft. flat bottom, 8
ft. transition, 2 ft. vertical. There are
two roll-out decks. The canyon is
four feet wide, with coping bolted to
a 9 x 32 foot. platform, the side with
the canyon. The other side has a 5x
32 foot flatform with PVC pipe for
coping.
The Jam
Doug, Mark and I decided to throw
an informal contest when we went to
Jim's Burgers for a lunch break.
There had been some good skating
happening all day, so we decided
we would make it more interesting
by making the skaters put their lives
on the line for $5 and a one-week
pass to skate Townhouses.
Mark skated while Doug (Uncle
Wiggley), Don Hamilton and I
judged. We had a list of 20 skaters
for one hour till we cut to six skaters.
We then had a 30-minute jam for the
six who made the cut. They were:
Tony Magnusson, Mark Mundwiler,
Nick Rosenthal, Christian Hosol,
Steve Steadham, and Eddie Reauti-
gui
We started the 30-minute jam at 4
pm. The skaters went at it like it was
about for $1,000. The crowd was
awed as Christian flew over their
heads with six foot-plus lein airs and
stylish backsides. Steve Steadham
skated intense and at high speed as
usual with fast 50-50s, Indy canyons
and traveling boneless footplants.
Nick Rosenthal pulled off a 360-de-
gree olle, some stylish handplants
and stale canyons. He's got a great
style which resembles that of Alan
Gelfand. Tony M. skated like the top
pro that he is, continuously throwing
tricks on each wall. He showed total
consistency even though he had
been skating since about 12 noon.
Eddie R. was ripping as soon as he
stepped foot in my back yard. He
had skated the ramp before, but that
$5 must have looked really good to
him that day. He was on edge with
stalled Andrechts, and smooth front-
side handplants, but the favorite was
probably his Smith stops near the
canyon edge. Mark M. has skated
this ramp since we built it in August
of '83 and it shows. Although he
didn't skate very well after the cut to
six, he ripped before the cut with
3-foot Judos and bio lein air can-
yons, not to mention other tricks.
After the six expired the 30-minute
time limit, Doug, Don and I got to-
gether to check our scores. Like
most contests, we scored on consis-
tency, style, difficulty of maneuvers,
and bio-ness. With these four cate-
gories in mind, we came up with
these results: Tie for first: Eddie R.
and Tony M.: second, Christian;
third, Steve St.; fourth, Nick R.; fifth,
Mark M.
The crowd seemed to be pretty
agreeable when Doug announced
the tie and the following placings. It
was close.
As the locals jumped back on the
ramp to skate and the spectators
thinned out, I looked back at the
casual day with anticipation of
another time when we can gather
more hot skaters together and hold
another jam.
CAVERNOUS
Jay B. Moore
Keith Stephenson,
France.
RAMP CONTEST
APRIL 29th
BOURGES, FRANCE
And just when you thought that
skating was only happening in your
little corner of the city/state/coun-
try...I got some news for ya', buddy,
it's happening all over this planet.
And to prove it, a small group of
hardcore skaters from a nowhere
town in France threw a contest on
their halfpipe which was attended by
skaters from throughout Europe (in-
cluding Belgium) and even the US.
I was hanging out at the "Jardin
De Acclimitation" skatepark in Paris,
when I heard rumors of a ramp con-
test happening the following week-
end. So after some directions in bro-
ken English, a 45-minute train ride,
and four hours in a car, we came
upon the site of the contest. The
ramp was located in an abandoned
factory in the center of town. Now
I'm not one to elaborate on the de-
tails of a ramp, 'cuz a ramp is a ramp
for the most part, right? Nine feet
high, painted green and pink, metal
frame, etc. (look at the pictures for
additional clues).
So everyone started to practice
and get a line for the contest. It was
divided into two groups, A and B.
Simple enough, eh? When the prac-
tice session was over, the judges
got together and started the event.
Group B went first and was run by an
elimination process that would have
tested even the most brilliant mind. It
was about four feet over my head,
so I just kept pointing to who I
thought should win. The guy that
shreds the hardest is going to win re-
gardless of the system, right?
Right. Bemard Grivel took the first
spot in group B with stylist indy airs
and boneless ones. Honorable men-
tion went to 13-year-old Sylvain
Moray, who after five months of vert
skating snagged sixth with a stylish
array of moves.
Group B took just under four
weeks to run due to the elimination
process, so when it came time for
group A, a jam type format was
unanimously opted for. The eight
skaters tore it up for 30 minutes, and
when it was over, everyone still
wanted to skate, so a "High Air" con-
test was put together. After every-
one was too gelled to ride, we sat
around and exchanged ideas, pho-
tos and info. I found out that a pair of
hightops goes for $100 here!
RESULTS
GROUP B
1. Bernard Grivel
2. Christian Bastien
3. Jean Marie Pillon
4. Pierre Andre Senizergues
HIGH AIR
1. Keith Stephenson (94 cm)
2. Christopher Mounin (45 cm)
3. Patrick Bernard (40 cm)
4. Tie: Frederic Chevalier (35 cm)
and Christophe Betille (35 cm)
GROUP A
1. Keith Stephenson (USA)
2. Christophe Betille (France)
3. Patrick Bernard (France)
4. Jean-Luc Delafontaine (Belgium)
Also, the day following
the contest, construction began on a
massive new ramp similar to St.
Pete's to be completed in June. This
will be the site of the French Cham-
pionship on June 30, 31, and July 1.
Be there or be somewhere elself
"Ride hard, die free"
Billy Runaway
PALMDALE RAMP
SECRET CONTEST
Clueless Spectator Question #1:
"Don't these kids ever leam?" one
adult was overheard to comment at
Palmdale's "Secret" Contest. Obvi-
ously the comment was in reference
to the fact that after just seeing
$4,000+ worth of wood and a year
of hard work destroyed in Palmdale
I, two of the owners turned around
and erected Palmdale II within a
month's time.
Devious answer to question #1:
Yes, these "kids" did learn some-
thing, how to build a better ramp in
order to continue doing what they
were born to do-ride.
"Pictures, descriptions, and other
superfluous data pertaining to the
ramp, or anything other than the fact
that it ripped and was being ripped,
are not pertinent. It's a secret, re-
member
Clueless Question #2: These
"kids" (why do they always call us
kids?) were some of the most famil-
iar names in skating: Lucero,
Grosso, Elguera, Groholski, Nash,
Jiminez, Spidey, etc., along with a
host of locals, future bopefuls, semi-
knowledgeable spectators, hangers
on, etc. What they were doing there
should have been readily apparent
even to those with the most negligi
ble amount of grey matter. They
were contributing directly or other-
wise, to creating an energy form
known as the "Skate Session.
The beginning of the event amaz-
ingly coincided (not by accident)
with the departure of the "Clueless
Ones." Two divisions were formed.
For lack of more appropriate titles
they were labeled "Sketchy," "Semi-
Sketchy," and "Big Time." Who won
doesn't really count cuz every skater
gave it their all. But for the sake of
posterity let the following be known.
Robby Evans won the Sketchy Divi-
sion by being the least sketchy,
hence scoring his person a new
deck. Aaron Garcia won the Semi-
Sketch Division with what appeared
to be a mutant frontside air, but upon
closer inspection (he did it six con-
secutive times), it was determined
by majority vote to be a boneless
one. He also scored a new deck.
At this point, Tom Groholski was
getting mighty impatient, so to cut
the crap and get to the business at
hand, he suggested the remaining
skaters shine a contest and just ride,
so that's what they did.
The ensuing energy radiating
from the immediate area could have
it all of Palmdale for a week.
Strange thing that T.G. should
suggest they shine a contest, for he
was by far the standout and would
have won hands down had there
been one. But that's just the kind of
guy he is....?
Grosso created some hell. Spidey
laughed as he destroyed the coping.
Everyone flailed. Those watching,
were stoked. Those riding even
more so. Sample quotes from the
two-day ordeal: 1 festered-
Groholski, after festering. "I'm look
ing for my hat-Nash, trying to talk
his way off of an angry person's roof
during a post-session party. "It's
good to be known for something-
Spidey, replying to comparisons of
his facial expressions while riding to
those of a wounded dog. "At this
time, I would just like to say fuck-
Grosso, after slamming. "Do a
whirly-pop-Spectator's new name.
for a Miller Flip. "Have you seen my
Robo?-Johnny Cat "Which one
is he?"-Confused Spectator, at-
tempting to verify Elguera's pres-
ence. "Sudden and permanent in-
jury is always an imminent possibil-
ity-Unknown.
Many thanks to all of the sponsors
who flowed. Thanks to all who at-
tended and made it happen. See
you at the next one, if you can find it!
Don't call us, we'll call you.
Zebra Boy
"Skate or Decompose
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