CCCC
NOT JUST ANOTHER RAM P
By Bonnie Blouin
When your mom says you can build a ramp, you're stoked.
When the city says they'll build a ramp, you're ecstatic...but
when the owner of an esteemed country club says he wants
a ramp for the entertainment of his guests, you become serious
and talk business, until you can finally slap your board down on
the deck. Only then does the reality sink in...years of dedication
to skating pay off...you're in sync with your world and now...
YOU CAN RIDE!
It was a blessing from the skate gods, with Mr. Eugene
Hooper and his son Mark as the angels of mercy. For seven
months Mark, George Stivers, Mike Mapp, Bruce Adams and
Wade Herren organized construction and work crews, following
an intricate set of architectural blueprints which would soon
unveil the ramp of their dreams.
In August 1985 they began cutting and clearing an acre of the
most jungle-like terrain you've ever seen on the grounds of the
Cedar Crest Country Club. It had to be leveled and cleared of
stumps, utilizing the costly but affectionately named "Fat Alice"
(Fiat Allis) bulldozer.
After a month of torture, the foundation was laid with concrete
and a heavy duty layer of 2" x 12's established the beginnings
of the 12' flat bottom. 9%' transitions were cut, 20" of vertical
were added and two layers of 1/2" pressure treated plywood
tacked on. We all began to cringe at the monster we were
creating.
Then it was time to lay the steel. Each sheet is 6' x 12' and
weighs in at 375 pounds. Fifty screws per sheet equals about
800 drilled holes through 11 gauge, %" thick steel. Now, have
you ever tried to get a 375 lb. sheet of steel with razor sharp
edges to lie vertically? Skater ingenuity! From its concrete
foundation, to its glistening steel surface, a work of art, unlike
any other...
When you create a ramp like this, the first thing you do is ride,
then you have a contest. Lapper SK8 Zine presented the
Northern Virginia Skateboard Asso's "Go For Broke" contest.
Memorial weekend was the date and a steel meal was our fate.
I arrived Friday night with my tent and cringed at the thought
of poison ivy. My fears were quelled as I found seven other
tented inhabitants and settled into communal living. I then set
out to look for the Lapper boys, Bruce Adams and Wade Herren,
to discuss the contest format. Mark Hooper arrived with barley
substances and the party began with 2 raging bonfires and
50 skaters from Boston, Mass to Atlanta, GA.
Saturday morning we awoke at 6:50 a.m. to the thunderous
roar of a dump truck and front end loader shaking the very
ground we slept on. Plots for immediate disposal of these two
were heavily contemplated. Skate sessions began at 8, not
necessarily by choice, and the Lapper crew set the contest
environment in motion.
The 1A division was established and with judges present
we watched as Chip Chashell from MD, on a borrowed board,
consistantly flowed airs and handplants to the first place spot.
Marcus Wilcox from MD followed close behind, stretching
Andrechts and various airs. He would have taken top spot if
he'd stayed on his board.
After a two hour free-for-all the 2A division got underway,
somewhat sketchily. A heavy debate ensued as to which
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division several unsponsored-but-should-be Toke teamers
would skate in. Judges overruled. Facts remained and into 2A
they went.
The highly intensified contest began and the crowd went wild
as 15 year old Jason Farrell of Bethesda, MD took first place
with an all-out "go for broke" attitude. Fully-contorted hand-
plants, channel inverts, newly-learned frontside Berts, backside
boneless and a backside roll-in put him apart from all others.
Tied for second place were Dan Heyman and Tim "Puker"
Whistler of Toke team fame. Dan blasted heavy frontside airs,
frontside Berts over the channel, sickly frontside lap-over grinds
and contorted facials, while "Puker," with a smooth flow and
style, graced channel Andrechts, frontside R&R's and 4½"
backside air, even though he used a coper.
Saturday evening began another fireside blaze featuring
Toker's Dave Tobin and Bob Blair as "wildmen w/axes" and Loud
One "Twista" from Boston as the "firestarter." An unusually
tame evening followed, no doubt due to activities from the night
before.
Sunday morning dawned promptly at 6:50...our dump
trucking friends were back and we were hating life. By now
everyone had a good case of poison ivy and communal living
was starting to show its disadvantages... "Where are the
showers?"
The sponsored Ams were scheduled to skate in true skater
spirit. A majority rule was taken on the format; it was decided
at that point to have a jam-no judges, no placing, no finals-
just an organized session by dividing the ams into two groups
of one hour each. At the end, five ams were to be selected as
"shredders of the day."
Lapper man, Bruce Adams, monitored the proceedings and
the ams raged on in prime fashion. The ams were amped and
the crowd was crazed.
Highliting the top five, Don Hillsman of Atlanta, GA, pulled
off a McTwist 4' out and to our knowledge, is the first East
Coaster to do so! Jim Murphy from New Jersey pulled off
so many tricks with such style and ease we decided he should
go pro. Josh Marlow from Ocean City, MD flapped the biggest
air with consistency and fluidity. Dan Brown, from Penn., raged.
all-out with high airs, gymnast plants and an arsenal of moves.
Fred Smith from Mass showed the boys what real men are,
while attacking each wall with way high and stylish airs.
Concluding the contest was highest air, with Josh Marlow
from O.C. at 6' 6". Loud One Jeff Thompson and VA Beacher
Jeff Seaton tied in at 6' 3". Jeff Thompson also won the scam-
mer of the weekend award (must be the black Fiero).
An uncontrolled sticker and board toss erupted and Mr.
Hooper was presented a plaque on behalf of the skaters before
skating resumed. Liz was bitten by a poisonous spider and had
to be taken to the hospital. However, the Lapper crew didn't stop
there; all skaters were invited to headquarters to view the
contest video. Imagine 40 skaters in a normal sized living
room...needless to say we had one man by the fridge-thanks
Wendall. Then came the bio slide show by photographer Andy
Bittner. The neighbors were freaked out and we later learned
they thought we were watching porno flicks.
And so we turned the first page of Cedar Crest history.
Special thanks to Mike Mapp, without whom none of this would
have existed.
Read about it and weep. Twists sweeps up the new CCCC ramp.