Micke Alba pushing the ozone
layer with a table topped
fight down the back
stretch of a blo tur
SASTO
By Kevin Thatcher
Back in Sacto and it seems like we never
left. Temps are climbing into the 80's by early
a.m., not unusual for a summer day in the
Big Valley. In question is the vertical half of
a two weekend long pro/am mini series spon-
sored by the folks at Go Skate. Successive
Sundays of skating, sweltering and a lot of
standing around.
It's now 9:30 and a boisterous throng of
young skate fans are cloistered at the gates
of the Placer County Fairgrounds in Marys-
ville, CA. Final destination for most, after
slapping down a five spot, will be a bench
seat in a large grandstand overlooking an
asphalt speedway oval. The focus of atten-
tion, for most, is a half pipe structure, 24
feet wide by eventually 11 feet tall. Problem
at this point in the game is that a crew of
skater types are still buzzing around the
structure with saw, hammer and nail. An
ambitious plan to construct the ramp in a
suburban Sacto backyard then transport it
in pieces to the contest site hasn't actually
backfired, it's just running a little behind
schedule.
The crowd, however, is not to be disap-
pointed, for ramp architect Paul Schmitt has
arrived and soon takes it upon himself to
organize the finish work, providing the wait-
ing throng with a valuable seminar in ramp
building technique. Paul is even using his
flat-topped head as support under a section.
of roll-out while securing it with a nail, all
this atop an eight foot ladder. More roll-out
decks still have to be raised, a final layer of
masonite needs application and PVC coping
lays in wait. Go Skate dad, Dale Smith,
sends out for tools needed to finish the job.
As the all-night nail pounding crew begins
to fatigue towards noon, pro skaters in at-
tendance begin to take tool in hand and
further the cause. There's skating brothers
Salba and Malba working with Rob Roskopp
on the masonite application. Look, Mike
McGill with drill in hand, boring down on a
section of rollout deck. Ramp-master Lance
is readying the lip for coping application.
Hosoi is soothing the anxious crowd with
sporadic shirt signings and tossings. All in
all a healthy atmosphere prevails consider-
ing nobody has even dropped in.
Within the first few practice runs on the
completed structure it's being pronounced.
kinked on one wall. Minor worry at this point,
since it's after two o'clock and organizer of
the proceedings, Matt Oldham is still bent.
on pulling off a full-days schedule in half the
time. "We want skating," roars the crowd.
"We wanna practice," say the pro's. "Sit down
and shaddup," mikes event announcer Randy
Katen.
Taking immediately to the ramp in the am
practice session, Jason Jesse looks unbeat
able. Trading aggro lines alongside Jason is
Jeff Hedges, Lucien Hendricks, Chris Lowe,
vert
Chris Borst, Camden Scott, Steve Douglas
and Marty Boudoin. A feverish Am Jam ses-
sion commences and by the time it is over,
20 minutes later Cam Scott is pronounced
victorious, followed closely in points by
Jason Jesse and Ffej wrapping up the top
three positions.
Well, that's over with and it is only 5:00 in
the afternoon. Matt is optimistic, despite the
earlier setbacks, of plowing right into the pro
program. Katen is nearing the end of his
cord, but still maintaining the patience need-
ed to go another four hours. The dinner bell
is ringing for some of the spectators and the
grandstands begin to look less populated.
Maybe some just went home to put on a 1
sweater. Most likely they're all still here, be-
cause by the looks of the infield area sur-
rounding the ramp, most of them have infil-
trated the once VIP area. At any rate, the
noise levels in response to McTwist attempts,
Rocket airs, and high, air walks are louder
than ever as McGill, Cab, Hosoi, Gator,
Lance and others continued to condition
themselves for combat.
Qualifying seems to proceed without a
hitch until the final 8 jam cut is announced.
In order of appearance will be, Christian
Hosoi, Steve Caballero, Jeff Grosso, Jeff
Kendall, Neil Blender, Mike McGill, Mark Ro-
gowski and Lance Mountain. Some of us
were wondering what had happened to Tony
Magnusson, having, as always, put in a fairly
bio couple of runs. The crowd began chant-
ing, "Malba, Malba," in response to a strong
but futile routine by Micke. Katen's comment
at this point might sum up the situation;
"Where are my judges? Would the judges
please raise your hands." Other qualifying
highlights see Steve Alba returning to pro
competition, looking a bit thick but still skat-
ing solid with hella slide variations and fakie
360's.
It's really hard to come away from any
skate event, whether it be contest, chaos,
demo or just a big session, and feel bad t
about it. At Sacto, on this Sunday, you might
even say that the major delay is working out
for the best. It is well into evening before
the final pro jam commences, meaning a
cooling trend is in the air. We're all set for
the half hour free-for-all and the sun is now
touching the western horizon. Perfect skate
time.
Starting with Hosoi, the crowd, which has
swelled back to capacity once again, pro-
vides the only soundtrack for the twenty
minute jam. McGill immediately launches
into a McTwist and almost lands in a hang-up
on the coping. Gator pulls the twist and
continues to blaze trick after unruly trick,
including lein to board slams. Lance turns
up the flame with his standard power ap-
proach. Caballero is kicking and air walking
his way side to side. By the time Katen yells
Jeff Grosso showed enough flash to gain a jam slot.
the skating to a halt, it's anybody's guess.
"I'd hate to be a judge," muses one stoked
spec.
With the sun long gone in the west and a
hail of stickers and products are silhouetted
in the night sky, it is announced that Steve
Caballero has won the event. Despite McGill
pulling triple McTwists, and Gator seemingly
never doing the same thing twice, Cab's
consistency, flair and bailess routines prevail
and crown him king of the two-week Sacto
stint.
Despite the chaotic nature of the previous
eight days in Sac, and the unbearable con-
ditions endured by skaters and spectators
alike, when you ask any of those in atten-
dance if they'd do it again you'd probably get
a "You Betcha!". That's skating, that's the
end.
RAMP - MAY 25th, 1986
AMATEUR
1. CAMDEN SCOTT
2. JASON JESSE
3. JEFF HEDGES
4. CHRIS BORST
5. CHRIS ROBISON
6. CHRIS LOWE
7. LUCIAN HENDRICKS
8. MARTY BEAUDOIN
PROFESSIONAL
1. STEVE CABALLERO
2. MIKE MCGILL
3. CHRISTIAN HOSOI
4. LANCE MOUNTAIN
5. MARK ROGOWSKI
6. JEFF GROSSO
7. NEIL BLENDER
8. JEFF KENDALL
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