Rob Roskopp-a surly guy, burly skater-Phil's
ramp. Photo by Steve Keenan.
The
Incomplete
Flying D.P's colors, Rob
powers out of the 4-pipe
at Apple skatepark in 1980
ROSKOPP
Call him the "Bio Ohian" because that's where he spent his formative skate years before transplanting to California,
or "the Barn" because he's built like one; Rob Roskopp has been a fixture on the skate scene for some time now.
While some might consider Rob one of the new breed, he has been skating almost as long as Santa Cruz teammate
Micke. While Micke learned his chops in the thick of the urethane revolution of the seventies, skating with the
best in the best terrain, Rob was a frequent visitor to the heavenly bowls of Apple and Cherry Hill skateparks,
perfect terrain which he learned to dominate before the untimely demise of skateparks. Skaters in the midwest
(or anywhere other than Cal.) in the seventies may as well have been skating on Mars as far as media coverage,
sponsorships and all the trappings go. Skaters like Rob changed all that. Somewhere between the first drop in
skate sales around '79 and the last sessions at Apple in '82, Roskopp and a landlocked crop of ramp ranchers
had begun pounding the plywood with a vengance and renewed spirit. While coastal surf/skate crews worried
about the look, the heartland boys were just starting to cook.
The following interview took place in and around Rob's new home on a cliff overlooking Pleasure Point in
Santa Cruz, CA, one of the more picturesque surf spots on the west coast.
Rob, where is your hometown?
I was born in Mount Clemens, Detroit, Michigan. I lived there until
I was twelve, then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, for about 5 or 6 years
and moved out here when I was 19. I'm 23 now,
How many years have you been a pro skateboarder?
Four.
Beginning with your first hop on a board, describe how you've developed
as a skater.
Back in '76 my friend had a skateboard that he'd gotten for his birth-
day, so I tried it out and really liked it. I then bought a Logan Earth
Ski with Sims Pure Juice wheels. That was the thing then...around
my house anyway. We built various little quarter-pipe ramps and skated
them for about 3 to 4 years. My friends built one that was twenty feet
tall. Back then it was gnarly because you had to start from the top of
the street and go about 30 mph to make it to the top of the ramp. The
tranny was all drawn out, up to twenty feet high. We made films but
I haven't seen them, my parents have 'em. Then, in '78, my friend built
a Rampage ramp, and that was the thing. We also had this pool we could
always skate. I rode for a team called the Pachinco Factory, and this
old lady owned this pool; it was like a reservoir pool, a teardrop shape.
it was pretty rad, we learned a lot of stuff there.
What was the name of the pool?
We called it Pachinco pool. The old lady just let us skate it, she was
pretty cool about it. They built those Japanese pinball jobs and sold
skateboards. That was around '80.
Where did all this happen, what town?
Cincinnati. We'd always go to Detroit for contests-or skateparks in
South Carolina, all down south, Florida.
Did G.S.D. turn up around this time?
In '77 was the first time I really saw him skate. It was at a Cincinnati
skateboard contest. There were about 300 kids and he was there, hair
down to his butt, ripping Berts.
Did you skate the D.O. (Doctor's Office) banks?
I didn't skate there until I really met Garry. I got to know him when
I built my ramp and we used to street skate downtown Cincinnati at
lot and he showed us where they were. That place was one of the better
places to skate back then. It was real smooth asphalt, nice transitions.
That was fun.
Was that around the time of your Cherry Lane ramp?
Well before that Apple Skatepark was built. I skated for Apple until
it closed in '81 and that's when I built my ramp. Apple was one of the
better parks...indoor like Cherry Hill. Then we built the ramp and
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