A DAY IN
IN THE
THE LIFE...
CAMBODIA RAMP
Story and Photos by Roger Bridges
Think of Florida. Now erase visions of
Spring Break, Alligators and Miami Vice.
from that image and think about skating.
Think first of Kona Skatepark, but imagine
yourself in a set of armor. Think of Tony Alva,
who wasn't allowed to skate without full
gear. Now think of how he left. Think of rules.
Think of fun. Think of none. Now move
south and relocate yourself somewhere
between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Some-
where known as Dania.
that came to spectate. Drawing a large
crowd seemed to be a great sign, consider-
ing the mediocre showing at the first
contest, but a faction of "oh-so hardcore
punk rockers," who found greater pleasure
in vandalizing the church and the surround-
ing area than they did witnessing the
skating at hand, brought an end to
Cambodia's longest-lived location. The very
next morning the authorities arrived, the
chain was locked, and a notice was posted.
The ramp had to come down.
Think of Cambodia. Now delete thoughts
of jungles, fighting, death and war from your
mind. Forget about the Dead Kennedys, too.
Think of a skate structure bearing the name
Cambodia. Cambodia V to be exact. Think
of fun, lots of it. Envision many sheets of
processed wood, bent into two separate
nine-foot transitions. Place them opposite
each other so that a half-circle is formed,
and stretch each until their width spans forty
feet. Now pull them sixteen feet apart from
each other, and on the side to the right, add
two more feet of vertical in eight-foot wide
sections on either end, and on the left, a
three-foot wide gap with a platform that rolls
in and meets the transition. Adorn this edge
with pool coping, and the opposite side with
steel pipe. Save this image and relocate it
at the end of a dirt road, within a gate that's
attached to a fence, surrounded by a large
plot of land owned by the parents of Brett
Becker. A place far from earshot of would-
be complaining neighbors-out of reach to
the long arm of the law. A place of fun. One
hundred percent of it.
This brings us to the present. To
Cambodia V. To the third annual Cambodia
Ramp Jam. With the dimensions previously
listed, plus a newly-laid camouflage-ply, a
tremendous display of skating was planned.
That is, until the rain.
The first day was riddled with precipita-
tion. The Fifteen and Under division skated
for about fifteen minutes-on a ramp that
felt like moist shag carpet-before the whole
jam came to a stop. Although all the skaters
ripped, the best was clearly Mike Cox, who
tweaked and boned his way into the first
place spot. He completed such varied
maneuvers as Japans, Madonnas, and a
gay twist to boot. He had control and it
showed. A few hours later, the downpour
ceased and the ramp was dried. Unorgan-
ized practice sessions resulted in tragedy
when Lonny Reiter's board hooked up with
Mark Wilson's approaching from the oppo-
site side, sending Lonny soaring headlong
into the transition. A gash on the chin, a de-
rimmed helmet, and a nice bump on the
forehead resulted, as well as a sprinkle of
dizziness for good measure.
The geneology of the Cambodia Ramp
is quite a long one. The first two ramps
erected in the early-mid 1980's fell victim
to burning or pillaging by either unknown
skate haters, or simply bored humans. It was
not until the third metamorphosis of
Cambodia, when it was transferred into the
side yard of a certain Brian Tindall, that
things started to move. Referred to as "the
Church Ramp," because of the religious
structure a hop, skip and a jump away,
Cambodia III played host to all amateur
skaters for the first Cambodia Ramp Rally,
held in the tradition of the St. Pete Ramp
Jam. Hard riding and humidity led to yet
another renovation; Cambodia IV was
christened. Due to Cambodia's appearance
in Thrasher's "10 Killer Ramps" article, over
one hundred skaters showed, and double
Mike Crescini and the Gutierrez brothers
left after the first day, and Reese Simpson
practiced for awhile but also decided to
leave. Someone said he was sick. The
skating he displayed while healthy could be
described quite similarly. Although.
organization was attempted, several close
calls ensued, and fun was had by most. Un-
fortunately, even the heavy skating that
occured couldn't ward off the rain gods.
Despite desperate attempts to dry the ramp
with a huge hot-air cannon, rain ended the
proceedings of the first day.
Due to a faulty alarm clock, I arrived and
caught the end of the 16-19 division. What
I spied was some serious skating. Donny
Deyo ended up the first place holder with
Continued on page 53
Walker
Ollie Meister Chris Griffiths launches over
channel in front of an army of spectators.
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