The
RISE
by Kevin Thatcher
Over the past 30 years skateboarding has
weathered the rising and falling tide of public
interest. Right now, in the downslide of the '80s,
the number of people rolling on all fours is at an
all-time high. This ebb and flow of skate activity
is due to several factors: The gaps between
generations of skateboarding youth, for one.
Another is media attention, which seems to boost
the awareness of a fickle public.
One of the most tangible factors, though, is the
availability of terrain, Skating originated on the
sidewalks and, naturally, rolled into the streets and
down the hills. Soon, banks and vertical were the
rave, and pools and ditches the crave. Now, of
course, skaters exist on a diet of anything they
can get their wheels on. The street scene has
evolved into more than just push and go, while
wooden ramps of all shapes and sizes keep
skaters on the wall when pools aren't dry. With
more support and corporate bucks flowing from
outside the immediate skate industry, high-
performance ramp availability is at an all-time
high. Improved building techniques and more
portable designs prove that the halfpipe doesn't
have to stay anchored in the backyard or sand
lot anymore. More skate shop demos, as well as
non-skate events like fairs, football games and
surf-abouts, now feature full-scale ramp expos
Recently (skater imagination being what it is).
we have witnessed the advent of the ultra-mega
ramp. The Ramp Ranch in Atlanta and the Great
Desert ramp in Palmdale were the first. We saw
the Chin ramp debuted, but only on video. Now
it's been dismantled and parted out to various
organizations. Raging Waters has now gotten in
on the act with a humongous, super-bowled,
double-wide, Upland-sized monster at their
waterslide facility in San Jose, CA and it's already.
been torn up and retuned several times. Which
brings up another point.
&...
SESSIONS
It started as an idea for a small demo ramp nestled
among the water slides. Then it was going to be a
modest double-bowled pool design. When the dust
finally settled it had become this monster.
elbow-shaped, mega-ramp. Since opening day it has
already been torn up, redesigned and reconstructed.
Hugh Bod Boyle leaps across the channel at
Raging Waters in San Jose. Photo: Bryce Kanights