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FOOT
UNDER
nd Wower Sprys
Monty Nolder, severe frontal tweak above a Southern
California mini-ramp
Top Left: The skate camp in St. Louis featured a solid mini-ramp among its skate arena. Christian
Hosoi inverts himself during a summertime visit. Below Left: Brad Baxter boosts a fastplant to
fakie off a mini ramp in Florida. Above: Lofting frontside, Rick Demontrond rips his mini-ramp
"The Web," whenever he damn well wants to
station wagon and proceeded toward a warehouse on the east side of town.
Upon their arrival at the warehouse, Butch told Ed and Ray to keep their
knowledge of the structure under their hats, for the ramp was to be skated by
only a chosen few.
"Let's have a blast, dudes," said Butch as he unlocked a large door to the
warehouse. The trio entered the building. They raced toward a mini half-pipe in
the far left corner.
"Holy shit, is this for real?" Ray exclaimed as he set his eyes on the rain-free
transitions.
"Whadda you think?" asked Butch.
"I must be in skater's heaven," announced Eddie as he dropped in on the ramp's
extension. He threw out a couple of rugged Smith grinds and produced the big-
gest grin his face had felt all winter. For the next four hours these dudes continued
to rip, despite the wrath of wetness outside. Butch's mini-ramp was their savior.
A scaled down skate structure or "mini-ramp" is a perfect medium for both the
average street skater and fully experienced ripper to learn new tricks and fine
tune their ramp skating abilities. Lip tricks are commonly performed on these dwarf
structures. Have you ever wanted to do an Indy-air-to-nosepick? You can learn
it here, no doubt.
Besides providing hours of padless creativity, mini-ramps are quite convenient
for skaters with limited building space. Because they are small, mini-ramps are
also relatively inexpensive.
Although small half-pipes were known to a few skaters in the late seventies,
mini-ramps definitely made an impact on skateboarding in the early eighties. One
of the first mini-ramp contests took place on Rick "Spidey" Demontrond's ramp,
known to many as "The Web." Spidey's ramp still stands today and hosts occa-
sional sessions to those who stop by and pay Spide a visit. (Continued on page 91)
JA
THO
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