Opening Spread: A pristine ply pavilion on the Team Blockhead back forty. Left: Steve Ruge (sliding) and Randy Katen
(slashing) double up to demonstrate proper backyard maintenance techniques at a legal backyard pool in Northern California.
Above: Dave Warne pushes his sliders an extra few feet with plenty of ply to work with in his Danville backyard.
JOB #3: Start with the leftover assorted found objects. You had
wood and pieces of transition no plans and no idea it would
you've acquired from the other evolve into this; a skateable jungle
guy's ramp that was torn down. gym if you will. Better than any
Over the next two weekends and swing set or tree fort you ever
after school, you and your crew
dreamed of as a kid.
will add a quarter-pipe
SCENE #4: As the sun sets into
perpendicular to the flat bottom
the west, Cookie wheels out the
on one side. Off the far corner
barbeque and starts slapping
you lay the framework for another burgers while the rest of the posse
12-foot-wide structure jutting circle the wagons. An overhead
away from the existing wall into string of bulbs is accented by car
what used to be the garden. It's headlights. The low winter sun
fall. By the time the first rains dissappears over the horizon as
come in October you'll be Slappie cranks up the tunes,
sessioning a plywood skate
Johnnie pops a cold one and
facility that covers half the
lights a butt. Power chords mixed
backyard and incorporates big with the lip noise from the ramp
vert with slippery street lines-a reach the ears in harsh symphony
long, low, elbow-shaped skate of sound: chink-chank,
arena with extensions and
grrflappity-whap dugga-dugga
escalators connecting hips and shreep chunk-chunk. Luckily there
bowls garnished with pool are no neighbors for a hundred
coping, curbstones, steel rails and yards down the road. It never gets
out of hand at the ramp ranch
anyway. "Dropping in?", "No
after you." It just doesn't get any
better than this.
EPILOGUE: In America, skaters
are turning more and more to
private structures as a way to
duck skate harrasment, bypass
drag-ass city politics that promise
public facilities but never provide,
avoid vicious snake scenes, park
rules and the lack of transitional
street terrain and to just get in
serious session time and work out
on the lip. More recently, the
private backyard ramp sector is
producing the most innovative
designs, combining street terrain
like curbs and steel with perfect
transitions that form hips and
bowls. The wooden pool is a
reality. Junkyard ramps are fun.
Anything's possible.