MILE HIGH
MELEE
SKATEBOARD FUN IN THE FRONT RANGE
Story by Michael Burnett
The Denver Metro area lies at the foot of the Rocky Mountains
in what's known as the Front Range. It's here that the bulk of
Colorado's population lives, including a huge number of people.
who choose to spend their time riding skateboards.
Although Colorado has a colorful past filled with full pipes,
ditches, and concrete skateparks, my relationship with skate-
boarding in the Mile High area began a few years ago at the
tail end of the "Back to the Future" boom, when masonite skate-
parks could be found in nearly every major city in the country.
JIMINY CRICKET
Jamaica Jim's, regardless of what tropical images the name
might conjure up, was a warehouse-style park situated in an in-
dustrial section of Denver. The park was filled with a number of
masonite diversions and was run by Jamaica Jim himself-a thir-
tyish man with a loaf-style hairdo (ie: long in back, short on top.)
who had what seemed like twenty small children. A true stunt.
man, Jim could often be seen powering no-handed methods.
over the spine (with the aid of sky-hooks) with a style sketchy
enough to make Steve Schneer cringe. Nights at Jim's were
super fun and many an evening was spent playing such games as
"spine wars" and "make it or naked" with the Boulder kids ver-
sus the Denver locals. Old guys skated the vert while die-hard
street dogs sessioned the 10 x 20 foot concrete slab. The park
hosted a number of rad locals including Joey Bast, Andy John-
son, Jimmy Shores, Scott Urich, Skinhead Joe, Skatepark Scott,
Mance Thurston, Grant Guthrie, and a guy known as Imi Jimi
who wore combat fatigues and, for whatever reason, a weight-
lifting belt. Unfortunately, like all great things, Jamaica Jim's
came to an end. After a rash of burglaries, a skinhead riot, and
a practice among some of the locals involving kicking holes in
the walls, Jim packed up his twenty kids and headed out. The
Front Range was dry, and ramp enthusiasts began making the
long trip to the terrible park in Brighton, Colorado, or, in many
cases, the short trip to the liquor store.
GOLDEN GLOW
The dry spell didn't last long, (and hell, didn't even exist for
the countless street skaters throughout Denver's many sub-
urbs), because a new skatepark was built the following summer
in Golden, Colorado. Constructed by a less than skate-knowl-
edgeable company called Fad-tastic, this park is far from per-
fect. Golden features a sketchy mini-ramp, a noseslide box
with accompanying handrail, a slider bar, and a circa 1986 car-
clearing jump ramp (exact replicas of which can be found in
Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Steamboat Springs). Regardless of
any imperfections, Golden's no pads/no rules environment
makes it a hotspot for the throngs of skaters in the Denver-
Metro area. It's been real interesting to see the local kids from
Northglen High in Denver seems
to be a hot spot for the street
crew. Case in point, Brent
Wingen (opposite top) and the
180° nosegrind. The author and
photo catalyst of this whole
mess, Mike Burnett (top left), gets
busy with a crail and a striped
shirt. On the some ramp, Luciano
Mor (above) pops a modern
grab for above the city of
Boulder. The desolate landscape
around the Golden Skatepark
(left) has nothing to do with all
the brisk sessioning that goes on
there. This big backside 180' is a
small sample of the raw tallent
that exists one mile high. Andy
Johnson (opposite bottom) gets
buzzed the natural way.
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