Skateboarding Is... June

First off, a quick word about this segment:

Back a few years ago, when I wrote the now-defunct Frontside Blog, I got to a point where I started doing a monthly feature, just a post about one thing in particular that I always thought really was an integral part of skateboarding, and of the culture of being a skateboarder. This post will serve as a resurrection of that old feature, and while I hope to, one day, revisit all my former topics, today I'm going to kick off the feature's relaunch with some brand new material - hope you all enjoy it.

Skateboarding is... Home-made ramps

Yup, this is The Dream right here.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and as anyone who has ever stepped on a skateboard can tell you, progression, and the honing of one's craft is as much a necessity as making sure you put on pants in the morning - even one day without doing so simply does not feel right. Skateboarders are creative by their very nature, and for those of us without a wealth of things to skate at our immediate disposal, the need to create does anything but subside, and that necessity, of course, leads to invention.


You would be hard-pressed to talk to a skater who has not, at one point, built some kind of object with the intention of skating it; from propping a spare piece of plywood up on a handful of bricks, to spending every other day for three straight weeks constructing a mini ramp with the perfect transition, I know I, personally, have done the former, the latter, and everything in-between.

The building process is, quite obviously, one of the key points of what makes a home-made obstacle home-made. Sadly, though, with a combination of a decrease in free time and an increased want for instant gratification, hordes of junky plastic contraptions litter the market billed often as "extreme sports ramps".

 

This is the equivalent of getting your kid a Fischer-Price Picnic Table to skate...

Call me old-fashioned, but I, for one, extoll the virtues of building something to skate as opposed to buying it, for a number of reasons.
1) If we are talking about a younger skater, say, under 16 or so, adult supervision should, in all good reason, be required, and for that matter, encouraged. A parent helping their child build something to skate will teach the child the value of working for something, as well as how to properly use power tools, which is always an asset. It will allow for some excellent parent-child bonding time, as even the simplest manual pad should, if well built, require at least an hour or two building time. Finally, and most importantly, it acts as a way of showing your child that you are genuinely interested in his or her activity of choice, and that you are willing to support their doing so.
2) If we are talking about older skaters, then for one thing, any attempt to use a cheap plastic launch ramp will likely result in little plastic shards within an hour, and $30 down the drain.
3) Customization: The ability to build something from scratch means that you can build it exactly the way you want it. A box can be a high and wide as you like, transitions can be cut as mellow or as steep as you want, you can tailor the obstacle to exactly your skill level and riding style. Be forewarned, though, that especially when talking about cutting transitions, make sure you know what you're doing beforehand. Thirteen foot transitions on a three foot quartepipe and you wind up with a flat bank with some coping, and four foot trannies on as big a mini and you have side-by-side Jersey Barriers (which is great if that's your thing). Cutting transitions is a delicate science, and one miscalculation can dash weeks of work on your first kickturn.


Here's how to do it right.

The best part is that customization of your home-made ramp doesn't always end at the building phase. Once all is said and done, this ramp is yours, so make it feel like yours: slap those spare stickers you have along the sides of it, use the top of it to practice your art skills, be it with a spray can or paint can, just do whatever you want to make it feel like home.


See an example at 1:09.

Everything associated with the home-made ramp comes back to creativity, and that is why it is so integral to the experience of being a skateboarder. I implore any of you who have never gotten your hands dirty with sawdust and a power drill, and even those of you who haven't done so in a while, go grab some wood, grab a buddy, grab a stereo, and grab hold of that creative spirit you embrace every time you step on your board, because among so many other things, skateboarding is... home-made ramps.