I remember our whole crew building a 4 ft high 16 ft wide Skate ramp in an old foundation at the tower hill sled run. We must have been 50 percent done building the ramp when one of our friends had the brilliant idea of getting a nail gun to speed up the process. Next thing you know there was a 1970's VW Bus with a generator in the middle of the woods nailing ply wood to the transition. Unfortunately, an older home owner in the area called the cops complaining about the VW Bus in the woods and a lot of delinquents making a racket. That Skate ramp was shut down even before we could skate it. We ended up moving the half pipe to a friend's house in Denville where it stayed for many years of great skate sessions.

One of my favorite stories is about a skateboarding ramp we built in my friend's parents garage while they where away on vacation. The ramp was a blast to skate except for the fact that you always had to duck while doing 50/50 grinds, ollie airs or smith grinds so you didn't hit your head on the ceiling. It was 4 ft high,16 ft wide and most of the wood came from the local construction site. That skate ramp only lasted a few weeks. Once John's parents arrived back from vacation they almost Sh@t their pants when they opened the garage door.

The last memorable skateboard ramp we built was along the railroad tracks in the mid 1980's. I swear that ramp must have been only 10 ft away from the tracks and that surely pissed off the train conductors. We ran out of cash or wood to steal so the ramp had no platforms. It only lasted a few weeks before the police arrived and made us tear it down.

It's funny how skate ramps that only last for a few weeks or even days can mean so much. Some may say that kids are lucky these days because skateboard parks are so readily available. I on the other hand actually enjoyed when skateboarding was a crime.

Photos to come.....