Slight hold on blogging

Hey all.  As much as I really like the direction the blog is going,  I may have to go on a hiatus for a while.  I am running the blog by myself right now (not that it's too difficult of a task), but I am going to be traveling to Afghanistan to work for an NGO called Skateistan.  I don't want to talk to much about that, but if anyone wants more info on them, they are running an amazing program and their website is www.skateistan.org - more info can be found there.  It's obviously going to be tough to keep the blog going while I'm overseas, but if anyone does sent me info on their ramp, I'll definitely post it as soon as I can.  If anyone is interested, I'll be starting a blog about my trip which will be located here. I really like the idea of 'ramps out back' and I want to keep it going, so keep sending stuff and I'll try to get to them whenever possible.  Thanks all

NJ Ramp

Our pal Sloan sent us some some info on a ramp that is located in the sticks of New Jersey.  This ramp definitely looks fun as hell and these dudes obviously have fun shredding it.  From what he tells me the ramp is:

-24 feet wide, 4 ft tall.
-Quick and steep ramp
-Channel gap with flat bank
-All skatelite

"You ever build something with a group of homies? Shit is fun as hell! We built this ramp last summer. One day my friend Chris mentioned he was redoing his old ramp, I really didn't think much of it. Sure enough I roll to his house a day or two later and Chris and my friend Scott have this masterpiece of a ramp framed out. Within the next couple days a flatbed truck from Montana dropped off a shit load of skatelite. It was on! The ramp took us a couple more days to "finish". Anybody who skateboards knows that time, well time really isn't of the essence. So even though the ramp may not be 100% done, it's done enough haha. We'll finish it up one day...maybe. At the end of the day I got to give the credit where the credit is due. This is Chris and Scott's creation. I swung a hammer here and hauled some scraps there. But looking back on thing's, I'm just siked to been apart of something all the homies look back on, drink a beer to, and keep the good times a comin'!" - Sloan

Below are some pics that Sloan sent me of the ramp and the dudes shreddin' it.  Also for those who don't know, Sloan had a killer part in the recent smash hit Totally Nector .  Check out his part which I've posted below also - nothing to do with backyard ramps but some ill East Coast skating.  The whole video is online for free at totallynector.com and definitely worth watching.  Not sure yet on the status of the ramp and who can come skate it, but for now check out the pics and the video. 

- send us info on your own backyard ramp at mybackyardramp@gmail.com and we'll do a post on it next.

The Longwood Bowl

I got some info on a SICK indoor bowl that's located in Longwood, NC (near Ocean Isle Beach just south of wilmington and north of Myrtle Beach) on on a horse farm. 

I've never had the personal pleasure of skating this bowl - but from the looks of it, this is definitely one of the sickest looking bowls we've seen yet.  According to Matt (who sent me the info) it started as a mini ramp and evolved from there.  His friend Cris "Crappy" Deniss did most of the work.  From what he tell me, this is another ram that's pretty much invite only - but it is possible to get invited. Hank from Folly Beach, James Island (hanger bowl) told Crappie a trick on how to do the corners so that helped everything move along quicker.  In the deep end, concrete coping is poured; metal was kind of bent with cuts then welded.  It has a quarter pipe on deck and extension which were later adds.  The ramp also has couches on the deep-end deck with a fridge and large speakers for stereo for some shredding. There is a Juice mag advertisement inside Juice done at the bowl (see pic below) and Pink Crack Zine has some pics which you can see at their website here.  So, unless you know some dudes down in Longwood, NC - you can just enjoy the bowl from afar from here.  Check out the pics and videos below and don't forget to send us info on your own backyard ramp here.

Juice Ad

above photos by Chadwick Digital Arts

Colby's 3ft Mini

What we have here seems to be the basic 3ft by 10ft mini (looks kind of like my ramp from the very first post). Colby sent me some info on his 3ft mini-ramp.  This ramp is located in Sullivan, NH.

From what Colby tells us, the ramp took only about 2 weekend to build back in 2004 or so. He says that the wood cost about 400 bucks or so and the metal cost about $200, so about 600 bones total for this ramp. I've never got to skate the ramp so I can't personally talk about about it, but it definitely looks like a fun little ramp to sesh. If you happen to be swinging by the Sullivan, NH area, shoot Colby an e-mail here. Below are some pics and a short vid of the ramp so you can check it out.

Secret Barnyard Bowl

This one's a little different than previous posts.  I've been living in Syracuse for almost two years now, and for the first year all I heard about was this mysterious bowl hidden away in some dude's barn. I kept asking and trying to figure out whose it was, and how I could skate there.  Finally some good friends of mine I skate with let me know about it and told me they skate it a few times each week.  The one thing is, it is a pretty decent drive from Syracuse (about 25-30 mins or so) - but totally worth it.  This bowl is really fun to skate, but it definitely takes some getting used to.  It's about 4ft tall but it has some pretty steep tranny on it.  Once you learn how to ride it though, this bowl rips.  The owner, a dude named Drew, KILLS IT.  He's about 48 years old and skates like he's 17.  Every time I go there he does something that blows me away.  I talked to him the last time I was there and he was telling me that it started as a little mini ramp about 20 years ago and grew slowly into a complete bowl after years of building and donations.  The two smaller/tight corners are completely cement - and if you're not careful they'll mess you up!  Unfortunately I can't give away any info on the location or anything like that, I don't think Drew would appreciate it too much, but if you're in the Syracuse area and are lucky enough, you might be able to get out to this bowl somehow haha.  Anyways, here are some pics I took so you can check it out, and below is a video that Nick from Gnartifact filmed of drew shredding.

Deep in the heart of Texas!

Donald Veloz, who a co-founder/designer/carpenter/fabricator/Skateboarder at the ramp company Belligerent Building hooked it up with some pretty dope photos from some projects they have done. They're a company based out of Houston, Texas and from what he tells me they do mostly backyard/garage/private ramp building - but they have also built two skateparks as well. Most of the photos below are from their latest backyard creation (which looks insanely fun to skate), but there are also some photos from skateparks they've worked on as well. Enjoy, and if you want to get in touch with Donald about Belligerent Building and their ramps, send him an e-mail here, or check out his facebook page here.

While we wait...

I have some ramps that I definitely want to post about, but either waiting for clips/photos or to speak to some of the owners... But in the meantime, check out this sick footage of Dave Bergthold's ramp and some of the dudes from $lave shredding!  Transworld posted this feature on the ramp a few months back which you can check out here.  If you remember our post on the Threesixteen ramp, then this bowl should look somewhat familiar.  In any case, this clip is what backyard skating is all about - sick shredding, some brews, and good times.

* Photos by Mike Sinclair at skateparkoftampa.com

Korchock Bros Backyard Ramp

I met these guys while skating the Mack Park Skatepark in Indiana, Pennsylvania (if you're ever in western PA, check out the park, it's definitely worth going to). These dudes both rip and have a pretty dope backyard setup they were willing to share with the blog. Unfortunately I haven't got to shred it yet, but it looks like a lot of fun, and it has a fun looking Euro gap with and a long wooden ramp leading to a really sick quarter-pipe. If you ever happen to be going through Western PA near the Saltsburg area - right between Pittsburgh and Indiana - shoot these guys an e-mail. During the school year they can both be found ripping Mack Park as well.

"My brother and I always wanted to build a miniramp, so we decided to save up some money and convince our parents to let us build it on our driveway in the front yard area. We had prior experience in building ramps so all we needed was to draw up the design and make a few models (pictured below (euro)).
The miniramp is 24 feet long by 12 feet wide. 3 foot 8 inch tall transitions with a 4 foot cantilevered deck on the one side and 2 foot deck on the other. We built the miniramp in the summer of '05, and replace the tempered masonite at least once every year.
This past summer we decided to add on to the miniramp and built a 7 foot high quarterpipe with a euro gap going up to the miniramp. The euro gap to the miniramp is 3 feet long by 3 feet wide, and the total lenght of the ramp is 30 feet long running perpendicular to the miniramp. It is 6 feet wide by 8 inches off of the ground. The quarterpipe is 8 feet high total from the ground. There is a tight 2 foot deck to drop in from, so we had to build a railing because of how sketchy it is up there. My brother and I designed and built everything from the miniramp to the entire euro/quarterpipe combo. It took us about 2 weeks to build the miniramp and 1 week to build the euro/quarterpipe combo.
If anybody is interested on shredding our ramps, we live just outside of Saltsburg, PA. My email address is zxxp@iup.edu. We are going to change the wood this spring so the ramps will be in great shape again for summer.You can contact myself (Keith Korchok) or my brother (Kevin Korchok) at byxp@iup.edu
Here are a couple pictures and videos from our ramps." - Keith Korchok

These guys do some really good film work so the videos are definitely work watching and also check out the snowboard videos these twins put out - there is some INSANE footage including a double backflip at 4:17 in Part 2 of their video (below)

Check out their snowboarding in "Lost in Loyalhanna"

The ThreeSixteen Bowl

Sorry for the delay since last post, but this ramp is definitely worth the wait! If you are from anywhere near SouthEastern PA and you haven't skated this bowl, you're missing out big time.  Jon Crans and the guys at ThreeSixteen had this 1,200 sq ft monster built starting in 2005.  Team Pain, the company responsible for some of the biggest and most well-known ramps in skating built this beast, and it is no doubt one of the best built ramps I've ever ridden.  The ramp is located in Brandamore, PA, which is about 45 minutes or so outside of Philly.

If you are ever in the area, you should make it a point to come to one of the Thursday night sessions - you will be happy you did.  Jon and Bob Barndt, who run ThreeSixteen and the ramp, are two of the raddest guys I've ever met and definitely have a heart for skateboarding and the camaraderie of skate culture.  Jon talks about the bowl and why it was built in an awesome short video located here (video by michaelfernandezphoto.com).  The one thing I love about the bowl is that every Thursday, you get the chance to skate with guys from all over PA and NJ, who range in age from 6 to 60.  The location is also amazing - the bowl is overlooking an awesome little river and a brook and is located on a beautiful piece of land at The Camp at Old Mill.  There's a basketball court with some boxes, ramps, and rails for those who want to mix it up a little as well.  ThreeSixteen also puts on a few really fun contests each year that get backed by some big names, including Black Box Dist., Osiris, and Bones to name a few - a few years ago Ray Barbee and Chuck Treece came to skate and play live music for the Bowl Jam which was really awesome.

Check out some of the pics below and the videos and for more info on the bowl, location, and Thursday night sessions go to the website for ThreeSixteen and click on "316 Skate Night Bowl Session."

photo: Shanti Snyder

photo: Shanti Snyder

photo: Shanti Snyder

photo: Shanti Snyder

* I claim no ownership to the photos and videos above. They were found on the 316 website and YouTube. I will remove any material upon request of the owner.