Random Skateboard Memories: Massive Backside Grab

My first couple of times at a skatepark, I couldn’t do that much. I could barely ollie and couldn’t do any flip tricks,
grind, or launch any airs. The only thing I could do was drop in on some transition and roll up and down some
ramps. Of course, there were some ramps I would never think of dropping in on.

Towards the back of the park, there was a 12 foot vert ramp. This thing was a beast. At the time, it was the only
ramp I ever saw that had a flight of stairs to walk up just to get to the top of the ramp. Just out of curiosity, I
walked up to the top of the ramp and looked down. And all I saw was complete death. It could have been my
eyes playing tricks on me but it looked like the top of the ramp caved in on itself. The top didn’t look vertical.
It looked like you would drop 2 or 3 feet before catching transition. This vert ramp was either the biggest ramp
in the park or tied for it. There was one ramp that was probably bigger.

At the very back of the park was a massive quarterpipe that covered the entire back wall. There was a section
cut out making a channel gap because exit doors to the skate park were located there. This quarterpipe was at
least 12 feet tall.

I don’t think it was ever intended for anyone to hit the coping or do a halfpipe air on it because the top couple of
feet were covered with various stickers. Just slapping a sticker as high as you could was an achievement.

When I was young, I was standing in the back area of the park and I saw this one guy barel down
some ramps heading towards the giant quarter pipe. He launched himself up and I saw this guy get about
2 to 3 feet above the coping. He grabbed the board backside so he was doing a melon grab 2 to 3 feet out. He
couldn’t go too much higher otherwise he’d hit the ceiling. After floating there for a moment his wheels touched
down a few feet below transition and he rolled away perfect. He was the only man I saw that ever did that.