Kevin lipslides the steakhouseMore than fourteen years ago, I huddled under a blanket in the cold watching some of the most incredible skating I have ever seen. I sat on a hard, wooden bench for two days straight in absolute awe of the pros and amateurs from around the world who had travelled to the Skatepark of Houston to compete in the annual Shut Up and Skate contest. Allen Losi was raging 8′ airs and ollies to fakie. Tod Swank did a mcTwist. Travis Burke heckled Tony Hawk to do Gymnast Plants. Scott Stanton lofted Madonnas higher than a house. John Shultes skated to King Diamond’s song about his grandmother. As an amateur, Bill Weiss did back-to-back mcTwists until he was pretty much spinning them on the flatbottom and still fit a 720 into his run. And it all transpired on the Hurricane Ramp- a metal-covered behemoth that had been built just the year before with the following dimensions- 11.5′ tall, 10′ trannies. Huge coping and opposing extensions.

In the years to follow, Shut Up and Skate faded as the National Skateboard Association took it over and subsequently collapsed. Eventually, the Skatepark of Houston also faded and closed down. The mighty Hurricane Ramp was dismantled and its steel skin lay in a field rusting for the years since.

Mikey ollies over the channelSaturday’s session at the Banana Farm began hesitatingly for many of the participants. Mikey, for instance, thought he might need to spend the afternoon with his wife at Bed Bath & Beyond and then have dinner at the Olive Garden. I had studying to do for my certification test on Monday. Adam needed to get his car worked on by James in Round Rock. But we couldn’t resist the gravity of the Banana Farm and committed to come out and skate just a bit. Maybe some relaxed riding to cruise some new lines and such. Adam and Travis went to cannibalize materials from Cary Jackson’s house. The tight quarter pipe that Adam built on the platform in front of the tiki bar needed more than 1/4″ plywood as the sizeable holes demonstrated. It took hardly any time at all for us to bend and apply the metal sheets which had originally comprised the surface of the Texas Ramp @ 51st and Duval. We had an extra sheet left over which we laid on the platform adjacent to the 90-hip to improve manual transfers, backside lipslide transfers, and roll-ins.

Like so many other parts of the Banana Farm Ramp, the blue-star quarter is challenging to ride and yields successful tricks grudgingly to the skaters who can make the speed to approach it and control their quick descent on its fast transition. Immediately, Travis, Mikey, Adam, and Kevin brought grinds across the parking-block channel. As the day progressed, more-and-more friends showed up and also tested themselves on what Craig Moore asks that we not describe as the “New Metal.” The session built momentum and we all found ourselves staying at the ramp far longer than we intended. Food was ordered. Beer was retrieved from the store. Lee Brooks broke out his crazy camera gear and had tripod-mounted flashes stationed on every platform. I ran around snapping pics whenever I wasn’t skating.

Cary Jackson backside ollieBy the collection of skaters who had participated, the event seemed reminiscent of the few sessions I had attended at Jason Schmalley’s ramp in the late nineties. Looking at the nü metal on the quarter pipe, I couldn’t help but think that it came at the loss of two other great ramps- the Texas Ramp and then Cary Jackson’s. The Texas Ramp had to be torn down after the complaints of an unreasonable neighbor. Cary Jackson’s ambitious Noah’s Ark has lost the support and momentum of the skate community to see it to completion and Cary has basically pulled the plug, which saddened me to think about what might have been, but won’t.

Scott ollies to kicker rampIt wasn’t like I was getting depressed, though. Everyone was on top of their game and shredding. Some of the stuff I saw was unbelievable, like lil’ moot pulling lipslides in the over-vert of the steakhouse. Clint did rock-and-rolls on the tall extension guiding his re-entry with his hand on a treetrunk. Switchy-G commented during one of Adam’s runs, “Am I supposed to ask him for his autograph now?” It was in the context of all this remarkable skating that I looked down at another part of the ramp and remembered that earlier this year Travis had scored several sheets of metal from a field where the remains of the Hurricane Ramp lay biodegrading in the damp Houston climate. Without that haul, it’s unlikely the Banana Farm Ramp would ever have been completed. If you weren’t a participant in Saturday’s session or that Shut Up and Skate contest in 1989, I recommend that you check out my photos and insert your own thoughts on the concept of reincarnation.