Auby Taylor
by The lodge ·
Image Kid Universe space traveler Auby Taylor goes back in time to skate one of the most infamous ramps in the history of skateboarding, the “Clown Ramp” in Dallas, Texas.
Boards available at www.imagekiduniverse.com
Filming by: D.J. Raineri Edited by: Shane Darnell
Music: Gavin’s song – Bill Wilder
Guest Skater: Isaac Martinez
A brief history of the Clown Ramp*** In the late 1970’s a company out of Florida called Fiber Rider produced pre-fab fiberglass skateparks and “Skate Ball” game units. Skate Ball was essentially a human pinball machine that was painted like a circus attraction and skaters would pay 25 cents to ride for 60 seconds and score points by riding over the holes in the ramp. Eventually, with skateboarding progressing and changing, and vert becominggaining in popularity, the Skate Ball pieces were rearranged to form a vert ramp and Jeff Newton an alien abductee who started Zorlac Skateboards, bought the blue colored sections of ramp and had it set up at the Donel Distribution warehouse in Dallas, Texas where It became known as the blue ramp. The blue ramp originally had no vert and no coping but it was where Texas legends Dan Wilkes, Jeff Phillips, John “Tex” Gibson, Craig Johnson, Mike Crum, and many others learned to ride vert and In the early 80’s the ramp was sold and moved to Bachman Lake’s “Skate Times” in east Dallas. The clown colored sections of the ramp were added to the blue ramp to form a wider, better ramp that was known infamously as the “Clown Ramp” where Skate time hosted the first Shut up And Skate contests where the Texans would go up against the California skaters and others from all over the world. It became one of the most recognizable vert ramps in the world due to its unique appearance and fiberglass exterior but was frequently problematic and prone to damage. After being nearly destroyed by a Tornado, in 1988 the Clown Ramp was taken down and its pieces scattered throughout the cosmos. Fast-forward to 2019, Gred Hinds makes a shocking discovery that there was a second Skate Ball unit that had been in storage, in a barn, under a tarp, for the last 40 years effectively preserving it like a time capsule from the past. Greg purchased the ramp and it was set up at Mike Crum’s 4DWN skatepark in Dallas, not far from the original location of the ramp, where it was skated for about 6 months before being taken back down again to make room for another, more modern vert ramp. Today it sits in storage but who knows when and where the Clown Ramp will pop up again. Leave a comment in the comments section below if you’d like to see the Clown Ramp brought back to life once more!
I live in Pensacola, Fl and sometime around 1987 give or take a couple years, there was a 10-12 ft half pipe that was called the blue ramp I used to go and skate. I remember Lance Mountain came ad did a demo there at a contest. I seem to remember the ramp was built from pieces of another ramp and brought to the location here and built. Is it possible it was part of the original Blue ramp or built from some pieces as the Blue ramp was?
I saw a section of the clown ramp in Dell Rapids SD many years ago. I was told our little town purchased it in an attempt to build us a skate park. The skate park never got built. And for a long time it sat by a shed on the edge of town apart in sections. I was 12 at the time but I vividly Remember the colors and some kind of lights built into the ramp. If anyone wants to reassemble it. I would start with the city office in Dell Rapids SD and ask if what they did with it.