I found out about this from a non skater, you know, a civilian. Turns out the new indoor park is next door to one of those warehouses full of inflatable bounce houses for kids. My informant was there for a kid’s birthday party. I went to go check it out on a Saturday but nobody was there. The place looks like it’s still under construction. From what I can see, it’s standard indoor street course type fare. Basically a one hit back and forth affair. From my vantage point ( standing on the roof of the SUV backed up against the roll up door) it also looks like really close quarters. There’s also what appears to be long miniramp with one end bowled in. Before actually seeing this place I thought it might ease the pain of The Department shutting down, but I’m fairly certain it’s not going to fill that gap. Ripzu is admittedly run by parents of skateboarding children looking for a sterile environment for kids to skate. Not that the Department is especially gritty. The rates seem high but this place might actually survive based on the fact that a lot of parents are already going next door with little kids on a regular basis. The Ripzu site (not sure what the name means?) has some construction shots that are a lot more clear but not as recent my spy-cam shot.
25 comments
Penny Pinch
Sorry to say this but In 2 Years this TECH DECK PARK will be just a fart in the wind…U better find a good place to donate all your shitty ramps when Your Tird money pit of skate park fails….JUST WAIT
Joe Booth
I’ve skated Ripzu a few times and it’s a fun place. I’m sure they’ll keep improving the layout as time goes on with new additions and features. Any new skate spots are good for skaters. I’m stoked that there will be another option for skating in the winter.
If you haven’t been out there, here’s some footage of the park with Tyler Durden and Perry Hall.
http://stillnotsponsored.com/community/videos/id_808/
Daniel Jones
just to answer your guys argument i was at DOS second week of their opening month and it was huge from day 1…. no more trying to skate Burnside with piss and bird shit all over the place… also why are your prices so high? just from seeing your page its no where near the size of DOS and for that fact skate barn in renton…. which is still 2 bucks cheaper… i do think you have to figure out your cost’s at some point cause parents wont keep dishing out cash for their little ones for too long..
ALSO WTF is with the “no rollerbladers”? are you really going to turn down 10 to 15 kids who want to session your park at the rate your asking??? i have been skating for 15 years been to every park around the northwest indoor/outdoor i was even around before the Vancouver swift park opened and it was just the pit then when the swift park opened we had skated it for the first 2 years and then slowly watched it turn from “THE PLACE” to a deserted place even driving by it now middle of a sunny day its DEAD… anyways we fruitbooters intend on making a session happen at your park and look forward to you taking our money
Thor
Swift Dead. Are you serious? I agree that park is a turd and I wont huck my fat around that place but its all the kids in that hood have and it’s still sessioned heavy daily. Drive by on a rainy day and that place has a session going down.Prime example why we need thousands of more parks of all types built.
Take some deep breaths and support all Public skate parks!
DickCancer
woo wee!!! Chris and Carl. Carl and Chris p i s s i n g up a tree. Why don’t you both come and skate with me, for free.
Carl rip it up and forget about indoor facilities. 99.999% suck puyallup animal farm horse apendages. Pay to play Chris???
Unless you have the MAN (see dreamland for definition) come in and throw down CRETE (wood is old hat) it’s nothing new.
Unless, it’s Bob’s or Dway’s or maybe Tony’s hot wheel loop there isn’t much need.
Take you kid on the fkn road, bond and show him what’s really goin on in the skate world.
a friend of mine drove from Sacramento with his kid all the way to Lincoln City. I dragged him around to Aumsville, Tigard, Gabriel, and then to Lincoln city and back to Mcminville, Newberg, and Tigard again. Two days of the best in the WORLD. I’m done, close up RIP-zu.
Carl
..or not. It is your business and you’re free to run it how you want. We should probably just agree to disagree since we’ve had it out and are no closer to an agreement on who’s right.
Carl
Ok, so I either need to rent the whole place, be female, get a coupon, buy a gift certificate, or spend $75? How can someone skate without giving you enough money to fund a skate vacation someplace on the coast?
I offered you money, I did not want a handout. Why won’t you just be honest? This is now the third time I’m asking you.
You keep comparing to DOS. You cannot do that, as you don’t provide any of the same level of service.
I don’t even know what to say to the comment about my son. I think you give your spot a bit too much credit, and it was pretty insulting. You may want to rethink statements like that.
Chris
Try all you want to challenge my crediability but it’s not working. Yelling “you’ll never make it and I’ll go skate for free somewhere else” in front of other customers is hardly as polite and innocent as you make it out to be. Everyone on here that knows you, can see through your spin.
What surprises me most is your hypocracy. I’ve spent several thousand dollars of my own money to provide you with another skateboarding location. Since you were in here bragging about your great insurance and great job let’s see you put $12 where your mouth is and support those who are supporting you. Expecting a handout from me without the courtesy of introducing yourself and shaking my hand won’t get you anywhere, especially at your yoga studio.
Sure I can list some of the options. We could start with a facility rental at DOS is $250 for 2 hours and we are $160 for 3 hours. Or ladies are free on Mondays, T Shirt tuesday, over 30 is half price on Wednesday, threesome thursday, or getting a hold of one of the three coupons that were mailed to 40,000 homes this week. You could also watch the Kufo Half Off Deals website in the middle of August and purchase a $50 gift certificate for $25. Better yet if you spend $75 in our pro-shop we’ll give you a free skate session.
In the end the only person who suffered was your son, who just wanted to have fun skating with Dad. Which, by the way, got me thinking about a parent/kid session that would be a buy a kid session and the parent skates for free. So keep watching the site it will probably be added.
With all of this said, I hope you take the time out of your day to come back and start things over. With as good of a skater as you and your son are I’m sure the two of you will find creative ways to have fun on our ramps.
I wish you the best skating, where ever you choose to do it.
Chris
Carl
So guys.. just for the record.. he refused to hire a local skater to build, and has turned local skaters away for not paying enough.
Carl
Chris,
I politely walked out, so again, you’re not being honest in your dealings by saying I threw a tantrum. At face value it absolves you, but we both know that I asked you if $10 for an hour was fair, to which you replied ‘no’. I told my son we couldn’t skate there, and we left.
DOS is 4-5 dollars for an hour/hour.5, depending on what you have. They never turn skaters away, and man.. they were as big then as they are currently. They opened in the location they are in now. (??)
Your ramps are sub par, probably because you wouldn’t pay Benji prevailing wage of $20/hour.
This is not like the yoga biz, where you can just open up shop and it’s all good.
Can you list the stated ways to skate at a discount? Of course, purchasing a membership is not an answer. Let’s focus on exactly what we have to give you to get in at our convenience, and not yours.
Chris
The feedback on the park has been positive from everyone who’s skated it. So don’t knock it until you try it.
Carl, unfortunately when you throw a tantrum in front of other customers there wasn’t much I could do.
I don’t know what your “legit” comment means. The ramps are there, the business is open for boarders (not bikes, scooters, or roller blades), there are lots of ways to get discounts on skating, and the pricing is competitve with any other activity that the business is competing againts. A 2.5 hour session with DOS is $4 per hour, same as our hourly rate. A 3 hour session with DOS is only $.67 less per hour than our rate. Ripzu is legit and over time will be a skate destination just like DOS has become. DOS was not what it is today the first week it opened.
I look forward to supporting the skate scene but I won’t be able to do so if I’m out of business. August 7th is our grand opening party, feel free to come by from 1 – 5 and skate for free.
Chris, Ripzu Owner
Carl
The rates are way higher than DOS, and the terrain is built for toddlers. I’ll give it to you that the capsule bowl thing looks fun (and I’m a street guy) but the other shit is packed in so small and tight that it’s of limited functionality.
I offered you $5 per head for one hour. You turned us away. This is all that skaters need to know to save a trip, and all I need to know to save my families several trips per week that we would have been making, as we do to DOS.
Lastly, Tyler is not pro and third person trolling is obvious and sad. Stop this charade and just start being legit in your dealings.
Mac
I can’t pay for an hour or two, even if I’m a “member”? Besides the bowl, this flexibility was one of the best things about DoS.
If I’ve got to pay $12 for a “session” (which, for me, is about 1.5 hours at most), no way.
Colby
The parks open and ready to skate. It’s well built with quality materials throughout. It’s worth checking out. Yeah, the rates are higher than DOS but that wood ain’t cheap! Hopefully us supporting him will help him “support the scene”.
carl
The $12 price is not negotiable. I tried to get an hour for me and the kid and he wasn’t having any of it.
He’s a slick used car salesman type who isn’t into skating at all, so don’t worry about that ‘support the scene’ stuff with this one.
lou sassel
bring your sack lunch, they have a picnic table
Carl
I’m so confused now.
conahan
Half-price for 30 years old and over all day Wednesdays.
jeff
$10 – $15 for a 3 hour session? Being “free from the unchecked negative influences at most outdoor parks….” is costly.
sandor
Maybe it’s supposed to be Rip Zoo, bit didn’t want to dirty their image by actually using the word “zoo.”
colin
under “gear rental” you can rent a Board Only… does that mean you have to bring trucks and wheels?
Carl
Those rates are coming down or you’re outta here.
egbert
I believe you’re right. DOS non member session was $10.
jesus crust
Who is building this ? It looks, from the quality of the build , that they have built ramps before .
bailgun
judging by lack of skatelite or even masonite, coupled with the single piece of coping on that spine, i’d say they’re being built by qualified contractors that don’t know jack shit about skateboarding.
here’s hoping they lose their shirts.