We went to the new skatepark in Happy Valley, Oregon last night. This detail of bizarro Rich captured in panorama mode actually does a good job of representing our disjointed session there. Not visible in this shot are the 30 some odd kids roaming the perimeter. Imagine your entire peripheral vision filled with kids on skateboards, scooters, wiggle sticks and bikes, all about to run into you. It was pinball city.
The pictures make everything seem larger than it is in real life. The surface is smooth, and this would be a good little spot when there are only a handful of kids there. The semi-“Y” shape of the layout quickly turns things hair-raising as soon as you have to navigate people than you can count on one hands – especially when all skill levels are present, including beginners at skatepark etiquette. While we had fun, I can’t imagine ever wanting to chance the trip out there against the odds of it being even somewhat busy. The park is at one corner of one of those giant sports complexes. The weather was beautiful, and this little slab of concrete easily had the highest population per square foot of all the areas. This park is supposed to be a stopgap or proof of concept for a larger park. It’s clear that Happy Valley needs more than this.
Here’s the entire panorama. Some of these kids must have been vampires, because they aren’t all showing up in this shot.
View from the top.
View of the top
I caught this shot in the 5 second window where this pocket wasn’t packed with kids hanging their feet or scooters over the edge of the coping.
This is what it usually looks like.
View on the super-sized pump bump. iPhone’s don’t do so well shooting into the sun.
Here’s some video footage I shot at the Happy Valley skatepark during a relatively calm period:
7 comments
corvette cancer
Hot Flat work!!! I don’t get it, did a california skate park crew come up with this? Ouch! Evergreen nice try. I’m going south to ride some NEW DREAMLAND.
Prickly Pete
Benches are for skating. Skateparks are for sitting.
john e
The “video you shot” is sesame street animation–am I missing something?
kilwag
It was like being in a pinball game…
john e
Oh, now I get it. Sorry…
conahan
Fitz
You nailed it, Randy. That place is a really fun park, and it’s truly home to the least experienced skatepark-users of all time.
Welsh and I went out there, and lasted a solid hour before several carloads of suburban preteens piled out of their parents’ land-yachts, and commenced attempting to ride all manner of wheeled objects. Amusement quickly gave way to a trip to Brooklyn Street.
Oddly, Le Parkour was not represented at Happy Valley. Pretty sure heelys were somewhere around…
And as we all have argued countless times, I couldn’t care less what you’re riding at a park. It’s the lack of simple flow-ettiquette that bums me out.