Who says vert ramps don’t occur naturally in the “street?” (I smell an idea for one of MC’s skatepark terrain comics.) This must be one of those elliptical transitions that were all the rage for about a month in the late 80’s. Actually, back in the 80’s these support structures for the upper level at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (or ORD) were totally skateable, or at least I was never busted there. Unfortunately, I don’t have any actual skate photos of this spot, as I only rode here while waiting to be picked up. I never made a “skate specific” trip to the airport. These pictures are from when I was traveling back to Chicago in 2000, at which point some sort of skate stopper devices had been added, for how long I don’t know. I remember these being as fast as regular U-shaped slides. Do you have any action shots from this spot? Send ’em in!

The minor crisis in journalistic integrity is over. The person who sent me the photos had not meant to imply that they were his own, which was why he couldn’t provide any additional information. I did find the original source, which was a link on NCDSA.com from a Swede named Toby:

It’s an old timber trench/ditch that isn’t used today. All you need is a broom to clean it out in the spring and you’re good to go. It’s about 450 yards long and made out of metal. If you ever are in Umeå, Sweden, mail me and we’ll take you there!

Toby has two photos and videos of the ditch/pipe mixed in amongst three pages in an incredibly slow gallery. They are more atmosphere shots than gnarly skateboard action. Same goes for the video. Looks like a really fun spot.

Photos 1 – Photos 2 – Videos.

A skate buddy of mine from a different life (Bob Mechtly) sent me these pictures of this old metal timber pipe/ditch in Sweden that isn’t being used today. He said it’s about 450 yards long. What he didn’t say, was how it rode and what he was doing there. Dang. Looks like Michigan. Was this a timber waterslide? Good luck wading through the internet trying to find that information. It seems like a track would have made more sense than pumping water, unless they were able to divert a natural water source. But then the downstream… oh right. This is a skateboarding web site and not the Bureau of Land Management. Looks like a lot of fun. Rarely do we see something skateable that is so long… Enlargements after the jump.

UPDATE: There was a little bit of a mix up. These Aren’t Bob’s photos, I’m tracking down the originals.

Chris from Old School Skateboarding went on a group mission organized by Josh Burt for what was originally supposed to be the Portland Roll-in Challenge, but ended up being “let’s find the jankiest and roughest shit in Portland and try and skate it or roll over the top of it.” Looked like it was a good time. I would have liked to cover it if I had known about it. It’s almost as if there is some sort of diverse skateboard community in Portland with other web sites besides this one. I know, it sounds crazy, but I might have to investigate. Check it out on Old School Skateboarding, or watch the video after the jump.

[Source: Sleestak]

Hectic in Seattle sent in some pictures that have nothing to do with each other, well at least two of them do. He thanked me for my time and consideration. I am thanking him for the pictures.

Clockwise: John “Grizz” Vallio at the cancer bowl in the Hills circa 1997. Danny Roland at the Tidy Bowl in Hell Paso, Texas. Dave Tobin at Tedders. Clay at his own house. You can see them enlarged after the jump.

Gleaned this from a commenter (Curb Cobain, You’re killing me! Ha! Good one!) Check it out at Ghettopool Ripper, a new blog that just started, based out of Germany. (?)

When he’s not busy dethroning Enemy Combatant (who dethroned Neil) as most hated commenter (Actually, EC must have graduated from charm school lately.) Colin Walsh (He rules, you know!) is sending me pics of this mystery hole in Oregon and trying to get me to plug the Benton County Skateboarding Alliance, Inc. who are “trying to get $$$$$$$ for a better park in the cor.” Enlargements after the jump.

Dave Tobin sent me a picture to tie in with the Israeli energy bar commercial that has skateboarding in it. It’s some very skateable architecture by David Resnick designed as a memorial for John F. Kennedy outside of Jerusalem, Israel. I had a hard time finding pictures of the “Jerusalem Kennedy Memorial” online, but if you type in “Yad Kennedy” you get better results. Must be hebrew. Still, there’s not a whole lot of information available on this site. The monument was built in 1966 with funds donated by Jewish communities in the USA. Would this be called street skating even though it has tranny?

Ryan Hass hipped us to these shots, dude. They were taken in Rio at a pedestrian underpass south of the Flamingo Park. You can see full frame enalarged versions at Ramp Locals Only. Brasil – Brazil… Next thing you know we’ll have to start calling it Myanmar instead of Burma. I mean, George W doesn’t bother, why should we? (Warning! You have just experienced sarcasm.)

Our friend Tom Miller writes:

Just back from a work trip to Curitiba, Brasil. Conahan asked to shoot photos of anything interesting skate-related. Just when I was thinking I wasn’t going to see anything of note, we arrived at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum. The museum structure is novel, but skaters are going to be more interested in the walkway.

I couldn’t help but think if you call it “art” the dollars come running at you. If you call it “50 feet of mini ramp at Ed Benedict Park” suddenly the budget doesn’t allow for it until the mythological “phase 2.” We don’t need any more skateparks. We need public art that coincidentally accommodates skateboarding.

Nuff said.