…In which Skate and Annoy takes a momentary time out from snarky comments to put on the serious hat of a legitimate editorial news outlet. UPDATE: A Spohn spokesperson has pointed out that Spohn is not a plaintiff in any lawsuit against California Skateparks or ARC ramps: FYI we never filed a lawsuit against ARC (we were a whistleblower in that one) and are definitely not filing one against CA Skateparks. We simply protested their bid rigging practices with the City of LA. No one is suing anyone. …We made a complaint under the LA Contractor Responsibility Ordinance based on allegations that CA failed to disclose Ciaglia’s interests in his various entities including Site Design Group and Street League, failure to disclose lawsuits against California (Skateparks), failure to disclose his relationship with Dyrdek as part of the multiple millions in sole sourced contracts, attempting to bid rig a previous bid, etc. The City of LA requires disclosure of all of those things as part of its very restrictive pre-qualification process. Right now, the City is investigating. But there is no lawsuit from Spohn against CA Sk8 or Joe. All we are trying to get is a fair shot at the…

Iowa isn’t really on the map yet, as far as skateparks go, but Spohn Ranch aims to change that. Photos from the new Oskaloosa, Iowa skatepark after the jump.

Spohn Ranch is giving a facelift to a lowlyconcrete slab in Ft. Duchesne, Utah to make a plaza style skatepark for the Ute Indian Tribe. The tribe has 617 people, each human being gets 10.53 square feet of skate able terrain at the end of the deal. You do the math, or look at the pictures on Flickr.

Check out a gaggle of good action shots from the recently finished Rowley Park skatepark in Gardena, California thanks to Spohn Ranch. Video too.

A very disturbing, depraved, lewd an lascivious photograph after the jump. Concrete can be inherently sensuous, but Spohn Ranch may just be the Larry Flint of skatepark companies. Shield your eyes to protect your delicate sensibilities after the jump.

The news of the lawsuit against ARC seemed almost to good to be true, and maybe it is. The American Ramp Company has responded to the lawsuit online, and some of the details are about as sketchy as… well, an ARC ramp setup.

Amongst skateboarders that have actually been to more than one skatepark, American Ramp Company is easily one of, if not the most hated so-called skatepark companies. They’re basically a playground equipment manufacturer that has done really well for themselves with clueless park districts and municipalities across the country. Well enough that they’ve acquired other companies in order to break into the concrete market. They’ve used questionable financial logic in proselytizing their prefab metal ramp program, largely based on how durable they are and cheap to install. There are examples on the web of ARC projects that ended in disappointment. Someone noticed a pattern, because the law offices of Dermer Behrendt are bringing a law suit against the American Ramp Company on behalf of the United States and a long list of plaintiffs. Why the United States of America? Not because ARC is an offense to all skateboarders and skateboarding was invented in America (Damnit!), but because ARC installed a bunch of junk on some Air Force bases. Mission Accomplished! American pastimes? Lawsuits and Skateboarding. I’m not a fan of frivolous lawsuits, but this one gives me a warm fuzzy. Still, I am worried that this could somehow adversely affect other…

You’re looking at massive portable and reconfigurable concrete bowl made by Spohn Ranch. In much the same way that you’ve seen Tony Hawk’s metal framed vert ramp carted along in pieces to assorted demos and Boom Boom Huck Jams, except it’s concrete, and more complex. It’s a pretty amazing from a technical standpoint, something that heavy than can be set up, then torn down and transported on regular roadways, to be set up again in a different configuration. The current incarnation is still in beta. As it is now, the waterfall and intermediary walls are poured in place on each stop, but plans are to get those fabricated and surfaced for reuse as well. The rough sketch for the bowl (shallow 7′ 6″ , deep 12′) was conceived by Chris Miller before being worked over in CAD to engineer it. The individual sections are laser cut, with 3/16″ of steel between every other section. It’s supposed to be precise enough to not feel the seem on rollover. A CNC cut floor template helps everything fit together. The coping is modular as well. The goal over the next 5 years or so is to build a giant library of sections to…

ESPN has let out a few photos of the skate structure for X Games 17. They chose the now more commonplace method of pouring a concrete over a wooden substructure. This kind of facility is temporary and seemingly very wasteful, although the concrete and wood can be “recycled” into new concrete and new ramps. However, I’m pretty skeptical that they are going to store all that wood somewhere until the next time they use it. Landfill seems more likely. On the other hand, the Dew Tour is going a different route via a familiar name in precast concrete. Don’t confuse this with ordinary prefab, these massive pieces are cut with the aid of lasers and designed to be interchangeable and self aligning. The plan is to eventually build up a large library of interchangeable parts. If you’re confused about the strange look of these, then join the club. We’re supposed to get more information shortly, so stay tuned. SPeaking of the Dew Tour, I heard a rumor that PDX local Dave Tobin was being flown back to judge!

So I went to the Dalles, Oregon to check out the new Spohn Ranch skatepark about a week ago. I remembered to set the alarm so I could get there before it was overrun with kids. I remembered to set the timer for the coffee maker. I remembered to charge the camera battery. I remembered my tripod. I remembered my sunglasses. I remembered CD’s for the 80 mile car ride. I forgot my wallet. I forgot my skateboard. Super!