The 10 Most Famous Skateboarding Spots of All Time
January 6th, 2009 Mitch
10. Chaffey High
Some of you have either heard of Chaffey High or you haven’t. It’s located in Ontario, Ca. Regardless if you have heard of it its one of those spots that you have seen due to all the exposure it got. For a while you couldn’t watch a skateboarding video without seeing this spot at least 5 times in a video. It’s filled with ledges and manual pads everywhere. There was a huge biker / skater feud that went down a while back ago. Some kind of agreement between the two in which they each had their own sides to the school to ride. Stuff happened and one thing led to another in which the bikers started tearing up the skate ledges with there pegs. Leaving many of the buttery skate ledges unskateable. Which would probably would explain the sudden disappearance of all the current day Chaffey footage. A lot of skateboarding history went down at that school though it still stands to this day and I still feel it would be worth checking out. I hear you don’t even get kicked out from there. How cool is that?
9. Belmont
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Belmont high is where the recent DC king of LA contest was held. The all too famous 9 stair resides there alongside a manual pad which has been in countless videos. You can really see the abuse to a lot of the obstacles in that school due to the countless skateboard shredding that has gone down there. I have been there twice and have yet to have been kicked out yet. I have even skated there when what seemed like school was still in session. Just make sure you park in a good location where your car won’t get jacked, there are some shady lurkers in the area. And as far as history goes everyone from Andrew Reynolds to Paul Rodriguez have graced a trick off the stair set. Nike even filmed a commercial there once. There is too much skate history there. And basically if you go there to try to get a trick done it has already probably been done. Time to get creative guys!
Here’s the vid coverage of the 2008 DC King of L.A.
8. Wilshire BLVD
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Wilshire is actually still a pretty buttery spot. There are two sides to the spot. There is a 10 on one side and a 15 on the other. Both have had there times of glory in skateboarding videos. The 15 has knobs on it at the moment. You literally have to ollie out a bit to hit the rail and past the knobs. The rails are super nice; almost like railroad tracks for you skateboard trucks. Absolutely perfect and smooth you rarely ever need wax. Andrew Reynolds ended his Baker 3 part there with that full cab of his. Bryan Herman 360 flipped it, Patrick Melcher hurricaned the rail, and tons of other tricks have been done off the almighty 15. The 10 has had tons and tons of tricks done down it as well. There are actually still tricks that I can think of that haven’t been done down the stair sets yet but this spot unlike the other two before mentioned is actually a bust. Sometimes you honestly get one try before you are getting kicked out. And that is even at night time. Once we had to bribe the security guard to give us a few tries. She declined us, sat her big ass on the rail so that we couldn’t skate it anymore, and then called the cops on us. Ouch.
7. Barcelona
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The whole city of Barcelona in general is a skate spot. There is no particular spot that sticks out more than another. Just going there in general would be freaking awesome! Every skateboarder should go there at least once in their lifetime. Marble ledges everywhere, architecture beyond your wildest dreams, and smooth ground that was absolutely made for your skateboard.
6. Love Park
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Love park is located in Philly the city of brotherly love. I see it as one of the original skate plazas. I would have loved to had gotten a chance to skate there in its heyday. Supposedly now you can’t even lay a foot in there let alone even hold your board near it without being in danger of getting ticketed. If you’re a skateboarder you know about Love Park. My first glance at the famous giant four was in the Toy Machine video “Jump Off A Building” where Kerry Getz threw down a kickflip down it for his ender. I forgot what video it was to but some dude ollied into the fountain when the water was still in it. That was pretty rad and has stuck in my mind forever. Stevie Williams filmed what seemed to be almost his entire part there in Transworld’s legendary video “The Reason”. Lines for day’s man.
5. Venice Beach
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Perhaps the most hassle free spot in the list. There is a skatepark there but it’s not really a skatepark. I see it as more of a street spot. There are also the double sand gaps and the all too famous ledges everywhere. On any given day you will find someone filming something there. Weather it be skate videos or just television crews shooting for an episode of whatever. The ledges are at chunk point already and it’s understandable, the manual pad is still good the gaps are sweet and if you follow the boardwalk you will find the famous Santa Monica triple set. You can basically film an entire skateboarding part there. Joey Brezinski, Chris Roberts, and all the ZJ boarding house riders can be seen there training there tech skills on the daily. Word of caution though, since it’s next to the beach count on your bearings getting jacked up by the sand. That’s the biggest downside about Venice. But it comes with the territory.
4. Brooklyn Banks
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If you are NYC the Brooklyn Banks is the spot to go to. Tons of skateboarders meet up there and it has this magical vibe of skateboarding history all around you. The small banks are gone but the bigger ones still remain thanks to Steve Rodriguez from 5boro skateboards. You can thank him for the magical banks still being there present day. Be sure to bring some wheels a bit bigger than 50mm. The ground can tear you up. Some of the bricks are lifted up a bit, but having the bricks there gives you that awesome sound when you roll around. Mmmm I can hear it now. Takatakatakatak.
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3. Hollywood High
This spot is a little bit to famous. People talk about this spot everywhere. And it’s amazing because you would think with so many people skateboarding it we wouldn’t even be able to walk into the spot let alone get a few tries. From it coming out in videos games to just about every other skateboard video in existence. Hollywood high is and always will be a famous skate spot. Just like its nearby neighbor Wilshire it has a double sided option of stair sets to skate. There isn’t quite as much room though. And it upgrades from a 12 stair to a 16 on the opposite side. It also almost acts as like a stage as well. You can actually walk up to the school and watch everyone skate it as if it were some kind of skateboard demo going down. It’s kind of funny in a way. And because of that you get a lot of pedestrians walking by and watching the skate action go down. Good luck finding parking its right near the Hollywood madness and road rage is ever present everywhere in the area. Interesting fact: The Jimmy Kimmel show is shot across from the stair set. I am not sure if they still do but a lot of live concerts have gone down there across from it as well. Have a skate session then watch a concert sounds rad haw?
2. Leap of Faith (18′ 8″ - 27 Stairs)
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As old and shut down as this spot is you would be amazed how much it still comes up in conversations. I could fill up a book with the amount of times I had heard the word “Leap of Faith”. The spot itself is unskateable. Jamie Thomas can be associated to the spot instantly due to him coming the closest to actually landing it. That famous photo of him can be seen everywhere. A lot of you have probably seen that rollerblader eat crap as well. Those two clips are well circulated in the internet world. If you get a chance to go to San Diego go to Point Loma high. Get down and take a look at the beast in person you will automatically gain respect for Jamie. To bad no one ever landed it. I am more than sure someone would have gotten it by now. There is a fence you can jump in the front of the school. The drop is viewable from the street you drive on. The fence is easy to go over. And seeing it from the side of the road doesn’t do it justice. Get down and look at it for yourself believe me its gnarly. To give you an idea of how tough it IS, watch this:
Or, check out this dude who busted his leg attempting it.
1. El Toro
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Those two words are echoed continuously as well throughout the skateboarding world. Who did what and what went down at El Toro can almost be set in some sort of stone checklist. The infamous 20 stair has made and broken careers. People have gotten so torn up from skateboarding this 20. And on the other hand some have had their careers spark because of it. It’s become a spot where you can basically do one never been done trick on it and get sponsored solely for that trick. The trick alone could be your sponsor me video. Currently the rail has said to have been removed. The stairs are still in place but rumor has it they will be the next to go as well. So let the carcass toss fest begin. Did Ryan Sheckler really backside flip it? Did Andrew Reynolds really frontside flip it? El Toro has also been home to rumors beyond imaginable. I cant wait to see Shane Cross’s Nosegrind down it in the new Flip video. That is the trick that comes to mind instantly for me. R.I.P. Shane.
Have you ever been kicked out of a skatepark before? Sounds silly but I have and some of you may have also. On top of that there are even skateparks that charge you to get in and skate. Or for your safety you cant enter without full pads or a helmet.
That’s where you and your homies come in. With a simple trip to home depot or your local hardware store you could get your hand son some bondo and a few other tools. It might sound like a lot of work. And for many people doing work alone sounds unattractive, but believe me putting time and effort into creating a spot makes it that much more awesome.