About Us

 

This Killer Vert ramp in Tampa, this is where it pretty much all started for us.
Built by the Team Pain wood crew in '03, headed up by Mike Cruise and Dave Ellis,
along with the Hammond bros. and ripper Tim Kulas. 
Thanks to Curt Baker and Bob Bulatowicz for hooking us up with Mike and Dave from Team Pain,
and thanks to Tim Payne for letting us borrow the guys to build it.

The ramp in Tampa was built in an area with alot of .... hmmm, character?
Well ok, we'll call it as it is, the area is comprised primarily of crackheads,
crackhead prostitutes, crackhead gangster thugs, and crack dealers.
It quickly became know as the Ghetto Ramp.
The ramp was built behind the building I operated my ECM repair business from,
very nice building, but it was in Sulfer Springs, and that area is seriously Ghetto.

Check out the construction photos, this was pretty much a ' 90s era vert ramp.
It was 10'1/2 transitions plus 1'1/2 of vert, 40' wide. Surfaced with $9,000. in brand new Skatelite. 


We painted it blue the night they finished the second layer of ply.
I think this was shot early in the morning, just before they started layering the skatelite.





 
After all the materials and labor, it cost around $30,000. for this ramp.
After a few months we started Ghetto Skateboards as a deck brand.
This crazy bastard was our first team rider, a great guy and an awesome skater.
Dan Stephan
Dan ruled this ramp.

The ramp was so beautiful, super fast, clean and smooth. 
But in 2004 we sold the building in Tampa, moved everything out to Dade City.

I believe it was about three semi trailer trips with a Bobcat on back
and then we finaly had it all at my house.
I think "Crazy Mark" is probably on his birth certificate.
Sadly enough the desire to rebuild the ramp, fell short of all the pledges of help and support for it.
It seemed too much to undertake with the budget we had by that time, so it sat around in sections throughout my property, like headstones on Easter island.
 
So we did what I could afford and began building indoors, inside a building that had to be cleared out first.
Looking back its amazing that it ever was done.
....and that was the start of the Ghetto Skate Facility Dade City/San Antonio days.

 The Ghetto Skate Facilty (in Dade City , RIP 2004 -'07) 
This was a very special place, thanks to all who helped make it happen.
Slave work and or donations came from Kieth Fleming, Crazy Mark Kugle, Jason Conner, Todd Morrow, Mark Chambers, Corey Miller,
Shawn Corbin, the Tedesco family, Abe Stewart, ( theres a few more, I'll ad to this in the future as they come to mind).
Most imoprtantly my own family has made the greatest sacrifices for this obsesion of mine, and still do to this day.

Photos by Ray Johnson, Kyle Stone, Tyler Lydon & LookAtYourself.Kirk

 
This first pic was an ad we once mistakenly ran in the Weekly Planet,
don't ever advertise with them by the way.
They are kniving creeps and took us for around $900.
When they named their parent company "Creative Loafing" they were not kidding.

           

                       

            

 

         

Keep in mind you are looking at a private playground, not a skatepark that was open to the general public

 
On the 4th of July weekend, I had rented a huge 60' boom lift to trim the tree tops around my property.
So while we had it, like any skater would do, we hung some masonite on the face of the basket.
Then extended the neck into the building through the large overhead door.
Only Chris Lehman had nerve enough for this craziness,
he stood on top of the basket with his board in hand and just jumped off it right into the mini ramp.
He also did alot of other cool things with it, check out the short video "Lehman Hi Lift" 

         

    

                  

                    

               

                        

 

    

 

            

            

                     

                

            

                                         

              

        

 
         
              
   
Ahhhhhh, finaly the bowl corners we're built.
                  
         

           

 


     

                

   
Ahhhhhh, finaly the bowl corners we're built.
  
© copyright GhettoSkateboards 2008