Skatepark Differentiation

Everyone’s got their own opinion. Skaters are no different.
Everyone’s got their own style. Again, skaters are no different.

A recent topic of discussion i had was about the difference in skateparks – specifically, Evergreen Skateparks and competition skateparks.

If you’ve never seen/skated an Evergreen park, they are a wonder to behold. Smooth flowing transitions, curves that melt into other curves; pool coping and steel coping. Works of art, really, that are even more fun to skate than look at – and they are wondrous to look upon. Skating them is about feeling the board beneath your feet, the wind in your face. It’s about cruising and carving and connecting; putting together a line either by tricks or just working your way across.

I had the pleasure to skate the Evergreen park in Fredericksburg, TX. Banks and bowls, half-pipe and bumps all connected by frozen hills of concrete. It even had some of the traditional skatepark elements built within: a stair set, rails, a ledge, and even a couple of kickers thrown in the mix. Truly something for everyone.

On the flipside of this are the standard style of skatepark which i call competition parks. Those with a stairset and rail or hubba (or both) with lots of run-up. Or banks on the outer edges, a ledge in the middle or some sort of kicker/launch ramp. All placed perfectly for tricks. (that’s another gripe). Half-pipes and bowls are separate features – everything regulated to its own space. Skating this kind of park lends itself more to the trick skaters. The guys (and girls) that just want to get that trick. Nothing before but pushing, nothing after but rolling.

The argument can be made that this is ideal for the differing levels of skater – beginner to advanced. But this way of thinking introduces new factors into the equation. By separating skaters by ability, are we actually dividing skateboarding itself? Maybe I’ll answer that another time.