MEGA-RAMP!

Words by Ryan Clements
Photos by Rob Meronek

MEGA-RAMP! I hope we don’t get a “Cease and Desist Order” for using MEGA RAMP! We got a Cease and Desist for selling stuff with a heartagram on it a few years ago and nothing ever happened, but that’s not a story of MEGA proportions, like the MEGA RAMP!

“DC? What’s that stand for? Damn crazy? ‘Cause that what that Danny Way is…he’s damn crazy!” - Larry Perkins

I kept thinking that and “Be the ball, Danny,” during the MEGA RAMP Contest. It sure started early in the morning; 10am to be exact. I think that they did it that way to avoid any potential wind interference. But these guys were ready to go and they put on one hell-of-a-show. The MEGA RAMP is seriously unbelieveable in person as well as thoroughly intimidating. I’ve heard people claim that they would do it, but when you see it in person, at least for me, it pretty much puts the nail in the coffin of NOT giving it a shot.

Here’s a list of the MEGA RAMP participants, their placing, and what they did:

6th – Rob Loriface – still only 18-years-old, Rob’s got many, many MEGA RAMP years ahead of him. He was nailing very stylish bs 360 tailgrabs over the gap, but he couldn’t land the crazy-looking bs melon (rodeo) 540 that he was trying on the quarter-pipe

5th – Andy MacDonald – if Andy could have done his lein melon rodeo over the gap and then his judo air on the quarter he would have probably taken out Bucky, but things don’t always go as planned and Andy had to settle for 5th. Andy, where was the yellow helmet and t-shirt, Bro?

4th – Bucky Lasek – he can do the fs 360 air every single try over the gap and he nailed an amazing looking heelflip fs air on his second attempt on the quarter. After that Bucky was going for fs 540’s on the quarter, but couldn’t land one. Even if he did I’m not sure if it would have moved him up a place

3rd – Bob Burnquist – the switch bs 180 over the gap was completely insane, but I’m not sure if the judges were really feeling the fs air handflip…it’s just a weird one. Bob then started trying front flips over the gap, but couldn’t land one

2nd – Jake Brown – Jake is so damn entertaining to watch because you have no idea what he’s going to do next. After he landed his first line, a bs 360 mute over the gap and a huge bs method on the quarter, he started trying 360 ollies over the gap! That was nuts, but he couldn’t land one in two tries, so on his fourth run he did the 360 mute again and then a monsterous 540 on the quarter…that’s what landed him in 2nd place

1st – Danny Way – no one beats Danny when he becomes the ball. I had seen the cover of The Skateboard Mag where he was doing the rocket-air backflip, but I didn’t realize that he could do it on command, but that’s what Danny did over the big gap that earned him 1st place for the second year in a row. He then did a 20’+ Christ air to method on the quarter to seal the deal and walk away with $50,000.

By 11:30am we were out of there…still with an entire day to chill in LA. The X-Games were once again a worthwhile trip, but I have a couple of questions: When is Furlong going to step up to the Mega Ramp? Also, what’s up with Shaun White? How come he doesn’t skate that damn thing? Neal Hendrix said, “It’s all over when Shaun starts skating this thing.” Hopefully we’ll see those guys on the MEGA RAMP next year, too.