Los Angeles – Three murals stretching more than 100 feet high adorn the side of the Figueroa Hotel overlooking the Staples Center parking lot in downtown L.A. On the left is motorcyclist Jeremy McGrath. To the right, surfer Rob Machado. Between stands skateboarder Danny Way.
Way’s likeness overlooks the monstrosity he has come to represent – a Big Air skateboard ramp that sends riders screaming toward a 27-foot high quarterpipe at speeds of 40 mph. Way, who designed the ramp after his “Mega Ramp” in San Diego, won the inaugural event at the X Games last year, setting the record for the longest distance jumped on a skateboard in the process. That’s 79 feet. On a skateboard.
If the feat sounds crazy, that’s because it is.
“There are so many steps to get to in skateboarding before you get to this. A lot of professionals won’t come out here and do this because they are scared of it. This is more like the elite,” said Omar Hassan of Costa Mesa, Calif., after hobbling off the ramp. “I think this is more for the experienced skaters, kind of like the big wave surfers out there. There’s only a handful of guys that are even on that level to want to do it. It’s definitely not something for kids to do.”
Hassan, 31, is among the 11 skaters who will compete in this year’s Big Air competition at X Games 11 on Sunday. But not all of those dropping into the ramp fit his description of the seasoned professional. At age 17, Rob Lorifice of Encinitas, Calif., has qualified for his first Big Air competition at the X Games. He has been riding Way’s Mega Ramp for about two years after seeing Way ride off the jump in a video.
“You can’t really tell how gnarly it is in the video because it’s all in slow-motion,” Lorifice said. “The first time I dropped in all I could think was, ‘Don’t jump off your board or you’re going to die.’ After the first time it wasn’t that scary, it was just a rush. The sickest thing ever.”
Way, too, is expected to tackle the jump this weekend, although he has been hampered by an ankle injury suffered while jumping over the Great Wall of China last month. Unlike that jump, the X Games competition is a judged event, demanding that competitors add stylish tricks to their massive aerials.
Because of the difficulty – and danger – most of the skaters don’t view it as a competition in the tradition of vert or street skating. The object in Big Air is merely to survive.
“You have to be ‘into it,”‘ Hassan said. “No one is really here to try to show off, and it’s not like a normal contest where you are competing against everyone. In this event we’re all kind of competing against ourselves and we’re all more scared, hoping that everyone stays on and stays safe. It’s not a ‘want to win’ type situation. You just want to succeed.”
Scott Willoughby can be reached at 303-820-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
