Photo: Chris "Woodsie" Woods

Skateboarding

Sweet Skateboarding!

If you love skateboarding, you don’t want to miss Carbondale’s skatepark, located on the North Face sporting complex on Meadowood Drive. Home to the 2004 Thrasher Carbondale Run, Carbondale’s 13,300 square foot skateboard park is inarguably one of the premier skateparks in the United States, held together with over 700 cubic feet of concrete.

Planted on the edge of town, the skatepark is dwarfed by the 12,953 foot tall Mount Sopris, with magazine crews frequenting the park for photo opportunities. Magazine photographers from as far away as England have traveled to capture the perfect picture for their front page - authorized or not.

An untamed collection of bowls, topped off with an 18-foot full-pipe and blessed with a never ending combination of lines, this park will challenge you just to drop in. All the bowls flow together and provide endless lines. There are so many sweet corners, hips, waterfalls and lines, it has to be ridden to be truly appreciated. Designed by Grindline, a firm that is skater-owned and operated, this pristine, alpine location offers skateboarding with “lotsa waterfalls and bulging curves, steel copey all around - signature stuff from the Monk/Red crew,” says local skater Petar Kovacic.

The encapsulated full-pipe is perhaps the main centerpiece of the park, where you can regularly witness Wrex Cook going upside down, and the rideable outside that Ryan Sheckler kick flip rolled-in in the rain. Drop in and hit the oververt taco, throwing you into the capsule to record your hit in the pipe, with numerous stickers bragging how high past skaters have reached - perhaps challenging the next wave of skaters to risk their pride.

For more information contact the Carbondale Recreation Department at (970) 704-4116.

Colorado skateboard parks
-by EnCompass, The AAA Colorado Magazine, September/ October 2008
Back in the '70s, skateboarders were rolling around driveways to learn new moves. In 2005, a nationwide study found upwards of 16 million skateboarding enthusiasts, but only around 1,200 municipal skateparks. As the popularity of the sport expands, skateparks are being incorporated into park designs around the country.