In the fall of 2022 we received a phone call from an interior designer for a large property out in Aspen Colorado in need of a custom mini ramp. 

The property was purchased by the owner and CEO of one of the largest and well-established email and digital marketing platforms.  This mega mansion had a racquetball court inside of the property. The homeowner and his family do not play racquetball. However, they do have kids that skateboard. Their initial question to us was about the ability to create a custom skateboard park within the space that they had with his court.

We began countless conversations about what their kids like to skate at the park, the dimensions of the court and of course logistics. We then realized it would be helpful for the owner of OC Ramps to fly out with a worker so that they can take additional measurements and photos to figure out how to get the material down into this racquetball court. In early January 2023 the owner of OC Ramps, Tyler Large and professional skater & builder Christian Sereika flew out there to inspect the space. Upon arrival we determined that the racquetball perimeter is roughly 32 feet long by 22 feet wide. The walls are roughly 20 feet tall. 

Given the space we are a little bit limited by the width of only being 22 feet to go taller with a ramp means you need to stretch the other direction as well. In other words, it would not be feasible to fit a five or a 6 foot tall mini ramp in the space because there virtually would be zero flat bottom. In addition to the space of the racquetball court they also had a small platform upstairs that they wanted to fit a small ramp, roughly with the dimensions of 19 feet long by 5 feet wide. 

The other issue that we faced was the topic of unloading 8,000 pounds of lumber down three flights of stairs and a few hundred yards away from the driveway. Because of this we would not be able to unload the bowl corners partially assembled as we’ve done for our previous jobs.  The widest doorway that we had to work with was 4 feet wide, the narrowest being 3 feet. This means that we really couldn’t unload anything bigger than a full sheet of plywood. Christian and Tyler estimated it could take several days just to bring the materials from the driveway down into this court.

On top of that, we have to do this extremely carefully to make sure we do not damage any drywall, door jams, or furniture as we walk through the house. After this meeting, Christian and Tyler determined that the best ramp to fit the space would be a 3 foot tall bowl down in the racquetball court with a 4 foot tall extension and a channel gap roll-in.  

Upstairs we wanted to build a 2 foot tall ramp by 5 feet wide with a roller in between. 

After sending the client some sketches and initial designs with a quote we were given the green light and told to start production right away. The client's son was having a birthday about four weeks away and wanted us to do our best to complete the ramp and time for his birthday.

Tyler and Christian then flew home and began production with the rest of the warehouse crew. They worked around the clock in order to prefabricate as much as possible. 

Meanwhile the office team had to work with several freight carriers to determine who could deliver such large pallets on narrow roads in a private community of Aspen. We wanted to make sure that the logistics were taken care of and that everything would deliver smoothly. 

Prior to shipping everything, we coordinated the flights and hotel for Tyler, Christian, Tom Tom, and Logan. We learn very quickly that there are not many Airbnb and hotel options within Aspen! We also learned that the City does not have any access to Uber and we would be required to rent a car. In late January everything was shipped and booked for our trip. We then flew out with the crew in early February. Upon arrival, we also hired a local crew to help us in unloading all of the lumber down those flights of stairs into the racquetball court. We brought the A-Team! 

On day one we were actually able to unload just about 95% of the materials, what a day! 

Christian and Tyler also focused on building out the four bowl corners as that was their main priority.  

Logan and Tom Tom focused on building the micro mini ramp upstairs.  

Every day we had goals and assignments for each of the team members. This was a well oiled machine as we had mapped out everything to a T, well in advance.  

On day two our goal was to get the framing complete. 

Day three was to complete the coping and initial layer of plywood.  

Day four and five were to continue with the GatorSkins top surface material and any final touch ups. 

Day five the ramp was done - achieved our goal! 

Super stoked, we skated the ramp for about three hours with the client and their kids. 

This was truly a great moment. Apart from the satisfaction of building an incredible ramp, we are thrilled to see the joy that skateboarding brings to others. 

As a reward for the team working so hard on the installation, the final day was a treat - snowboarding at the amazing resort, Snowmass.

We were accompanied by the local Snowboard talent.

That was incredible because they were able to show us the mountain and all the secret trails.

Our seventh and final day we headed back to the airport, where we returned the car rental and hopped on our flights back to Los Angeles.  This is one of the best trips that we’ve had, just an amazing ramp, incredible clients and a wonderful time in such a gorgeous part of America! The customer tagged us on social media with the best review we could have asked for!

Of course we followed up with a little banter in song references since we’re all fans of Taylor Swift.

If you are thinking about exploring the idea of adding a skate ramp or a skate park at your house please feel free to reach out to OC Ramps . We are passionate about building the skate dream!