- Most skateboarders gain an interest in the sport as young teenagers, often before they have a job or can drive a car. Skateboarding can quickly become a passion, but finding a safe, legal place to skate is often difficult. More and more urban areas are building skate parks as part of their community park systems, but if younger skaters are not within walking (or skating) distance, they may not have the opportunity to go. Skateboarding on a flat driveway gets old pretty quickly, even for a beginner. That's where mini-ramps come in. They're relatively easy and inexpensive to construct, are small enough for one person to move around, and provide plenty of challenges and entertainment for the skateboarder who doesn't always have another place to skate.
- Traditional full-size ramps, whether half-pipes or quarter-pipes, range from 5 to 12 feet high. Mini-ramps are just miniature version of these full-size ramps. One of the most popular mini-ramps, for example, is a quarter pipe which usually measures from 2 to 5 feet high. At that size, it's still big enough to provide an interesting challenge for skateboarders, but it's small enough to move around a driveway or parking lot. Build two mini quarter-pipes and you can space them out at opposite ends of a driveway and skate a makeshift half-pipe.
- Most mini-ramps, especially those built for at-home use, are simply constructed out of a frame made of 2x4 pieces or 2x6 pieces of lumber, and covered in plywood. There are many mini-ramp design plans available from online resources, usually free; you simply follow the measurements and design specifications to cut your boards and plywoods into the right sizes. Masonite makes a good additional top layer to plywood if you want your mini-ramp to have a smoother surface.
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Beginning skateboarders should always wear protective gear, especially a helmet, when skating anywhere, on any surface. And it's best for skateboarders of all skill levels to keep a helmet on when using a ramp, even if it's a mini-ramp. Skateboarding is a great sport, and mini-ramps aren't far off the ground, but if a wheel hits a stray pebble, even the most experienced skater can be thrown off and sustain a head injury. It's better to be a little too cautious and keep your head in one piece, so you can keep enjoying your mini-ramp instead of thinking about it from a hospital bed.
Mini-ramps will last longest and hold up best if they are kept in a dry place when not in use. A dry garage is ideal. Or, if there's no space in the garage, secure a tarp over your mini-ramp when you're not using it.
Use sandbags or other heavy objects to hold the mini-ramp in place when you're skating it. These can sit behind the ramp portion, on one of the bottom pieces of the frame, and keep the ramp from shifting when in use. - While the primary function is to provide a great at-home alternative for skateboarders, the mini-ramp can do a lot more than that. If you have a good-sized vehicle, load up your mini-ramp next time you hit the skate park. Skaters will abandon the smooth, full-size concrete bowls to have a go at the homemade mini-ramp; everybody remembers skating one, and many skaters have made their own. They're an almost nostalgic item for the experienced skaters, and a great additional challenge to throw up with the skate park features. Their size makes them easy to move around in the skate park and easy to transport in a mini van, truck, or SUV.
