Levy once worked as “a go-between for skatepark companies and municipal governments trying to build parks,” crafting requests for proposals and quotes. “The Oakley rep for the region had a place in Edwards and he had an insane backyard ramp, and that’s where we would hang out.” “People had backyard ramps,” Levy recalled.

The 35-year-old D.C.-native vacationed in the valley as a kid in the early 2000s, though he wasn’t drawn to the new venue. While Thomas’ story indicates the Vail skateboard park was “taking on a permanent look” in his 1998 story, the Gypsum park completed in 2001 was the first permanent park built in Eagle County, which made it “revolutionary” according to local skateboarder Seth Levy. Jason Schetrompf rides a couple of times a week, usually at the Freedom Park skatepark in Edwards. When it comes to stoking the flames of positive skate culture, design matters. “It doesn’t matter how good or bad you are at skateboarding - or any part of your identity - because everybody is just stoked for each other to be there and enjoy the sport.” There’s this, I call it ‘skatepark magic,'” she said. “What I found at other skate parks is that there were all different levels of skaters, all interacting with each other. Vanvalkenburg’s class researched why skaters in the community preferred Edwards, Vail and Frisco to Gypsum and analyzed how design elements - like visibility from nearby roads, lack of seating, “poor flow” and “unskatable” features - contributed to Gypsum’s reputation as being a place “where kids weren’t necessarily going to just to skate” as Vanvalkenburg put it.

“I think the main (goal) was bringing our community closer together,” said Justice Suarez, a 15-year-old student. “We intentionally sat down as a group together and said, ‘How can we positively influence our skate culture in our community - Gypsum specifically,” Vanvalkenburg said. Differentiating “bad skate culture” from “good skate culture” - and fostering the latter - was exactly what Vanvalkenburg’s class set out to do in 2022. The original Gypsum park was threatened by vandals in 2006 and the bowls in Edwards were covered in graffiti in 2007. There’s a few skeletons in the closet, too. Two weeks later, the Vail Merchants’ Pro-Am contests brought “the top pros from the United States” for a ‘freestyle’ and a downhill dual slalom and giant slalom race. On June 25 1977, a summer clinic at the Vail ice rink offered technique and maintenance education as well as two timed runs on a slalom course. Mike Priscilla executes a perfect ‘acid drop’ trick during a competition at Lionshead in August of 1986. “Skateboarders did handstands, went over jumps and performed a variety of other tricks to loud Beach Boys music, which emanated from a Nomad Chevy station wagon,” the article stated regarding the contest, which took place at the town’s transportation center. In August of 1976, the Vail Trail reported 150 people watched 39 skateboarders participate in a town of Vail summer recreation program contest, with a Hobie competition skateboard donated by Gorsuch’s going to the winner. The robust, community-centered skateboarding scene was alive even back in the mid-70s. “It was definitely a lot more inclusive.”

“When I first moved out here (in 2006), one of the things I really appreciated about skating in the mountains was the scene was definitely a little more laid back,” he said. “It’s actually a very fair observation and it’s super true,” said Schetrompf, who bought his first board at 3 and learned the park pecking order competing up and down the Mid-Atlantic. Parks were more for hiding out than hanging out. Both individuals remember skateboarding’s counter-cultural reputation growing up. “Skateboarding has never really had a great rep, and I think over the last decade it’s definitely changed for the good,” said Tawnya Godinez, who received the Mountain Rec skateboarding camp director baton from Schetrompf in 2013. It is such a good representation of life.” Changing the vibe “It’s intrinsically driven and individually taught. “There are amazing people in this community that love board sports, love being outside, and love what skateboarding does for somebody,” said Kendall Vanvalkenburg, the teacher whose project-based learning course at Red Canyon initiated the new skatepark - and, through Sk8 Gypsum - saw it come to fruition.

Parks and rec quotes fall