It’s “Skate or Die” for Carbondale’s 17,300-square-foot bevy of bowls, boxes and banks.
Last month, Carbondale Town Council allocated $20,000 for various repairs and updates at North Face Skatepark at 215 Meadowood Drive, or what locals like to call “Bonedale Skatepark.” Grind Customs LLC, a contractor based in Lakewood, has been applying the repairs all this past week, with certain sections temporarily closed off to skaters, bladers, bikers and scooter riders.
Carbondale Parks and Recreation Director Eric Brendlinger told The Sopris Sun last week that freeze-thaw is causing sections of the park to expand and chip.
“Some of that older concrete is spalling and starting to show its age,” Brendlinger said of the park, which opened officially in 2003 and saw the addition of a street section in 2011. “Especially around the coping, around the deeper pools and deeper bowls.”
Brendlinger said Matt Laber, owner of Grind Customs, uses a special technique to mitigate water leakage issues on vertical concrete.
“Matt is an ‘old school’ skater and has been repairing and building skateparks for many years,” Brendlinger said. “The original skatepark was built in 2003 so needs some ongoing maintenance.”
The park’s terrain is highly revered among the worldwide skate community — specifically when it comes to its huge snake run, which is a concrete ditch flanked by vert ramps, and 18-foot full pipe. In 2004, Thrasher Magazine, skateboarding’s premier publication, hosted the first ever Carbondale Run. The contest attracted the best, most iconic professional skateboarders, including Eric Koston, Ryan Sheckler, Daewon Song and many more.
Meanwhile, skateboarding street legend Natas Kaupas has been known to hold a demo or three for Bonedalians at this concrete heaven in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Carving out the same lines of these pros in between swift rain showers on Sunday afternoon was 12-year-old local Zeb Burger, who’s been ripping the skatepark on her scooter for about three years.
“It’s definitely my favorite park in this valley that I’ve been to,” she said. “I think it’s really nice that I have this super cool local park with a giant bowl.”
The Sopris Sun also asked Burger if the skatepark updates are a good thing.
“I think, probably,” she said. “Because you’ll have more tourists and definitely have a better community.”
The Carbondale skatepark, originally designed and constructed by Grindline Skateparks, is one of nine skateparks from Aspen to Parachute. The majority are made from concrete.
Here are the specific fixes happening at the Carbondale skatepark, according to city documents.
- Skatepark surface patching. This includes mobilization; cutting and patching two coping problems on the deck; cutting and patching puddle area at the park extension area; Adrex surface patching around the bowl and deck areas.
- Repaint steel coping. This includes prepping and repainting 925 linear feet of coping black.