Final Draft by Paul Perez / Arizona USA
My first experience with a skateboard was around 1980 with one of that small banana boards with the hard wheels that would halt on ANY rock. I got a few bumps from those days. It wasn't really till about 1985 when my family moved to Carlsbad, CA.I started High school and became friends with this punker named Louis. He got me into sk8ing. We hit the local skate spots, which around Carlsbad you didn't have to go far. I lived just a couple miles from the beach and there are plenty of smooth curbs and transitioned sidewalks and lots of hills to cruise down. One friend of ours built a 3ft. half pipe in his backyard with a 6 or 7 ft expansion. That was lots of fun. A small sk8 company by and filmed a sk8 video there, but I can't remember the name of the company.
About 1987 or 88' Mike McGill
(Who lives in Carlsbad) built a sk8 park on top of the original skate
park built there in the Late 70s (see picture) and some of the cement
park was still there. I was lucky enough to help out
McGill and others building the park. There is where I spent almost every
Saturday and Sunday Skating (ALL DAY). Some of the Pro Sk8rs would visit
all the time or soon to be pro's, like Danny Way, Tony Magnusson, Lance
Mountain(sometimes) and Chris Lambert and one of my buds at the time
Alphonzo Rawls. The person I remember the most was Jason Jesse. He ruled!!
I also lived near the infamous 'Fallbrook Ramp' which was only 20 minutes away, but very hard to find. You really had to know someone who had been invited there. My buddy Alphonzo took me up to the Fallbrook Ramp once to see it. We skated it for about half an hour. Tony Hawk had moved to Fallbrook where he built his huge half-pipe in his back yard with the connecting 8ft wooden bowl I think it was. You were able to see if from the road, so Hawk had a Huge Green Fence Built up to hide it and blend into the mountain side.
When I moved to Phoenix it was freaking 118 Degrees - I could only last a couple hours.Then I got busy with school and work and just stopped. Well, Thanks to my Buddy Carl in Manchester.
I’m back and I'm NOT going to stop this time.