RAMP: How to Pump

This is what everybody should learn first on a half pipe. It you try and go in head first and start 180s straight off, you'll find it hard to get air.

Start off by simply skating up one side of the pipe and coming back down it backwards. No turning involved, just up and down. Once you think you can do this without falling over backwards or forwards, skate up to on side a bit faster, and bend your knees as you go up the transition (the curved bit of a half pipe). You must keep your body in tune with the way the ramp is going. If it is horizontal, you must be vertical. It if is vertical, you must be horizontal. And all the bits in between. Think of it like riding a swing - in and out, up and down.

As you bend your knees when you peak your ascent, keep one foot in front of the other for balance. When you start going down, press out with your legs to stand up straight. Hopefully you are still on your skates, and the pushing of your legs (pumping) should have given you a bit more speed. As you go up the other transition backwards, lean forwards slightly, with one foot back a bit. As you feel yourself going up the transition bend your legs. As you come back down again, straighten them hard. Both of these together are called pumping the half pipe.

You should continue this until you can reach the metal bar at the top (the coping). If you can pump up to this without too much difficulty, you are ready to go on to air.

AIR: This is it. This is what comes after all the hard work you did pumping.

Since you can pump up to the coping and back down backwards or forwards, give each of your pumps more power to make you go faster. This is the key to getting air. You must, however, remember not to jump when trying to catch air because you will jump away from the coping and into the half-pipe, thus giving your friends a good laugh. Just let the vert carry you up. If you're on a mini-ramp you do have to jump to get air.

When you get your air, or when you think you can progress further, you have to do a 180 at some point so you can come down the ramp forwards again. This means you can pump a lot harder, and get more speed. More speed means more air. As you get higher and higher above the coping, your sense of fear will either disappear or will multiply to the stage where you become a nervous wreck at the bottom of the half-pipe. To avoid this from happening you need to get your 180 right so that you don't nail yourself.

If you find you can't get any air, you're either not pumping enough, or you are letting up at the last minute, thus loosing all your speed. This is caused by fear. If you try and think about how good the air will look you won't be so afraid. If you think about what a big mess you're going to leave the paramedics to clean up when you land, you are going to muck up your air.

BAILING OUT: This is the phrase used to describe the movement you go through to stop yourself getting hurt on a half-pipe. If you have just got an air, and you know you are going to fall, make sure you land on your knees, because you have the most padding there. If you land backwards or in a position that is not very natural, try and push yourself away from the transition so that your body is off the surface of the pipe. This means that you should be on your hands and knees, or on your elbows and waist, i.e. your body is not touching the surface. Generally if you do this you won't get hurt as badly and won't damage anything except for (perhaps) your pads.


WARNING: Always make sure you wear as much padding as possible when you try anything on a ramp. This means knee, elbow, and wrist guard, and of course a helmet. Heck, maybe even stick a pillow down the back of your pants to protect your butt!