Cullen Drop

For a few years, a friend of a friend had been leaving obstacles in a covered picnic area in Whitby near the old Cullen Gardens during the winter.

The First year had a couple ledges and a rail.

Jay donated a PJ I'd made and given him during Covid.

The Second year had a Ledge and a PVC Slider. I donated a pole jam.

I filmed some of the first clips for '42NBD' here.

The Third year had a ledge, PVC slider and a manny pad.

Dry spot on a wet day

The posted rules were 'Please put the ramps back against this wall so they don't get snowed on'

There was always some extra junk like a metal barrier or some recycled tire pylon weights around to make a sesh fun.

Then, there nothing for a winter.

This year, thanks to a ledge donor from Leaside, The Cullen Drop is back. New sign posted with the basics.

enjoi

Simple Ledge and 'Simple' Rail.

Yeah, the rail has lights in it. 

I got out my measuring device and got to work. I'd love to have shelters like this everywhere that can be utilized in the winter.

The whole shelter with kitchenette and washrooms is ~150ft long and 40ft wide.

The winter space with all the picnic tables stacked is roughly 40x80.

'25 in 52s

2025 is 52seconds

2025, frankly, I was a bit down at the beginning of the year. Maybe some seasonal depression but as the weather improved and I took a family vacation, I started to feel like my old self. I built less obstacles but wasn't any less busy with new skateparks, advocacy and family. I have a bunch of out-of-town friends I'm eager to link up with this year. There's a ton of park projects I'm following and I'm making stuff happen in Pickering.

Let's go 2025

Let's crush it in 2026!!!

All the new parks are in the Directory.

Some of the best this year were...

Matt Hughes Skatepark - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

North Bay All-wheel Park & Pump Track

Stefan Wenek Skatepark, Ottawa, Ontario. #600

Everything Advocacy.

Skatepark Consultations & Advocacy Mentoring

Here's to you Maciej and Bo!

Earl Bales

Gore Meadows

HALP Queensville

HALP Queesnville

North Bay All-wheel Park & Pump Track

NEW PARKS COMING

Pump Track & Bike Park Listing

Rose Valley Bike Park, Oshawa

The Long Skate Home

Skating 74km from Work to Home

Snow clearing is fun and easy with a good podcast.

Try 'Good Luck With That' or 'How Did This Get Made'

Trimmer Skate Spot

This park was not up to standard so I fixed it myself.

2 Road Trips with my Daughter

Kidnap the Sandy Claws

Contraptions

FUN

Ajax Community Centre Skatepark Concepts

The Town of Ajax and Newline Skateparks presented 3 concepts for the Ajax Community Centre Skatepark.  

It was another cold night, Two from the first meeting showed and two others.

The first meeting had been a larger group of local skaters who stated a preference for more of a street plaza with limited focus on transition.  The online survey had roughly a 50/50 split on street vs tranny.

The location of the skatepark is also going to be closer to the community centre.

This is where I get to vent my frustration.

Designers, cater to the people who show up. Even amongst our small group that showed last night, the desire is for street. Lots of ledges and rails, minimal transition, no need for a bowl.  Online surveys are open to ANYONE!  11yo that lives down the street from the project wants a pole jam.  Great. Add it. A 60yo surfer from South Africa that thinks surfskate ramps are cool.  Fuck all the way off.  Designers need to take a more measured approach on how 'global feedback' gets incorporated into the design.  There were several 'example skatepark' photos that I would prefer over the 3 concepts. Speaking of which, let's check them out.

Concept 1

Concept 1 stuck to the initial crews request for more street. We discussed a simplified bowl more similar to the Gellert mini bowl with some kind of extension feature. 

Concept 2

Much more transition based.  We chatted about the volcano being a waste of space like the boob at Non-dons. I preferred this bowl to the kidney in concept 1.

Concept 3

Thinking a little more outside the box, C3 features a large flow bowl and 'L' shaped street section.  I like the ledge feature.  

The concepts with presented by Bill and there was a lot of discussion. Bill then asked me for an opinion 'as you've been to a lot of skatepark meetings'

Thats probably why I shouldn't say anything.

No one else brought it up so I didn't then but I will here.  Design 1 is practically what NL just presented for Confederation Skatepark in Toronto.  And it's really similar to Gellert, North Bay and some other projects.

Confederation

Ajax CC Skatepark Concept 1

Scan the QR or click HERE for the Survey (til Dec 26, 2025)

Thanks to the people who show up.

 Confederation Skatepark

Toronto, ON

For the last year, Skatepark Champions have been directing this skatepark project.  The SC feedback pushed for transition as well as street features. There's been online surveys and a virtual meeting with the city, SC's and the public. 

The preferred design was presented to the public at an open house at the Scarborough Centennial Recreation Centre. I think they look great and wouldn't change a thing the locals desire.

I did suggest a small deck behind the bank to curb (feature 1) to prevent the grass from being worn out.  This actually led to a great discussion with the designers. He stated they'd explored that idea but due to the slope and drainage it had been left out.  I said I was only thinking of a small deck, 1ft max, and not a continuation of the mini ramp deck.  'We can do that' he said.

Good to see local skaters and fellow advocates out on a cold snowy night.

Future Home of the Confederation Skatepark aka Confed (maybe).

 Ajax Community Skatepark. Meeting 2

Show Up or Shut Up

Dots!

 Dots, Dots, Dots Dots, Dots Dots!

imagine 'Shots' by LMFAO with Lil Jon

Skate Dots are the smallest of skate facilities. One feature, maybe two, but three? 

Get outta here! That's a Skate Spot.  

Skate Dots are typically simple obstacles and can often be included into a larger project without calling it a 'skate feature' thus lessening the need for public consultation.

Brimorton Skate Dot

This one's pretty bad but hey, Thanks. These rollers next to the ledge were planned as 'an informal space for skateboarding and rollerblading with small concrete slopes'.

The ledges finish makes grinds & slides pretty unlikely but manuals are a go.

Moses Springer Roller Spot

Four fun rollers in Waterloo on their own trail segment adjacent to the main trail.  This is a better execution of the Brimorton idea.  I had way more fun here. The edge of one roller is waxed and grindable.

McNally St Skate Dot 

The McNally St Skate Dot in Georgetown was part of a park upgrade that also saw an updated playground and 1/2 Basketball Court added. The issues here are the skate feature was offset into the grass making more challenging and well as being more on an intermediate feature rather than a beginner feature.  This shows that some skater input should be sought during design/construction. 

Walter Henry Park, Orillia

This descending street quarter pipe is a lizards tail. When the park is viewed from above, the whole lizard is visible. Here, you can also see the lizards foot.

Hillside Park Park, Orillia

Hillside park features a sport court and two sweeping rainbow rails. 

Mount Pleasant Park, Richmond Hill

I was told by city staff that there were features included in public parks that were meant to be skated but installed as 'art features' to avoid further consultation & rejection from NIMBY's.

Innisfil Town Square

I was shocked when I finally got an up close look at what appeared to be a quarter pipe hip at the town square.  While not 'skatepark quality', it has inset coping and the seating around the winter ice skating trail also has square coping. There's no 'No Skateboarding' signs.

Update - after some digging, I've discovered these are skateboard features. 

Ramsden Park, Toronto

This Dot was hidden in plain sight. Perfectly disguised as seating beside the basketball court, this feature was installed in 2018 and I didn't find out about it until 2025.

G-RIDGE, Toronto

An updated community space with Basketball Courts and other amenities included some pre-fab rails. 

Thompson Park, Aurora 

Treading the line between Dot and Spot, Thompson Park features a simple ledge and simple flat bar.

Two Dots make a Spot.

Greengate Park, Cambridge

Two of my favourite skate features that would both work as a skate dot.

The laser cut flat rail support is a great way to hide a dot in signage and the Ledge/Manny Pad combo (used in many skateparks, some examples below) can also function as a stage for public events and blocks for exercise. Looks an awful lot like the Ramsden Park Dot.

That Would Make a Great Dot

Some skatepark features that would work as a dot.

Another great ledge/manny pad combo.

Gardengate Skate Dot in BC is one of these L/MP's

Ledge/Pad pushed to the limits.

Private Micro bowl

Gellert's Mini-bowl

McLennan's art feature.

Skatable Art in Germany

The 'Y' Rail

Stronach's Obelisk

Winnipeg's Plaza at the Forks features.

Magic Carpet Skatable Sculpture.

Skatable Floating Arch