Mega Ramp - History

History

The first such giant ramp structure was conceived and built by BMX freestyler Mathew "Mat" Hoffman in his Oklahoma home backyard between 1991 and 1992. It was a single 6.3m (21') tall vert quarter pipe ramp, with no roll-in ramp, from which Mat would launch and air after being towed into at speed by a motorcycle. In such way, in 1992 Mat set the Freestyle BMX air record at approximately 7.05m (23.5'). Mat later went on to build a full vert half-pipe ramp with similar dimensions, including a 12m high roll-in ramp from the top of the roof of his warehouse.

Danny Way thought up the now common "MegaRamp" setup, a specific type of giant ramp arrangement consisting of the roll-in ramp, the gap jumps, and the final quarter pipe ramp. This setup was first seen at Point X Camp in the OP King Of Skate pay-per-view special in 2002. It was officially called the MegaRamp in 2004. It was introduced again and was officially called the MegaRamp in the 2003 DC Shoes video release "The DC Video", where Way set two world records in the same run - Longest jump (75 ft) and highest air (23.5 ft).

In 2005, Way used a MegaRamp again to jump the Great Wall of China and became the first person to jump the wall without the help of a motor vehicle and land successfully. This was also the largest ramp structure ever built. He pulled off the jump five times in front of a crowd of Chinese dignitaries and officials, along with his family and friends and thousands of locals.

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