September 19, 2003

MountainRamp caters to skaters when building parks

LONGMONT — Remember the old days when parks had some swings, a slide, some monkey bars and seesaws? Fast forward to the 21st century — kids today want speed and action peppered with a little danger.

And cities are listening to — and acting on — the kids’ desires. That explains why skating parks have been popping up all over the state.

That’s good news for Richard Fason. His business is to supply what those kids want in their skating parks. Fason is the founder and president of MountainRamp Inc., the company that designs, makes and installs skate parks and much of the equipment that goes in those parks.

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Fason got the idea for his company in the mid-’90s when he lived in Florida. He was a retired U.S. Army ranger with a passion for in-line skating (he was known as the old guy who could do a lot of tricks). One day in his garage he was building a skating ramp and the epiphany hit him — “I could start a company doing this.”

So he packed up and brought the company to Boulder — he’d visited the city before, fell in love and vowed to return. Although he still likes Boulder, he recently moved to Longmont for more space.

Colorado’s weather and adventuresome population makes for a good place for skate parks. Colorado ranks third in its number of skate parks (36) behind California (106) and Washington (48).

MountainRamp has built about 35 skate parks around the world — about half of those are in Colorado.

Much of the company’s work is with city administrators, parks officials and community leaders. But often, the company is working directly with parents and children, too.

“It may sound corny, but we put a lot of effort into customer service,´ said Rod Rubino, the company’s marketing director.

It turns out MountainRamp may need to pay close attention to the customer — it has a lot of competition on its heels. There about 30 other companies in the industry, according to Rubino. He said MountainRamp is one of the few private companies left. Larger companies have bought out many of the smaller ones that built parks. In fact, two years ago Rubino said the toy retailer Little Tikes approached them, but “It wasn’t in the cards yet.

“There’s still a lot of room for growth for us as a private company,” Rubino said.

He may be right, and the company may have chosen a good time to enter the industry. There are some key events taking place now that are helping boost sales.

One is a trend of kids moving from team-oriented sports to more individual sports such as snowboarding, in-line skating and skateboarding.

“We’re seeing more and more kids doing those kinds of sports, and the sports are becoming more accepted as viable sports,” Rubino said.

Sponsors certainly have taken notice, and now the top skateboarder in the country, according to Rubino, makes about $20 million a year.

Another factor playing in favor of companies like MountainRamp is limited liability legislation many cities are enacting. The laws are offering cities more protection from lawsuits when people are injured or killed on city property. So now cities are more open to building skate parks.

And the company has tapped a market known for its deep pockets — the U.S. military. The military is now looking to keep its troops closer to bases and happier while they’re there — it’s all part of what the armed forces officials call “morale welfare recreation.” So the government is shelling out money to build recreational facilities including skating parks. MountainRamp has obliged in Okinawa, Japan; Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and a base in Alaska.

The company would not disclose revenues, but Rubino said the average cost for a park the company builds is about $80,000. “We have some smaller cities that can’t afford that and will start at $25,000. If a city has a lot of 100-feet by 100-feet, we can build a nice small park for about $25,000.”

Rubino said many cities are using funds from state lotteries. “Many of our parks in Colorado were funded by the state lottery,” Rubino said.

In 2000, the company helped build a skate park for Berthoud for $25,000 — paid for by lottery funds.

Ruth Gassner, the parent of a skating teen-ager, served on the Berthoud Skate Park Committee. She said she and the city “loved working with MountainRamp. They were the best,” she said. “They basically held our hand through the entire process.”

And if the city ever decides to add to the park, MountainRamp can help. Much of what the company builds is modular so a city can add more to its skating park later.

“All of the components are interchangeable,´ said Rubino. “This allows for use in temporary locations, as well as easy additions or layout changes to permanent facilities.”

The company has 18 employees, but Rubino said the company’s biggest expense is materials.

“What we build is meant to take a beating. It has to last and endure kids beating up on it.”

LONGMONT — Remember the old days when parks had some swings, a slide, some monkey bars and seesaws? Fast forward to the 21st century — kids today want speed and action peppered with a little danger.

And cities are listening to — and acting on — the kids’ desires. That explains why skating parks have been popping up all over the state.

That’s good news for Richard Fason. His business is to supply what those kids want in their skating parks. Fason is the founder and president of MountainRamp Inc., the company that designs, makes and installs skate parks and much of…

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