Stealing an idea from the Rockville thread....
Whatever happened to Pipeline Skatepark, home of one stop of the King of the Skatepark Series?
I know it's closed, but always wondered why it closed, where it was, and what is there now.
I might be visiting California in June and would like to visit the shrine or the replica park I've heard of.
If anyone has any ideas, let me know.
Thanks.

They ripped out most of the stuff at the top and made the BMX track, I don't think that lasted long. Only the combi pool, the pipe and bowl, and maybe a snake run or something were left. It closed because it was a skatepark and it was the late 80s, same reason Del Mar closed. Insurance and lack of customers. I think the Hoffmans wanted to retire and Don their son didn't want to run it. Maybe Todd Huffman will see this and give you an answer direct from the source, he and Don do "The Motocross Files"

This is what it looked like. Don't watch it if you cry easily.
The last day.

Man that's a sad video.

I know it had a ton of history to it, but was the Pipeline really that fun to ride? It seems, especially at the time when 8 foot high quarterpipes were normal, that it was really, really difficult to ride either the pipe bowl OR the combi pool. I saw the replica of the Combi the last time I was in LA and I couldn't believe how much vert it had, how little flat, and how far the coping stuck out. It seems like it would be almost impossible to air out of at all. I've heard stories about how the pipe bowl had 3 FEET of vert, which is more than 14' tall ramps today! Puts all that stuff that happened there in perspective for sure...

there's another home video floating around from a few days before this one^^^ of eddie fiola riding it with todd anderson and gary pollack watching.

OK, I can answer this one, and Lunchbox will probably add details since he was local there. Pipeline was owned by Stan and Jean Hoffman, and open for about ten years total, '78 to '88 I think. It was on one of the Arrow Highways (there are two) in Upland, CA, about 30 miles eastish of downtown L.A. The Hoffmans closed it because there wasn't enough business anymore, they were old and had been dealing with skaters and bikers every day for ten years, and the property had gone up a ton in value. The built a little business park on the property, so they could start their much deserved retirement.
The Pipe bowl, the best for bikes, had a 20 foot diameter pipe, compared to Baldy Pipe's 16 foot diameter(the one Morgan Wade looped). The deep end, where all the legendary photos were taken, was 12 feet deep with four feet of vert, and no coping. The combi bowl, was partially designed and paid for by skaters Steve and Micke Alba I believe, and was called "combi" because it combined a round and square bowl, and was basically designed to be the dream bowl for the Albas. The shallow end was four to five feet deep, the round pool was 12 feet deep, 9 foot transitions, 3 feet of vert, blue tile and serious pool coping. The square pool was 13 feet deep, 9 foot transitions and FIVE feet of vert, with pool tile and coping. Riding the square, it felt more like five foot transitions and nine feet of vert, it was so gnarly. Lesser known pools were the 15 bowl, which was fifteen feet deep, and huge, you could probably drive a car and carve it. If anyone remembers Dale Perez and Frank Garrido riding a pool with a sidehack, that was the 15 bowl. It was at the end of a long, straight banked ditch. In the back, behind the Combi, were four smaller bowls, 4, 6, 8, and 10 feet deep if I remember correctly, with no coping. Those were fun to ride, and much more managable than the big bowls.
The most local of bike locals was a kid known as Retread. I think he road the park every single day it was open, for ten years. No kidding. He once got a photo in a mag in one of the back bowls. He also did a weird trick called the Sewage Plant, on the hip of the 15 bowl. It was this freaky looking hand and footplant, and no one else could do it.
How hard was Pipeline to ride? Todd Anderson could pull ten foot airs on his 8 foot quarterpipe when he entered his first Pipeline contest, but could only manage about a foot out in the round bowl of the combi. I personally saw Eddie Fiola get about 8 feet out of the Pipe bowl, which was 12 feet deep. There was a mark on a light pole that was said to mark Mike Dominguez' highest air, about ten feet out. Dave Vanderspek was doing 7 or 8 foot high flyouts out of the corner of the Square (Combi) pool at one contest, and I can't explain how crazy that is. I could carve right at coping level in the Pipe Bowl and the Round pool, but only get about two feet under coping in the square, and THAT scared the hell out of me. On the last night Pipeline was open, my wheel crabbed in the pipe and I went head first into the bottom. My left hand hit first and I thought I broke my wrist. I was really bummed at first, then realized I might have the last broken bone from Pipeline. Then I was stoked. Unfortunately it was just a bad sprain and a gnarly heel bruise on my palm, so bad I couldn't hang on to my grip for a month.
But as luck would have it, I worked at Unreel Productions, the video company for Vision skateboards and Vision Street Wear. My boss was Don Hoffman, son of Pipeline owners Stan and Jean. So I got to go up on the weekends and ride the park with the guys in that video linked above. Private sessions at Pipeline, it didn't get much better than that. The skaters mostly skated the combi, so I had the Pipe all to myself on several occasions. I invited Eddie Fiola and Blyther a couple times. Dominguez was out of the picture then. The skaters that would show were Steve and Micke Alba, and Chuck Hultz, Chicken, and Kelly Belmar from the Vision woodshop, and whoever they invited.
While the park was closed, awaiting destruction, they took some of the interior fences down. The last thing I was doing there was flying out of the four foot bowl, and doing a nosewheelie at speed and landing in the ditch. Good fun. The last time I was there was a week or two before it was demolished, I think. The skaters all chipped some blue tiles off the shallow part of the combi, and then I did too. I think Lunchbox got a couple, too. I had those tiles for ten or 12 years before they got lost.
Pipeline was one of those places that didn't look like much when you drove up to it after seeing the pictures in the magazines. And then when you tried to ride it, it more than lived up to the hype.
To the guy who saw the new combi at the Van's Skatepark (The Block of Orange mall, Orange, CA) the new combi feels under vert compared to the original. The Pipeline Combi was so insanely gnarly, and they purposely made the new one much more skatable and ridable. I rode that one for a few years, until they banned bikes from it.
And to close out this history lesson, I have to give some props to the guy who did barspins over the doubles on the Pipeline track a couple years before barspins were invented, Jeff Carrol. Alley oops are hard, lookbacks are harder, alley oop lookbacks out of the pipe are not possible. Heh, heh, heh.
Ask Lunchbox for more details.

Hey thank you for the history lesson.
I can remember the walls of my bedroom covered in pictures from the magazines of people riding that park (others too).
Something about that place, the full pipe, the warm California sun and the clear blue sky made for some awe inspiring photos.
As a young teen living in NYC I would have given anything just to go there once.

I lived in Idaho when I saw the first photo of Pipeline, a bunch of guys sitting around the top of the round bowl of the combi, with all their bikes piled in the bottom of the bowl. It was in BMX Plus, about '83 I think. I remember thinking, "Those guys are crazy." And then I went out to this huge ditch by my house, pedaled up the high walls, and bunnyhopped and tried to do a table top near the top of the ditch. It was a pathetic attempt to impersonate the skatepark riders. At the time it seemed inconcievable that I would ever get to California and ride Pipeline. But amazingly, I did just that, as I wrote about above, five years after I saw that first photo.
While trying to emulate those Pipeline riders, I discovered how much fun ditches can be to ride, and ditches are still my favorite thing to ride.
I also rode the new combi at the Van's park after it opened, with Fiola, Blyther, Dave Voelker, Rich Sigur, John Povah, and a bunch of other old school riders. Dominguez showed up after a while, I saw him ride but never rode with him. They finally banned bikes form the new Combi because of new school kids trying ice picks and chipping the coping which screws it up for the skaters, and the skaters made that amazing bowl happen. Then Van's tore down the other bowl, the Black Bowl, and put in a bigger kiddie section. The Van's Skatepark at Orange completely sucks now, EXCEPT for the Combi Pool. You can't ride it anymore, but there's a ton of good skating going down there. If you're in SoCal, go by the Combi pool the week before the Pro-Tec Pool Party contest. It's off the hook. The year I was homeless, I went by every day before that contest, EPIC SESSIONS were going down. Duane Peters, Lance Mountain, Steve Steadham, Omar Hassan, Bucky Lasek, Bob Burnquist... tons more, great spectating, for free.
Anyhow, Pipeline skatepark became the launchpad for getting BMXers stoked on riding pools. Sure, there was Del Mar and other parks that got coverage. But it was Pipeline that showed just how amazing bikes can be in a pool. Those epic photos of Pipeline contests really lit the spark worldwide. Now look at all the good concrete parks that exist. Ok, there's not one within 100 miles of me, but there are plenty in the civilized world, away form the East Coast (heh, heh, heh). All of thr truly insane pool and skatepark riding today was largely inspired by Pipeline Skatepark. While it may be long gone, there is a new park in Upland with a full pipe. Never was able to check it out, but the legacy lives on...

I am planning a trip to Orange, California in June so I called the new Pipeline skatepark.
Bikes are not allowed but, I might go check it out anyway.
Last year we rode Mt.Baldy. That was a blast.

Like Whitebear Steve, I too was in awe of the Pipeline and took a similar route to get there. I got to skate it and ride bikes there a few times. Steve's description is right on, but he left out a few details that made it even gnarlier. The Pipe bowl was not smooth, the concrete was wavy and the lip was different all the way around the perimeter. The walls of the Combi, especially the Square part, were bowed inward and actually over vert! It was sooooo gnarly. Fiola, Blyther and of course Dominguez ruled that place. Don't forget Jeff Carroll's no-handers too. In magazines, the Pipeline looked like it must have spanned a city block. In reality, it was quite small and unimpressive, size-wise. The Pipeline was one of the last "dinosaurs" of the skatepark era, outliving Del Mar by a couple years. I'm glad I got to experience it.

If I could just go back in time. That is one place I wish I would have went to. Can't believe I never did. I guess, I just thought it would be there forever. That place is so legendary. Anybody got pics of it, that weren't in the magazines? That place should have became a national landmark.

It's too bad that we never got to see modern vert pros ride the Pipeline bowl. Imagine what Bestwick or Hoffman could've done there.....

Not sure if any modern rider could have got the speed to really loop the full pipe. I know they do that now, but I don't think they could have got enough speedto really loop it..

Who knows what could all be done there nowadays.. I miss that place.. ..

If I win the lottery there is going to be another Pipeline... I promise you that,, in my backyard..

There was a light running down the middle of the original pipeline so they would have had to do an upside-down bunny hop! Also, even if it is possible, I think the thing you need for the loop is length (not girth..) so that you can pump speed then tighten up the turn into the full loop. I doubt there was enough length at the old pipeline.

I rode (messed around really) that place a few times and the combi was nuts. There's a photo of Hugo getting about 4 or 5 feet out of the square side and people who rode it drop their jaws. Yeah, the pipe bowl was the most kinkedest mess in the world. Man stuff right there.

I managed to make it out to Pipeline in the summer of '87. I have to agree with the comments above. I remember pulling up with my friend and thinking, "That's it?" Then again, I remember thinking the same thing when I went to Yankee Stadium for the first time.

I had brought my bike out with me with hopes of at least being able to carve some of the less intimidating bowls, get some pics etc., but it turned out that Santa Cruz was there that day filming their "Streets on Fire" video. Not being a big skate fan, I wasn't able to fully appreciate what I was seeing. I'm sure I'm in the background of a few shots, standing outside the fence of the pool with my bike, haha.

I can attest to the fact that the pictures do not do the pipeline complete justice. When you stand at the bottom of the pipe bowl, and look straight up, it's mind blowing. 3 or 4 ft of vert.. insane. I remember the BMX Plus video with the combi pool segment. I remember looking at that bowl and thinking to myself, how the heck do these guys manage to do flyouts?

I have some pictures I'll scan from that day. I didn't get to ride, but did get to at least see it and get some pictures.

Jeff

Stan Hoffman loved kids, I think Jean loved them more they gave jobs to young people when others would'nt. I was one of them I worked there in 1984-85 and loved every minute of it. Everyone called Stan the Old Buzzard because he had this flat top hair cut and just always looked mad. I ran into Stan about a year ago at the Upland Home Depot and talked with him for awhile. His wife Jean pasted away some years ago and Don still works with film and action sports. He told me recentley that he wants to put together a documentary about the Pipeline for Skateboards and Bikes. Don told me he still has all the old 8mm film and some other films from all the AFA contests from back in the day and will someday put it out for all to share.

The old Pipe bowl as Maurice mentioned was the bumpiest bowl I have ever ridden. The new Upland Skatepark is fun but just not the same. Not even close.
If you want to ride a Bike friendly park try the 1 year old Fontana Skatepark located off of Summit and Lytle Creek road. There is a 11-12 foot deep bowl there with coping and has to be the smoothest bowl I have ever riden. Blyther and I ride this park almost every Sunday from 6pm to 9pm and we have a great time. Blyther is just as smooth as ever. Mike D. also rides it and we have had the pleasure of riding with other pros like Simon Tabron, Zack Shaw, Gary Young, Dennis Enerson, Mike Hucker Clark, Ben Snowden, Scott Twifford, John Povah, Alvin Mullins, Allan Cooke, Randy Lawrence and the whole Europe Vans Team over this past year.

This is a great article, thanks for the memories,

X

Hey Dr X thanks for the update.
I will recomend that we visit this park on our trip.

Is this it??

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source...mp;t=h&z=19

I'm still reeling about 3 -4 FEET of vert.....just crazy. With that much vert it seems like if you hung up you'd just lawn dart straight to the bottom on your head - not a lot of transition to catch you. Xavier, were people getting knocked out left and right riding that thing? This was before the days of full face helmets, pre Wilkerson nothing crash!

This was also before the small crank sprockets and cassette rear hubs.
I broke my collar bone hanging up like that..
Never did heal correctly....