CENTREVILLE, Va. 鈥� Behind the million-dollar homes off Bull Run Post Office Road, the quiet woods hide what was once a counterculture rallying point that drew skateboarders, punk rockers and young people searching for acceptance to a remote area of western Fairfax County: a country club with the best halfpipe on the East Coast.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the skateboard ramp, incongruously built on the grounds of what was then Cedar Crest Country Club, was an underground mecca with an energy that still reverberates for three filmmakers with local roots who remember what it was like to skate along its steely sides.
Now, a documentary film details the ramp’s story and its place in counterculture history. , in Falls Church.
‘An oasis’
Devoted skaters would travel hours to reach Cedar Crest, snaking down what were then poorly marked roads, often pitching tents on the grounds, contributing to a youth compound fueled by loud music and, often, drugs, alcohol and sex.
鈥淲hen you drive down Bull Run Post Office Road, off Lee Highway, you didn鈥檛 know where you were going 鈥� you had to follow someone that was showing you the way,鈥� said Mike Maniglia, the film鈥檚 director, who worked as a greenskeeper at the course so he could use the skate ramp daily.
Maniglia said the Cedar Crest skate ramp, which opened in 1986, served several purposes.
鈥淵ou came to not only skateboard, but you came to escape,鈥� said Maniglia. 鈥淵ou could drink; you could smoke all the pot you wanted; it didn鈥檛 matter. You were a kindred spirit to everyone that came out here.鈥�
Film producer Frank Scheuring was a teenager living in Fairfax County when he first heard about Cedar Crest.
鈥淐edar Crest was an oasis, where all different types of people got together and got along,鈥� Scheuring said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter if you were a punk, skinhead, hippie, metalhead 鈥� they all came here to hang out and have fun.鈥�
The ramp was built largely out of necessity, after a decline in the number of places skaters could practice in the early 1980s. Park owners often were concerned about insurance liability.
鈥淲e had about 12 skate parks in the D.C. area,鈥� recalled film producer Mike Mapp, whose skating counterparts knew him as Micro. 鈥淲hen the parks went away, the skaters did not.鈥�
Young skaters built makeshift ramps.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking anything from a piece of plywood nailed to a telephone pole, to a homemade jump ramp which was a piece of wood and a cinder block,鈥� said Mapp.
Despite the ingenuity, Mapp said, the homemade ramps didn鈥檛 make for a good skating experience.
鈥淵ou put a layer of plywood on Friday and you get a weekend鈥檚 use of it, but by Monday it was all splinters,鈥� Mapp said.
Cedar Crest Country Club owner Eugene Hooper allowed his son Mark to build the ramp on club property and financed the project.
Mapping a magical ramp
By 1985, Mapp had years of knowledge stored in his head about how to make聽a good ramp: 鈥淭he measurements, the specs 鈥� the flat bottom length, the vertical length, width 鈥� and how to layer the ramp.”
“The coping protrusion, which is the top edge of the ramp that sticks out into the riding surface 鈥� it was defined at Cedar Crest that a 5/16th-inch bump is the magical amount: not too much and not too little,” Mapp said. 鈥淲e knew when we got this opportunity, we were going to move into something that was light years ahead.鈥�
The skating surface set the ramp at Cedar Crest apart from other ramps, Mapp said.
鈥淵ou had 11-gauge steel on that ramp 鈥� no other ramp steel was that thick,鈥� said Mapp. 鈥淚t was faster, it was smoother than anyplace else.鈥�
Decades before the internet, news of Cedar Crest Country Club鈥檚 ramp spread through word of mouth and skating magazines including Flipside.
Maniglia believes the ramp was among the best ramps in the world at the time, attracting visitors from Finland, Australia, England, France, Sweden, South America, Japan, Brazil, California, New Zealand, Poland and other Eastern European countries.
Within months, visitors would pay a $5 admission 鈥� or not 鈥� and stay all day. Or longer.
If they could find the place.
鈥淲alking through the woods, when you鈥檇 get close you鈥檇 hear people skating and playing music from their car or boombox and you鈥檇 get chills,鈥� recalled Scheuring.
At the time, the nearest house was miles away, so skaters made themselves at home. 鈥淵ou could go anywhere in the woods, and you鈥檇 stumble across someone鈥檚 tent or campground,” Maniglia聽said.
Skate jams
Soon, the skating community at Cedar Crest Country Club started hosting concerts.
鈥淭he day would start with a jam (skating) session, where there鈥檇 be a contest and you could win a hoodie or something,鈥� said Maniglia, whose skating name is Grinch. 鈥淎t night, the bands would start up.鈥�
Bands from the D.C. punk scene, including Scream, played often at the Cedar Crest concerts. A band would set up their equipment at the flat bottom of the steel ramp, with fans flanking and sitting above the 鈥渟tage鈥� atop the structure.
(Scream and Red Hare will both perform at . More information on the screening is available at the.)
鈥淪ometimes we had the bands playing on the mini ramp, and the big skating ramp kept going into all hours of the night 鈥� and morning,鈥� Mapp said.
Although there was some tension between the country club members and those frequenting the skate ramp, members, skaters and neighbors generally coexisted, Maniglia said.
鈥淲hen the police came, they were in awe,鈥� said Maniglia. 鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 believe this little oasis of counterculture existed. Remember 30 years ago, it was like, 鈥楽kateboarding, what鈥檚 that?’鈥�
Occasionally skaters were seriously injured on the ramp, and organizers were concerned about inebriated young people driving.
鈥淣obody wanted you to get a DUI because you could drive off the road,鈥� said Maniglia. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tapeworm of a road.鈥�
Turn out the light
Toward the end of the 1980s, after coverage from news outlets including CNN and The Washington Post, the popularity of the ramp likely contributed to its downfall.
In the film, D.C. hard-core punk pioneer聽 鈥� an avid skateboarder 鈥� said his then-new band, Fugazi, was invited to play at Cedar Crest in 1989.
鈥淲e were reticent,鈥� MacKaye said. 鈥淚 had heard of Cedar Crest, and it was pretty legendary at that point.鈥�
Eventually, Fugazi agreed to play and showed up in October 1989.
As he watched the opening bands, MacKaye recalled seeing two police officers approach the stage and order the electric power turned off, which plunged the entire area into total darkness.
As more police cars arrived, with helicopters overhead, the evening鈥檚 concert was shut down.
鈥淭he concert component of that evening was over and done. After the cops, crowd and helicopter had departed, the chain across the ramp was removed, broken glass swept and the skate session resumed,鈥� MacKaye told 草莓传媒. 鈥淨uite a night.鈥�
Mapp said the end of the Cedar Crest Country Club ramp was near.
鈥淭hey were heading toward bankruptcy and one of the things they decided to do was shut the ramp down,鈥� Mapp said. “The ramp existed for the next year and a half, but it was never to be like the grand old days.”
By 1992, Cedar Crest was foreclosed and torn down.
Searching, 25 years later
Earlier this week, a 草莓传媒 reporter traveled with Maniglia, Mapp and Scheuring to Centreville in search of the ramp’s remnants.
Over the years, development encroached along the streets off Bull Run Post Office Road that once led to the ramp, and almost all evidence of the structure was carted away.
Parking their SUVs at the end of a cul-de-sac, the three filmmakers traipsed through now-overgrown woods, looking for signs of what was once a home away from home.
Finally, after 30 minutes, with the help of neighbors on ATVs, Mapp exclaimed, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 it!鈥�
He had recognized the lay of the land and a concrete slab he had erected for the ramp.
The film鈥檚 producers noted the irony of their modern search for their musical and skating past.
鈥淚n anyone鈥檚 lifetime, when you can step into a time capsule and relive your youth, especially one you鈥檙e so fond of, there鈥檚 a welling of emotion,鈥� said Maniglia. 鈥淪o, walking down this path, finding those wooden pilings, standing with all of you is very emotional.鈥�
Scheuring said his experiences at Cedar Crest led to his career in music and audio engineering.
Mapp, who is now a master builder of skate parks, had mixed feelings.
鈥淲hen I look around, and the country club is no longer there, and the houses are being developed, and your baby has been mowed down, it鈥檚 not easy,鈥� said Mapp. 鈥淵et, we鈥檝e found it, and here we are 鈥� nothing lasts forever.鈥�
Except, sometimes, memories. And movies.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still kids 鈥� this is a kid thing,鈥� said Micro, aka Mapp. 鈥淥bviously, we don鈥檛 want to be adults.鈥�
Watch the trailer for “Blood and Steel: Cedar Crest Country Club”:
