Last-minute operation saves Whitehorse skate park ramps for new home

A group of Whitehorse-area residents pulled off a last-minute rescue mission of sorts on Tuesday.

They removed the ramps that were set to be demolished at the Whitehorse skateboard park. The City of Whitehorse was clearing away the old equipment to make way for a new park.

Darryl Tait, who helped organize the equipment rescue, says the goal is to pass the ramps on to future generations of skateboarders in Atlin, B.C.

Tait received an email Monday night telling him that the ramps were available to anyone who wanted them, but they had to be gone before Thursday.

He started calling friends asking for help, and he got it.

Contractor Ross Mercer provided a truck, trailer and lift equipment. Tait said other friends spent hours underneath the ramps unbolting them so they could be taken apart and put on the trailer.

It all came together when Mercer pulled away from the park Tuesday evening with a truckload of skateboard ramps.

"I didn't think it was going to happen," said Tait.

"It was a shot in the dark. and they went for it — and I couldn't be more proud of everyone who was involved to make it happen."

Tait's family has a longstanding connection to Atlin, just across the Yukon border, in B.C.. His parents live there and he spent much of his childhood there longing for some skateboard ramps.

"When I was a kid growing up, we always dreamed about having a skate park, a lot of kids in the community at that time, and we all thought we would just have a blast."

Tait said his priority this week was to save the ramps. He said it will be up to people in Atlin to decide if they want a skate park there.

He said his parents have begun talking to people and there will be conversations about where the ramps could be put. .