Eddie Fiola tearing up the Pipe Bowl

I think this clip is from the 1987 GT Bikes video Demo Tape.  In any case, industry legend McGoo does a quick interview with Eddie Fiola as they look at his 1985 run from the King of the Skateparks series.  Eddie ran skinny, 1 3/8" rims for that contest, and people thought he had a 22" bike or something. 

At the time, quaterpipes ranged from the Bob Haro designed, 6' high plan in the magazines, to 9' high.  Most ramps went just up to vert.  The face wall of the Pipe Bowl at Pipeline skatepark, however, was an 8' transition with four feet of vert.  The pipe itself was 20 feet diameter.  You had to be badass just to air out of that wall in the deep end.  The fence is five feet high, and Eddie routinely got two or three feet over that. 

This was the first skatepark where BMXers could really blast airs more than 3 or 4 feet out.  Eddie Fiola established himself as the first King of the Skateparks, and was the most widely known pro freestyler to all us kids out in the rest of the country then.  His riding, along with the other skatepark riders, inspired kids all over the U.S. and U.K. to build sketchy ramps and learn to blast airs. 

In today's world of mega airs, it's hard to understand just how earth shattering these huge airs were at the time.  The 540 was a brand new trick as well.  Having the full pipe to pump speed out of, as well as a deep pool with no coping, helped Eddie and the others take riding to a whole different level.  Without Pipeline skatepark, that jump in the progression of skatepark riding may have taken years to happen.

The Badlands movie, tellling the story of Pipeline Skatepark, is now raising money on Kickstarter.  It's a huge skateboard story, but it's also a big part of BMX freestyle history.  Click the link and help support this movie getting made.   

Blogger's note- June 14, 2021- Don's still trying to find funding to make the Pipeline documentary, which really needs to happen. 

Blogger's note- 8/12/2023- The Kickstarter campaign to make the Pipeline documentary didn't raise enough, as far as I know, and I don't know if Don is still looking for money to fund the doc.

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