CCCC: When Centreville Was The Place To Be

Most of us do not get the chance to create something great in life. Limited by practical concerns, self-doubt or any number of other considerations our lives stay grounded in the pursuit of lesser goals that, while satisfying, are not altogether memorable outside of our immediate circle. The young almost universally crave adventure and to achieve something great. That energy can go anywhere, and in the 1980s it came to Centreville—to skate.

“We essentially built the best, the biggest and the most expensive half-pipe ever conceived on the Earth,” skateboarder and ramp engineer Mike “Micro” Mapp said recently.

Called the “CCCC” ramp, for Cedar Crest Country Club, the half-pipe sat back in the woods off Sudley Rd. near the entrance to what now is known as Fairfax National Golf Club, but back then was Cedar Crest. 

“It was built like a house, with a concrete foundation and cinder blocks surrounding it . . . . The surface of the ramp was 11-gauge sheet steel, which ended up being the industry standard for the next 20 years,” Mapp said.

The ramp, which opened in 1986, was so far ahead of its time that skaters the world over flocked to ride it.  “Cedar Crest was the Mecca of the skate world at the time,” said Mapp. “We would get visitors from all over the world. I had visitors from Sweden, California, Michigan, and Brazil. Everybody in the sport would come here.”

Tony Hawk, the skateboarding icon who at the time lived on the west coast recalled his visit to Cedar Crest.  “At first it was intimidating, but we quickly realized that bigger transitions led to bigger airs. Once I got used to it, I felt like I was floating,” Hawk said in an email sent through his spokesperson.

The ramp came to be when Gene Hooper, the owner of Cedar Crest Country Club who passed away back in 2003, agreed to allow his son Mark to build the ramp on club property. Never one to do things small, he agreed to finance construction, with cost being very little concern.

“Mr. Hooper hooked us up with a plot and money to build it,” said Sam Irby, another Cedar Crest skater.  “It was the biggest and best of the time.”

Over time, decks were constructed for better views of the action. An apartment was added to one end and a garage to the other. “We tried to make the ramp waterproof,” said Mapp. “But eventually just put a roof over it.”

MTV, the Washington Post, local news outlets and every skater magazine in existence at the time all ran features on the ramp.  The action continued 24 hours a day and became a center for local music. Notable local bands such as Bad Brains, Scream (with Dave Grohl on drums) and GWAR (in full gear) played on the deck of the ramp, while the skating continued down below. When the ramp fell into foreclosure in 1991, though, everything came to an end. 

“All that remains now,” said Mapp, “are the stumps where the telephone poles holding up the deck were sawed off.”

For worried parents, concerned about what happened back there in the woods, CCCC’s demise probably came as a relief. For the area, though, the period from 1986 – 1991 marks a singular point in time in which the communities in western Fairfax County, near the Loudoun border, mattered. It represents a time when young people, driven by creativity and a desire for adventure, built something unique, extraordinary and special. With the , though, the site will soon fill up with large houses, each one almost identical to the one right next to it. 

“There will never be another ramp like Cedar Crest,” said Mapp, who now builds ramps as CEO of Ramptech.  “It was so fast and so far ahead of its time.”

To learn more about Cedar Crest, you can visit www.skatecccc.com.  To learn more about how skate parks can benefit the community, visit the Tony Hawk Foundation.