Unless you’re lucky enough to live in a large city with a well-maintained public skate park, the quest for the landscape contours you need might take you all over town-and have you skating away from security at every mall and university commons. As fun as zipping away from donut-eaters might be, at some point you’ll be wanting your own backyard set-up, so that you can take your slams in private and forget about your pride.

The main elements to building your home skate park are launch ramps, wedge ramps, quarter pipes and grind rails. You can add even more architecture with decks and flyboxes. There’s really no limit to the Lego-like mixing and matching you can do to create skate heaven at home. With these components, you are on your way to designing your personal skateboarding kingdom.

As always with the equipment you plan on entrusting your safety to, never skate by with cheap plastic goods. Modern skateboard ramps are generally made of steel and coated with synthetic anti-skid materials. Avoid cheap plastic toys from department stores like the plague.

A launch skate ramp is shaped like an arc, to give maximum lift. This kind of ramp is optimal for achieving atmospheric heights, whereas a wedge-style skate ramp with a flat, angled surface will jet you like a line drive.

A ramp deck is a box that can be added to a skateboard ramp on any or all of its four sides. This is different than the deck on your skateboard. This versatile component can be used to enhance your ramp system. Combining a deck with a single ramp will add distance to your launch pad. With a ramp on either side, you have a three-piece flybox. Adding ramps to the remaining sides gives you a pyramid for multi-skater tricks.

Unlike launch and wedge ramps, quarter-pipe and half-pipe ramps usually include a ledge or grind rail and are meant for flips, turnarounds, grinds and pivots. As you may have learned while sleeping in math class, two quarters equal one half, and you’ll be happy to find that this applies to skateboarding ramps as well. Just join two quarter pipe ramps at the base to simulate the rolling loop that you’d find at the bottom of drained pool or park bowl.

You can further customize by adding a grinding rail, either round or square, or a flat skate bench, for advanced flip tricks, ollies, slides and of course grinds. Beginners will probably want to stick to the square grinding rails, which are easier to grab your wheels on, while the advanced skater will want to whip around on a round bar.

Of course, many skaters will skip the custom architecture, preferring to stake out an obstacle course among the iron works of city parks, stairs and garages. But for those who like to take their dives in the comfort of home, cobbling together the perfect practice run can be a fun project all its own-and make you the envy of the poor noobs stuck nursing their wounds in front of the jungle gym and swing set.

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