Belconnen Skate Park's new world-class vert ramp to give Canberra skateboarders like Katie Pike a competitive edge

Katie Pike started skateboarding less than four years ago but the 18-year-old is already carving it up at the highest level, narrowly missing out on qualifying for this year's Paris Olympics.

The Canberra teen took up the sport after getting a skateboard for her 15th birthday and learned how to ride through free lessons at the Belconnen Skate Park and watching skaters on YouTube and Instagram.

"Skating's a big part of my life," she said.

"I just love the fact that you can show your personality and style through something you love like skating.

That resilience has seen Katie travel to Sydney and the Gold Coast on most weekends to skateboard due to a lack of competitive infrastructure in the capital.

The 30-year-old Belconnen Skate Park used to have a half-pipe but it was lost in past upgrades, and the vert ramp in Tuggeranong is "outdated and full of holes". 

Years of campaigning for better facilities by local skaters has now seen a new 7-metre-tall vert ramp built in Belconnen, and Scottish-born Katie hopes it will give her the edge she needs for international competitions and to make the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"It's practically at my back door. It's five minutes from home … so this will save me a lot of money and stress with travel," she said. 

"I think it will improve my training a lot."

No longer a pipe dream

Skateboarding photographer and boarder David Pang said the new facility had put Canberra "back in the game" of top skate parks.

"We've got this fantastic, world-class ramp which is based on Tony Hawk's vert ramp which is used for most of the competitions around the world," he said.

"It means the upcoming Canberra skaters and Australian skaters have a ramp that is world class, so when they go to international events they're used to the transition and size of the ramp."

Canberra Skateboarding Association (CSA) president Tony Caruana said the new ramp would give local boarders a competitive edge. 

"Watching people like Katie skate is amazing," he said.

"We've already got some Olympic hopefuls in Canberra, and in years to come hopefully we see some locals getting into the Olympics.

CSA volunteers run free learn-to-skateboard lessons at the Belconnen, Gungahlin, Woden and Tuggeranong skate parks, and made submissions to the ACT government's recent committee inquiry into the accessibility of skateboarding and skate parks in the community. 

The government is yet to respond to the report's recommendations, released last month, but Mr Caruana is hopeful the suggestion for a skate park strategy will be accepted and parks like Tuggeranong and Gungahlin will be upgraded. 

All ages and abilities

The new ramp isn't just welcomed by those at the top of the sport.

"That's the great thing about skate parks, all ages, all abilities and different user groups from skateboarders, scooter riders and BMX riders as well," Mr Caruana said.

"It's a great community space we can all share."

Joel Bliss has been waiting decades for such a facility after growing up in Canberra's south using a wooden ramp built by local skaters.

The nearly 50-year-old says skateboarding keeps him fit and he "feels best when he's skating".

"Some people say it's like a fountain of youth. This fountain of youth makes you fly and that's the best thing about it. It's amazing."

Mr Pang said skateboarding had a "really good sense of community". 

"It's certainly open, we welcome everybody of all different races, creeds, genders," he said.