“I don't think there's anything like that thing of walking up to the edge of a new bowl and going up to it like, 'Oh my God. I can't believe that they built this thing and they built it so good,'” says . “You have that 14-year-old shake where you're so excited that your body can't contain itself, and skating still gives me that feeling.”
Keep in mind, Ament is the bassist of . He's stood in front of packed stadiums and played his instrument for tens of thousands of people.
Keep in mind, also, Ament is nearing 50.
In the last few years, he's moved more of his energy into building skate parks in impoverished areas. For his latest project he built a skate park on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Ament grew up in rural Montana, and understands the nature of small-town isolation and poverty. He wants to give kids who don't have an outlet in sports or the arts a means to develop confidence and hope.
tells his story.
For more on Ament's work in Pine Ridge, go to and .
鈥擩oe Spring