Red Bull Built a 22-Story Skate Ramp in Brazil

There are tall skate ramps in the world, and then there’s the temporary structure that skateboarder Sandro Dias used in the process of setting two world records in Porto Alegre, Brazil. This was no ordinary skate ramp, you see; instead, it was build on the side of a 22-story building, enabling five-time world vert title holder Dias to reach a speed of over 64 miles per hour as he made his way towards his destination.

The basic structure of the building, the Centro Administrativo Fernando Ferrari, didn’t need much modification to make it ready for Dias to skate down it. It already has one side that gradually angles downward, with its shape already evoking that of a skate ramp. As Dezeen’s Ellen Eberhardt reported, Red Bull and collaborators Prada added plywood to the existing structure to make it more skateboard-friendly.

The ensuing event, aptly known as Red Bull Building Drop, found Dias gradually working his way up the side of the building to tackle the ramp from higher and higher points. Eventually, he began his descent from 70 meters (or around 230 feet) off the ground, reaching his maximum speed as he did so.

According to Red Bull’s documentation of the event, Red Bull Building Drop represented a project that was 13 years in the making. “I knew it was possible, but almost impossible to actually pull off,” Dias said after he’d finished skating down the side of a building.

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As for the records that Dias set in the process, Guinness World Records has certified that he’s set new records in two categories: “tallest drop into a temporary quarter pipe” and “fastest speed on a temporary quarter pipe.” We’ll see if some other enterprising skateboarder can exceed these new standards — presumably using an even more absurd structure to carry them on their way.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…