Australia's Oldest Skate Park Turns 50 Thanks to Teens

When a group of teenagers in Albany, Western Australia decided their town needed a skate park in 1975, they didn't wait for adults to make it happen. They grabbed raffle tickets and started knocking on doors.

Graham Macaulay was just starting high school when the skateboarding craze hit his coastal town. Kids were skating everywhere, but roads and driveways weren't cutting it for the sport's growing tricks and speed.

With support from Graham's father Jim and the town's mayor, the young skaters launched a fundraising campaign that would change their community forever. They sold raffle tickets for a color television, with the top sellers earning their own skateboards as prizes.

The kids went door to door across Albany, even sneaking into hotels while underage to sell tickets. Graham's brother Steve remembers selling fairy floss at events and once earning $300 from the council to blow up 1,000 helium balloons for a ship opening ceremony.

The community raised $3,000, enough to build the Snake Run in an old gravel quarry in Mount Clarence. The design mimicked ocean waves because many skaters also surfed, creating a winding downhill track that let riders carve left or right like catching a wave.

When the park opened in February 1976, crowds flooded in. For the next few years, the Snake Run became the place every kid wanted to be.

"During phys ed class, we would come down and have skateboarding as an option," Graham said. "We were just living this dream with this skateboarding, surfing lifestyle."

The dedicated space transformed skill levels across the community. In 1979, just three years after opening, Albany hosted Australia's first National Skating Championship.

The Ripple Effect

The Snake Run's unique organic design, shaped around quarry boulders and surf culture, inspired early skate parks in the United States. Today, it stands as the world's second-oldest surviving skate park and holds heritage status in Australia.

Kus Rolf, now president of the Albany Skateboard Society, first visited from Perth in 1998 and was blown away by the park's challenging terrain. He says its lumpy, steep, organic shape remains unique worldwide.

For Graham Macaulay, watching the park celebrate 50 years feels amazing. "We've been part of the journey, a stepping stone for a lot of other parks around the place," he said.

The teenagers who sold raffle tickets door to door created more than a skate park—they built a piece of sports history that still brings joy five decades later.