Bob Burnquist's wooden skateboard ramp is the largest in the world and clearly visible from 9,000 metres up. Since the $280,000 Californian structure was completed last September, pilots have been adjusting their flight patterns to give passengers a better view. Longer than a football field and with a 21-metre breach through which a stream flows, the Mega Ramp allows skaters to reach speeds of up to 55 miles an hour. Strictly for extreme risk-takers, such as Burnquist, it is not open to the general public .

Applying for planning permission for a private structure of such proportions was not straightforward. To get the go-ahead Burnquist, a sometime organic farmer, designated the ramps as agricultural buildings. "I'll put some plastic on the side and build a greenhouse underneath," he told the New York Times. "I just happen to skate on the roof." Burnquist, who has "base-jumped" off the Grand Canyon, will use the ramp to train for the extreme sport X Games.

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