In a nutshell, the Snake Pit is an abandoned set of apartments and town homes that were built in the early 70's. Located in Cincinnati, at one point won an award for an example of urban reclamation but due to high crime in the area they were quickly shut down again. Tucked away in a surreal setting, this made for the perfect location for Doug Horton and the Cincinnati locals to reclaim it as a place to ride. Already having natural banks, transitions and rails, the crew did some more DIY to make it even more amazing. Here's more from Doug Horton who filmed and edited the video.
"The Snake Pit is basically a little slice of fun that is tucked away outside downtown Cincinnati. It's been vacant for almost a decade, and we first stumbled across it in 2004 I believe. We definitely weren't the first, since a few ledges were already waxed, but we did make it our own. I had my camera bag stolen there in 2005 when it was on the ground right behind me, so that was a harsh lesson and a good example of what kind of vacant neighborhood it was (not that I was surprised). This summer we did a little overhaul and did some Quick Crete work, some cutting, grinding, and even had a grill out on one of those grimy permanent grills, which have probably been covered in pee more times than I care to think about. The point is that, it's a place where we can all hang out, act stupid, and just enjoy hanging with your friends. And if anyone knows me, they know that to me, that's all that matters." -Doug Horton
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Contributors
Brian Tunney
This is Brian. He lives in Jersey City, rides BMX bikes often and somehow ended up in the X Games a few times. Facebook him if needed.
Cody York
From Cleveland, Ohio, Cody was raised on a steady diet of backyard jumps and skateparks and his photos have graced the pages of Ride BMX, BMX Plus!, Ride UK, and Dig magazines. Got something to share? cyorkphoto@me.com
Mark Noble
Mark is from the U.K., and has over 28+ years experience in BMX. He has launched, published, edited and written for more BMX mags than you can shake a bike at. He also runs Deluxe BMX.
Nick Ferreira
Nick Ferreira is a BMXer, photographer and zine maker from Taunton, MA. He has been extolling the merits of tucks and tabes in print and online for the better part of the past 10 years.
Pat Nugent
Born and raised on Long Island, the only outlet to BMX that Patrick grew up knowing was racing. For a while, he got into all those weird forms of BMX, but eventually returned to the race scene. He enjoys shooting races and snaking practice laps.
Steve Crandall
Hails from Ithaca, NY, created FBM in '93, paints pictures of eggs, soup and pigeons in his spare time, throws down a mean tabletop.
