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The annual Maloof Money Cup is skateboarding's largest world championship competition, with some of the sport's largest prize money (last year's vert winner took home $75,000, a tricked-out SUV and a $10,000 watch!). This year's competition will feature over $450,000 in prizes.

An event of this magnitude requires a its own kick-ass skate park, and for both last year and this year's upcoming competition, sponsors Joe and Gavin Maloof have tapped California-based skate park designer Joe Ciaglia to work his planning magic. Designing a skatepark of this size is a unique experience, something like civil engineering turned on its head; picture the grounds of a corporate office park, multilayered and punctuated by various ramps, everything designed for maximum kinetic flow.

Working off the concept of the X Games' mega ramp...Ciaglia came up with the idea of bringing a mini mega ramp into vert competition. He tapped Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Bob Burnquist and Jake Brown to refine a setup that includes a 25-foot gap with a handrail that skaters will grind across as they sail toward a half pipe.

No images of this year's park are yet available, but the video below shows Ciaglia working on last year's design. (You needn't watch the whole thing; the design stuff starts at 00:45 and ends at roughly 2:00.)

via mercury news