Historic BMX Photo - World's First Ramp Flip EVER!

Photo ©Brad Fanshaw

In 1984, I was living in Arizona and I would ride my Kawasaki Tecate 250 three-wheeler down by the Salt River. This is a place where every one would go to keep cool and hangout. Guys on motocross bikes, girls floating in tubes with coolers and beer. Anyway, one weekend I see this huge crowd watching some guy on a bmx bike. I ride over and see this guy is setting up plywood across the river rock and a big wood ramp.

I ask whats going on and I'm told they are going to jump into the river. Cool, I race back and grab my cameras from the truck and get right down in the river. There was some great cross-ups and jumps, but this guy; Jose' Yanez comes speeding down the ramp and pulls a full flip into the water!

After shooting a bunch of photos, I grab Jose and ask if he could do that ramp-to-ramp? He told me he thought so and I lined up the first ramp-to-ramp jump behind the ABA offices. Jose went on to perform at the ABA Grands and then went on tour with Barnum and Baily Circus.

Today, a flip is yawn, a regular trick, but you are seeing the grandfather of flips and the first ever photographed!