Pursuit of a Challenge Drives Him Up the Wall

When traditional ramps were no longer challenging enough, Danny Way designed and developed the “Mega Ramp,� using it last summer at the X Games to break his own world records for distance on a skateboard (79 feet) and height above a quarterpipe (23.5 feet).

Now Way, who once dropped from a helicopter onto a skateboard ramp, has taken his act to China. On Saturday, he will attempt to set world records and also try to become the first to leap the Great Wall without motorized assistance.

“The whole thing is intimidating for sure,� Way said. “I’m confident, but I’m also nervous, if that makes sense.�

It does if you’re sane.

Way-ward: The Beijing Mega Ramp cost $500,000 and required 60 laborers who toiled in 110-degree temperatures to make deadline. The roll-in strip is 120 feet and the gap Way will need to clear, with only his hands to hold the skateboard in position, is longer than 75 feet. He’ll be traveling at 50 mph before landing on the next roll-in portion, which leads to the quarterpipe. Whether he makes it or not, an official in China’s Ministry of Culture said, “The effect on the people will be enormous.�

As it was, no doubt, when a BMX rider perished while attempting to leap the Great Wall in 2002.

Trivia time: Another Na ‘Ohana O Na Hui Wa’a season is underway in Hawaii. What sport does this involve?

Hunch bet? Gary Stevens, who played George Woolf in the movie “Seabiscuit,� will be aboard Perfect Drift on Saturday in the 66th running of the Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park. Woolf was the jockey for the first three Gold Cup winners: Seabiscuit in 1938, Kayak II (1939) and Challedon (1940).

Titanic improvement: From the Tennessean’s David Climer, on the praise given to former USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who now directs the Tennessee Titans’ offense in place of Mike Heimerdinger: “From the comments coming out of the Titans’ locker room, you’d swear Heimerdinger ran the team’s offense like he was Capt. Hazelwood aboard the Exxon Valdez. This thing sputtered along until it scraped bottom and started oozing muck all over the place.�

Desperate housewives: The lockout of NHL players appears near an end -- just in time for at least one hockey wife. Kerry-Anne Walz, who is married to Minnesota Wild center Wes Walz, told the Hockey News:

“I want to say the last year was great, and that it was fantastic having Wes home every day, but it wasn’t. In the beginning, when it was rough, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, do I really want him home with me all the time? I might have to go and find a job myself.’ �

Trivia answer: Canoe racing.

And finally: Former boxing great Thomas “Hitman� Hearns, 46, announced that he’ll launch a comeback, explaining to the Detroit News, “There’s a lot of fire built up inside of me.�

Wrote Bernard Fernandez in the Philadelphia Inquirer: “I would tell Tommy, who was one of the most exciting fighters ever, that the fire is probably heartburn and he should pop a couple of antacid tablets and lie down with a damp washcloth across his forehead.�