Empire Shakedown 2008

The Empire Shakedown 2008
April 4 and 5, 2008, Mont Saint-Sauveur, Quebec, Canada
by Lauren Traub Teton


We went to our first Empire Shakedown in Quebec this week, and it is one of the best snowboard events I’ve ever been to! And I have been to just about every snowboard event this season in the East.












A slow 8-hour drive in a blizzard and misty rain, and rush hour traffic around Montreal were endured, but were quickly forgotten when we took our places for Friday night’s rail jam at petit Mont Saint-Sauveur, an hour north of Montreal. The crowd would have been thicker if not for the bad driving weather but that just meant plenty of good viewing spots from the comfy grandstands, and room to move around, which was
certainly not the case Saturday night with crowds of over 15,000 spectators for the finals of the main event.

Friday Night Coors Light Rail Jam and Party

80 slots for amateurs were available in the rail jam beside the 35 pros that could ride. Two old-school metal rails and a gigantic corrugated drum, tarted up to look like a can of Coors completed the set-up. The riders were pleased that no stair rails were included because of the extra danger factor that comes with stairs.

Mike Casanova out of Breckenridge, Colorado competed using some of the
greenbacks from his first place win at February's NY City's Union Square Rail Jam
for his travel budget. He is riding as an unsponsored free agent at the moment and
carefully considering his next career move. Originally from Wisconsin, 23-year old
Mike is a really nice guy as well as a super rider.

Jason Dubois of Quebec and Chris Rotax of Vermont who both also made the
podium at Union Square, competed at the Shakedown. As did LNP (Laurent-Nicolas
Paquin) of Quebec with his smiley dark eyes and freak flag of hair flying. This guy was spectacular in Rome Snowboard's latest film "By Any Means" and was named 2008
"Jibber of the Year" by Snowboarder Magazine for that film part.

Kael Hill of Alberta, Canada took the top prize in the Coors Light Rail Jam ($5 000)
with a Nollie Backside Lip 5-0. Matt Kulisek, a local from St-Sauveur won the Ride
Snowboards amateur competition with a graceful frontside 9. Also on the podium for
the amateur side were Antonin Chamberland of Sherbrooke in 2nd place, and David
Gauthier of Trois-Rivières, 3rd place. All three won invites for the semi-finals in the big pro comp on Saturday.

The party Friday night was at the club Bourbon Street in Piedmont, the next town over
and the only place around big enough to hold the crowd. This was one of the largest
parties I had ever been to. That is until the next night's afterparty. 3000 people can fit inside Bourbon Street, and the partying and dancing were wild a la Quebec. Bouncers regularly pick up and throw out anyone who gets too rowdy. And I have never seen so many beautiful girls in one place in my life.

Saturday Main Event Semi-Finals and Finals - Slopestyle Jam

Saturday brought bright warm sunshine, with 55 degree F temperatures that made the
daytime snow slow and sticky for the semi-finals of the main event. 35 of the best
pro-riders from the US and Canada were invited to compete along with the 3 amateur winners of Friday night's rail jam. An insane halftime (mi-temps) show between the semi-finals and the finals was the VANS Skateboarding Competition. The snowboard rail set-up was jibbed by skateboarders, propelling off of a wooden quarterpipe before the cheering crowds in the stands. Thomas Parent won top honors and a cash prize of
$2 000.

Back on the snowboards, the finals saw the 15 top athletes of the semi-finals retained for a showdown. The Empire Shakedown is a unique competition, requiring that athletes master two different snowboarding disciplines (the AMP booter jump, followed by the rail) in a JAM format which we've only seen done at the Shakedown. The ski run below the booter is open to the public during the event, and snowboarders and skiers must ride through a narrow snow passageway right underneath the competitors asthey fly overhead from their jumps.

The Shakedown basically uses a rail jam format, for a slopestyle event. Say WHAT?!
In plain English, that means the riders can take as many practice runs as they want at any time during the comp. HOWEVER they must call out each of the 2 runs that will be judged before they drop in, and they have to say what trick they'll be doing. This makes it both easier and harder. Just ask Chris Rotax, who killed it all day, but just not on his "juger" or judged runs.

Chris's Vermont rail pal Yale Cousino is recovering from a knee injury sustained at the Union Square Rail Jam, and helped out here with the judging. Justin Short (who is tall,with long straight red gold hair) competed from out west, as did Bode Merrill (not to be confused with Bode Miller) out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Merrill, age 21 won first place in the "World Quarterpipe Championship" in Vermont two weeks ago on Easter Monday, and has been ripping it up in the East. His prize there was $1000 in quarters and a 50cc motorcycle, which is comically tiny considering his 6'3 inch frame.

Another thing that is special and spectacular about the Shakedown is the spirit and
animation of the crowd. They were packed together like pennies in a jar, breathless
with anticipation before each jump, and ecstatic at the finish of each rail slide. Since the mountain is open for riding at night, spectators had the option to ride the lift or hike up, to sit on the snowy lit hill and watch the event.

The excitement was contagious, with 2 announcers going at the same time, Patryck
Bernier, one of the event organizers spoke in French and Etienne Gilbert in
English. The music made it impossible not to dance and was as good as the tunes at
the after-party. And the crowd was the best looking and most nonchalantly fashionable
group we have ever seen in our lives. We would have loved to see a little display of show-off runs by the riders who worked so hard but didn't make the finals.

"The level of competition is very high and the boarders have been extremely creative;
some jumps we’ve never even seen before. The ambiance was incredible,especially today with the beautiful weather we’re experiencing" commented Brendan O’Dowd, President of DIZZLE Productions Inc, and one of the Empire Shakedown’s
organizers.

When all was said and done, Mont-Tremblant native Charles (say "Sharl") Reid won
the 2008 Empire Shakedown grand finale this year after placing 2nd in 2007. The 17-
year old snowboarder also won himself $15 000 in prize money. Two other Quebecois boarders climbed onto the podium; Sébastien Toutant,with his very special backside 1080 double cork - double kink air, and gap to back lipslide on the rail.

Toutant is a 15-year old from Lanaudière, who rides for O'Neill under the superb
tutelage of our old friend Max Henault, and we predict you'll be seeing Seb's name a
lot. Third was Sherbrook’s Antonin Chamberland. Chamberland was in fact one of
just two amateur snowboarders to win a spot in the finals, the other being Saint-
Sauveur’s Matt Kulisek.

Winner Charles Reid said "I think the moves I really succeeded with, the frontside
1080 and the back side 270 were what won me the competition. I don’t really know
what to do with the $15 000 prize money, but for the moment, its going to the bank.
One thing is certain; I will be ready for Shakedown 2009." The prize was the biggest
purse to be awarded in Canada.

The after-party was huge, and open to all comers over age 18 who paid a cover
charge. It was conveniently held at the Saint-Sauveur base lodge, and the social
scene spilled out all over, with one outdoor section seemingly reserved for people to text message their friends. We've never been to a snowboard event that made a space
big enough to have a party where all were invited, so this one was great. Charles Reid proudly sported his first prize necklace at the party. It was heavy gold and spelled out "Shakedown 2008" in a style that would make 50 Cent jealous, for sure.

After-after parties broke out in various places including the tony Manoir Sauveur lounge that is probably still trying to rub the drink waterspots off its grand piano. The Shakedown is a party not to be missed, and we'll be back. We may even nip up to
Canada again soon to enjoy the charming tourist village of St-Sauveur in the summer
without our snowboard buddies. And to check out the latest fashions at Axis
Boardshop in St-Sau, who has one of the best snowboard, skate, and wakeboard clothing
collection we've ever seen. They're surely one of the reasons the people at the
Shakedown looked so fashionably fab!


Sponsors of the Empire Shakedown

Empire Stores is the namesake partner of The Shakedown. With five stores in the
Greater Montreal area, and its online boutique www.thinkempire.com, they are
Canada’s largest distributor specializing in snow and skateboard clothing and
accessories.

In 2008, Empire Shakedown once again enjoys the support of: Vans, AMP, Ubisoft,
Coors Light, Ride Snowboards, Mont Saint-Sauveur, ZooYork, as well as Spy, Nixon,
Nikita, 686, IFound, Drop, New Era, Skull Candy, Tourisme Québec, and Moog Audio.
The participation of the following media should also be noted: Snowboard Canada
Magazine, Future Snowboard Mag (USA), Musique Plus, and 33mag.com.

DIZZLE Productions is the architect of the Shakedown. Founders of DIZZLE Patryck
Bernier and Brendan O'Dowd have been providing event management and other
related services since 2004. www.dizzleinc.com

The Empire Shakedown 2008 will be aired on the RDS Network (April 25 at 5:30
p.m.. DST) and on TSN (May 18 at 3:30 p.m. DST).


Don't Miss Great Snowboard Events in the East. SnowboardEventsCalendar.com

World Quarter Pipe Championship 2008 held at Timber Ridge, Vermont

Monday March 24, 2008 saw the return of the famous infamous World Quarter Pipe Championship, held at the internationally renowned year-round party hot spot, otherwise known as Timber Ridge in Windham, VT “on the backside of Magic Mountain.” We went to the Rome “By Any Means” film premier party here last summer and had such a great time that we didn’t think twice the minute we heard a winter comp was being held here.

This was the 8th “Annual” Competition and they tell me it’s ok to call it “annual” even though the event was on hiatus for the last 3 or 4 years. This season Tim Waker, owner of Timber Ridge, and his helpers decided to pull out the backhoe again, and transport 50 truckloads of snow onto the exact spot where the summer skateboard halfpipe was set up, to re-create their winter “World Quarterpipe Championship” once again.

This is a contest in the old school style. Anyone can enter. In fact there is no “entering.” Just show up, get up the hill with your deck, and ride down. That’s the only requirement for entry. Steve Hayes of Hayes Brothers snowboards, who rode for the Burton Team from back in the 80’s and 90’s said “The World Quarters reminded me of the early contests in that every one was relaxed, no pressure, they had to hike, and there were no rules. Just ride and have fun. Oh yea, watch out for the Gauntlet.”

Stevie Hayes and Laurie Asperas Valayer, both Burton Team Riders from 1984 into the '90s were there.

The QP billed as “A NIGHTMARE OF TRANSITION AND VERT” on the flyers and signs, was actually a friendly sized 14 foot high hip and spine facing the sun, with a blue barrel to bonk and a wooden “Funerail” to play around on. The riders hit the features continuously from the practice sesh that ended around 12 noon, until the contest ended after 4:30. They rode it as jousting knights into battle, more so than even the snowboard warriors at another recent medieval-themed snowboard event held down the road this weekend.

The contestants at the World QP were made to ride a gauntlet where the local townsfolk threw snowballs and sometimes beer cans, using the snowboard warriors as flying targets. Occasionally a snowboarding warrior threw back a snowball at the gauntlet-keepers from the air during the jump, making for jolly entertainment. The purpose of a gauntlet is to make sure that no evil spirits will dare follow the warriors, and I think they must be pretty free and clear after what they went through!

After threading the gauntlet the warriors were forced to jump over fire in their rides downhill. Not electronically created controlled fire like the kind next to the Wizard of Oz’s face, but real gnarly wood “flare-up when it-feels like it fire.” There were a few singed butts to be sure.

This rider is smokin'! No really!!

Riders were still goin’ at the jump and making victory laps during the award ceremony, where Shayne Pospisil took first place. His cool mom Janet and his bros were there to cheer him on. Shayne is just back from a second place at Terje’s Arctic Challenge. Winning the Arctic Challenge was a highlight of his career to date, and he gets to go surfing with Terje in Indonesia for a prize. We think his moms should get to go on that trip too since she’s a surfer.

Shayne Pospisil, winner, and his surfin' Mom Janet

Shout out to our new friends Tarik Blowers age 14, of Jamaica, VT, and his mom Suzanne Sylvester. This kid spun on the QP like no one else and we hear he was just tapped to ride for Hayes Brothers. Tarik was a winner of the Red Bull One Hit Wonder comps at Mountain Creek and Stratton this season and is a Ross Powers personal friend, and Foundation sponsoree.

Tarik Blowers and his Mom Suzanne Sylvester

Forest Bailey had that determined look on his face and pulled off the first of the roof drop bonks, jumping off the right side of the spine onto the roof of the little house below. He did some nice stalls on the wood rail.

Nugget announced, and someone sometimes played music of a wide and oddly assorted variety from his Ipod. Scotty Lago was going big as the most famous of the riders here and we hope his heel heals fast. Scotty and Shayne P. are off to Alaska to film this week.

Teddy Rauh actually did perform his legendary signature double back flip a couple of times toward the end of the day. A few times his landing that we couldn’t see produced big puffs of flyng snow and thuds, but he came walking back every time, thank goodness.

Chris Waker rode wearing the signature yellow and black colors of Timber Ridge. Btw, Who are all those security guards wearing the yellow jackets and roaring the sleds uphill with up to 3 snowboarders snow wakeboarding behind? We don’t know but they seem to be having the time of their life at this party and the other Timber Ridge ones too! Dad Tim got into the act when he rode the mini-bike prize down the quarter pipe to present it, much to the delight of the almost jaded and by now pretty drunk audience.

Tim Waker tests out the prize mini-bike

This was a small awesome party with free vittles on the grill and some free brewskis and Red Bulls. Thanks to Rome SDS, Red Bull, Pat Bridges, Mark Sullivan, the Wakers, the shuttle bus driver, the security guards, Magic Mountain, Mother Nature for the pretty day, all the riders, spectators, dogs, and whoever else and everyone else who helped make this party special. We’ll be back for the next party here, no doubt!

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Bluebird Skies at Hunter TELEMET Latitude 42 2008

Hunter Mountain Hosts TELEMET Latitude 42
for 3rd Year

Bluebird skies could not have been brighter Sunday afternoon as we watched the Big Air Finals, and Rail Jam warm-up and match of this annual snowboard and ski contest. Hunter Mountain had the rails set up for easy viewing from their sun deck, so you could enjoy a cold brew along with the warm rays and exciting action all from your comfy seated position in an Adirondack chair or at a picnic table after finishing a great day of sniing. The music by DJ Soul Atomic caused uncontrollable grooving in the crowd.

On the mic at the rail jam was Chris Karas of Hunter, adding color and style. A good announcer really jazzes up a jam, and he did! Rail Jam Props go out to Juan Morri for his stylish tweak on the rail and red shirt, Mike DiStasio who brought his trademark one-footer to Hunter and always looks smart, Tom Weiss, (one of our faves) who has won this rail jam for the last 3 years straight, and Brian Pendergast for style and enthusiasm. And our friends from USASA events in the Catskill Mountain Series that we compete in personally. These CMS-ers were all on the podium this weekend: Tyler Yager, Becky Popiel, and Katie Teague. Bob Basil our CMS fearless leader, and his trusty assistant (and sister) Marie Ianelli kept the Lat 42 event on course all weekend

Also props to Tess Hobbs, skier, and captain/coach of the UVM ski rail team who won and brought her team down to compete. She won the rail jam and QP here this year and last, as she has been winning all season, including at Rails to Riches at Killington. She is unstoppable!

A top notch team of snowboard judges officiated, including Jeremiah Dixon of Hunter. (He gave me my first lesson in the halfpipe many years ago, and enough encouragement that I stayed with it, and now finally find it relaxing to ride the pipe instead of the equivalent of jumping out of a plane, as it used to feel to me!). Also judges judge Rick Bauer, and the rest of the team.

Hey, why does the warm-up before rail jams have to be so long? The competitors have practiced plenty to get here and are sometimes wilted by the time the event finally begins.

We were very pleased to see our friends Justin Maury and Luke Love (yes, that's his REAL name!) of Mountain Creek and every party this season set up with a great gig, running the Signal/Scion booth where they get to drive the Scion from mountain to mountain, then give out raffle tickets and do an award ceremony. Justin and Luke love the megaphone and have a gift for amplified gab. Just hope you don't have to hear the pirate joke.
In the afternoon we took a run with our new friends Dave Schupp, Dave Callahan, who threw down later in the jam finals, and 14-year old Matt Kozuch from the dirty and Hunter, who likes to practice his pick-up lines on girls, yelling down from the chair lift. Cute!

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The Latitude 42 North freestyle competition featured Big Air, Rail Jam and Quarterpipe competitions, live entertainment and a grand prize giveaway of a trip for two to Catedral Alta Patagonia, Argentina. Winners of each competition and discipline are as follows:

QUARTERPIPE
SNOWBOARDERS
Male	Female
(1st) Tyler Yager	(1st) Marisa McKellar
(2nd) Jordan Saccoccie	(2nd) Katie Teague
(3rd) Pablo Dawybida	(3rd) Meghan Hughes
SKIERS
Male	Female
(1st) Corey Roberts	(1st) Krista Hughes
(2nd) Erik Olson	(2nd) Jessa Suhner
(3rd) Anthony Cigna	(3rd) Jenna Gotthelf
BIG AIR
SNOWBOARDERS
Male	Female
(1st) Mark Bondi	(1st) Meghan Hughes
( 2nd) Colin Shoemaker	(2nd) Marisa McKellar
(3rd) Matt Briggs	(3rd) Becky Popiel
SKIERS
Male	Female
(1st) Graham Derby	(1st) Tess Hobbs
(2nd) Corey Roberts	(2nd) Julia Luebs
(3rd) Anthony Cigna	(3rd) Jessa Suhner
RAIL JAM
SNOWBOARDERS
Male	Female
(1st ) Thomas Weiss	(1st) Chelsea Camarata
(2nd) Mike Callaghan	(2nd) Katie Teague
(3rd) Colin Shoemaker	(3rd) Becky Popiel
SKIERS
Male	Female
(1st) Will Wesson	(1st) Tess Hobbs
(2nd) Andy Parry	(2nd) Jenna Gotthelf
(3rd) Matt Marks	(3rd) Jessa Suhner

More than $25,000 in cash and prizes were distributed to the winners. Please continue to the website for further information, photos, and more!

Union Square Street Sessions Qualifier at Mountain Creek, NJ December 14, 2007

Tom Weiss Qualifies Again to Ride at Union Square Street Session

(Tom Weiss appears ever so stylish in his yellow tee and necktie (center) at the Central Park Rail Jam, 2.2006

Forty up-and-coming regional snowboarders competed under the lights at Mountain Creek’s new South terrain park on SaturdayDecember 14 for the privilege of representing at the bigtime Union Square Street Session rail jam that will go down Feb. 7 in the NYC. Mountain Creek homeboy Tom Weiss of Hampton, NJ took home the honors again this year. NBC’s cameras caught all the action and will incorporate it into their upcoming specials on the Union Square Street Sessions, where Mountain Creek will again bring the mountain to Manhattan creating custom features and trucking 18 tons of snow into the city.

The course consisted of a 35' single-barrel Down Flat Down, next to a 15' Down Handrail with a tail. Next up was a 40' Flat Down Bar and a 40' Single Barrel Down. Finishing off the course was a mini wall ride and the new skate spine. Weiss, who is 19 and rides for Burton and Oakley was also invited to compete in last year’s inaugural Street Sessions, alongside another resort familiar, Jared Baker as well as top pros including Danny Kass and Louie Vito.

left and right Photo Credit Mountain Creek/C.Vanderyajt

Main Event Series Stop #2, Ski Sundown, New Hartford, CT

by Wendy Zimbone with Lauren Traub Teton

The second stop of the Main Event Series, was held at Ski Sundown in New Hartford, CT, Saturday, January 19th. A 65 foot booter, inspired the field of riders onto local greatness. Josh Lempert from Snow Grind worked long and hard with the Ski Sundown’s staff to sculpt a perfect jump after. Once practice started, everyone was impressed with the level of riding that was going down. With some familiar faces, and a few fresh riders straight from the local super market, things quickly became interesting. The heavyweight riders continued to set the bar higher, hoping to win a chance to compete for the Burton US Open invite spot at the Main Event finals. The lightweight AM’s mixed it up. AM girls gave it their best shot, stomping landings left and right, trying to reach to knuckle every time.

Ideal weather and happy riders brought out the biggest spectator crowd we have ever seen for a Main Event. People gathered to watch, and cheered on from the chair lift as Burton’s Brandon Halberstadt amped up the crowd with his sick skills on the microphone. Finals were intense, with Connecticut’s own, Teddy Lavoie (Riding for K2, Volcom, Oakley, Dekal, and Eastern Boarder) won with a back lip and backside 720. Justin Morgan continued to blow the judges away, winning the Sartorius Sports Best Trick (for the second time), with his ultra corked out, smooth as butter, cab 720 truck driver. Tess Herman, local skater from Avon and Winsted rode bravely in this, her first snowboard competition and took the win against a total field of 2 females. C’mon Connecticut girls, where r u?

After the event was over, the fun continued when all the staff stuck around. With a few Burton versus Forum wrestling matches on the deck of the jump, everyone went riding to see all of what Ski Sundown had to offer. The night riding was off the hook. With one minor ski pole attack, an incidental visit to a Hells Angels bar and a slight run in with the police while checking out of the hotel, the trip will be remembered for sure.

If anyone reading this has never been to Ski Sundown, the time is now. Connecticut is now our destination vacation spot for snowboard escapades. A big thank you to Jarrod Moss and all of the Ski Sundown staff, as well as the title sponsors Burton Snowboards, Flow Snowboards, Sobe Energy, Fuel TV and direct TV. Other sponsors include Dekal.com, Sartorius Sports, Snow Grind, Anon Optics, R.E.D., Rye Airfield, Oakley, N'East Magazine and Future Snowboarding Magazine.

Main Event
Ski Sundown Event:
Men's Pro
1st Place, Ted Lavoie, Southbury, CT
2nd Place, Brandon Honeycott, Avon, MA
3rd Place, Steven Levandowski, Burlington, CT

Men's AM
1st Place, Tyler Martel, NH
2nd Place, Sean Burns, CT
3rd Place, Kevin Court, Westford, MA

Women's AM
1st Place, Tess Herman, Winstead CT
2nd Place, Maggie Leon, West Simsbury, CT

Sartorius Sports Best Trick: With a cab 720 truck driver (again)
Justin Morgan, Antrim, NH

Main Event and Video Park at Crotched Mountain

The Main Event and Video Park WENT DOWN at Crotched Mountain, New Hampshire, January 4 and 6^th, 2008

Crotched Mountain in southwestern New Hampshire is a little off the
beaten path, but on the weekend of January 4-6, 2008 it was the center of the universe for East Coast competitive snowboarders with its roster of supercool events.

Friday night, January 4. saw the second annual snowboard "Video Park” produced by Kevin Corcoran of Egan Entertainment and hard-working friends, and Sunday was the first stop of the Main Event 4 contest circuit, which is the premiere competition series for snowboarders on the East Coast.

Video Park 2008

The idea behind Video Park is this; put together a ripping pro level terrain park with outstanding creative features, and then get NewEngland's snowboard and ski freestyle film crews and the riders they shoot, together in one place and watch what happens. Oh, and did I mention that as part of Crotched's "Midnight Madness" the whole mountain was open to the public until the unheard of hour of 3 a.m. the night of Video Park? Midnight Madness goes on all winter at Crotched. (see Video Park 2007)

Kevin Corcoran, impresario of Video Park, and producer of Egan Entertainment’s Terrain Park Report on “Wild World of Winter,” and world class skier/producer Dan Egan interviewed riders on camera for their show while their filmer Sky shot action footage along with dozens of East Coast film crews. The roaring bonfire at the base thawed fingers and noses on the 21 degree Fahrenheit night, and the action continued until after 1 a.m. Crotched Mountain was hosting a "lock –in" sleepover for a kids group that night and a stream of kids in pajamas holding sleeping bags could be seen in the lodge. Midnight Madness happens on Friday and Saturday nights and a lift ticket from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. is just $29.

Crotched Mountain is a Peak Resort

How does Crotched Mountain have these events that would cause other mountain management teams to shudder and seize? Crotched is part of the Peak Resorts family of snow resorts out of Missouri. Peak is obviously run by a cool group of people. The management team at Crotched is young and super hip. General Manager Chris Bradford who was promoted up from Communications Manager this year is just 31 years old. Terrain Park Manager Aaron Hier and Marketing Manager Craig Messa are all young too.

Peak Resorts run nine snow resorts now and are are proud new owners of Mount Snow in Vermont and Attitash in New Hampshire. In fact Mount Snow is considered the "jewel in the crown" of the growing chain and has been on their wishlist to own for years. Money has been lavished on Crotched Mountain in the last few years in the new fan guns for blowing snow, the lodge, the staff. This little mountain has got it going on. On top of all that it has the kind of natural energy vortex where you will find the people you need at the right time. In fact there must be an energy line running through this area, because we felt the same great energy at Mount Sunapee 35 miles away too.

If you want to hit 2 New Hampshire mountains in one weekend easily and stay in a cozy country inn in the middle like I did, consider the Candlelite Inn in Bradford. Just 9 miles from Mount Sunapee for snowboarding and skiing, and 25 miles from Crotched, you can relax at this gracious home base and gaze out into the snow covered yard and pond while enjoying a 3-course home baked breakfast from the Sun room. More on the pleasures of Mount Sunapee in another blog entry here.

The Main Event at Crotched Mountain

Sunday, January 6 saw Crotched again hosting a snowboard happening as the Main Event launched its first event of four, for this season. The Main Event is
a mini-slopestyle event with a jump and rail set-up. One male and one female winner of the series get a Wild Card entry into the US Open Slopestyle Event.
(See what events are happening at SnowboardEventsCalendar.com.)

The jumps were whipped into super shape by no less than Josh Lempert
Himself, of Snow Grind and Zaugg with help from Aaron Hier, Crotched Park Manager, and Brandon Halberstadt, Main Event co-coordinator. The boys were pushing snow around ‘til all hours of the night to get the course ready for Sunday. By the way we hear that Zaugg has a super-duper new snow grooming machine making its way over from Japan to be introduced this season.

Riders had their choice of a large or larger jump, an oil tank with a box on top or a rail. Last but not part of the scoring was a dragon rail with an upward flip. 84 riders in the 4 categories of "Heavy Weight" male and female, and "Light Weight" males and females competed with 2 runs each in the qualifiers. Thankfully only a few minor injuries were reported by
competitors after the event.

Brandon Halberstadt, one of the two event coordinators (and Burton rep) was absolutely resplendent in his new Burton yellow and black plaid jacket as he announced the event. We like his enthusiasm on the mike and the fact that he clearly called out the riders names and tricks, which makes watching a comp at least 100% more enjoyable. Wendy Zimbone, the
other event coordinator kept everything running smoothly and seriously, there was a lot to handle!

photo at right - Micah Murray, last year's Main Event Organizer, with Brandon Halberstadt. These 2 "brothers from another mother" are so good looking that it's like small planets colliding when they stand next to each other.

Andrew Mutty, the man, the legend, the Main Event Creator and
Ringleader himself was hands-on-site here doing everything at the same time, spray painting the knuckle, scattering evergreen boughs on the downside of the jump, photographing young proteges bonking a boulder, and coaching his future members of the international and prize winning Flow International Team that he manages. Andrew Mutty, (a homey from Massachusetts) has a "cool" factor in snowboarding to rival that of Miles Davis' in jazz. He says he started this series because we didn't have anything like it here on the East Coast and he wanted to give the kids a way to get into the US Open and generally progress.

(Snowboard events listings at SnowboardEventsCalendar.com - details on this and all other events in the Northeast.)

From the minute things started, kids threw down impressive tricks. With riders attending from Waterville Valley Academy, Stratton Mountain school, and Okemo Mountain School, the bar was set pretty high. There was a clear progression of riding from last season mixed in with a lot of style. Justin Morgan blew everyone away when he did a corked out cab 720 truck driver, winning him the Snowboard Jones best trick award.

Winners of the Crotched Mountain Main Event 2008 here.

Other dates and places of the series are:

Ski Sundown, New Hartford, CT, January 19
Mount Snow, Southern VT, February 3,
Waterville Valley, NH, February 10, FINALS

This Season in Snowboarding - Fashion, Tricks and Who's Hot

Did you catch the X Games snowboard comps on ESPN last week? Some pretty fantastic riding.
Top 3 in Men's Halfpipe were: 1.Shaun White, 2. Ryo Aono, a 17-year old amateur from Japan, and 3. Kevin Pearce, of Vermont who rides for Burton.

And we're still drooling over and dreaming of owning that Kevin Pearce NoPattern X Burton jacket with the psychedelic colors that was surely the fashion winner of the X Games. Or is this called the Burton Launch jacket? Everyone's asking about it on the 'net.


Speaking of fashion, we're also drooling over the Andy Warhol women's jacket by Burton with the different color faces and the "15 minutes of fame" motif. Also the red and black giant checked jacket seen on Kevin Pearce tonight in the Honda preliminaries and yellow and black version of same seen on handsome Burton Rep Brandon Halberstadt, one of the event coordinators of the Main Event Series in New England. Shaun White is bringing out a ladies line of snowboard fashions that should be fun and smart.

Fashion-wise, we have enjoyed wearing our most colorful Grenade Fiend Jacket with the Misfits pattern, Puffy Howitzer version for almost 2 seasons now, and we're thinking that the ideal solution to keep it fresh will be to find someone my size wearing an equally awesome jacket, who wants to switch for a season or 2. Is that person you? Size men's small will do it. Here's Danny Kass rockin' that pattern in its debut at the 2006 Grand Prix at Mountain Creek, NJ. But back to the competitions -

Men's X Game Slopestyle Top 3 were
1. Andreas Wiig
2. Kevin Pearce and 3.Shaun White, so 2 out of the top 3 winners in the 2 big men's contests overlapped. How's that for versatility of riding?

Women's Superpipe was taken by Gretchen Bleiler, who went HUGE and was jubilant to win in front of her hometown crowd. She gave a nice shout out to the rest of the girl pros on camera. Bleiler, currently appears on the cover of ESPN The Magazine and is the first female action sports athlete to do so. The remaining finishers in Women's Superpipe were: 2. Torah Bright, 3. Kelly Clark , 4. Hannah Teeter 5. Soko Yamaoka 6. Lizzy Beerman

The pro competition season is in full swing now. Next weekend are the Honda Sessions from Vail, and tonight I caught a preliminary round of it on Rush HD tv that I get throught my Optimim Online cable. That channel is devoted to 24 hour coverage of the kind of adrenaline sports that I would rather watch than do.

Chas Guldemond of Laconia, NH and Andreas Wiig of Oslo, Norway were battling it out at the top in the slopestyle. I've seen 1260s spun in both the X Games and Honda Sessions in the last week, so since it first broke out last season in comp, it looks like the 1260 is the new 1080. But frankly that last half turn has been done awfully close to the ground on a few that I saw. Hey it's gravity.

The slopestyle course I saw tonight for the Honda Sessions ends in a sick curved box/ rail that can be ridden on top or as a wall ride. The bottom of the course can be ridden 3 times !!! - down, up, down, on one run if the rider has enough speed; down to the curve, ricocheting back up to the wallride, and back down again. We're in for some good viewing next weekend fer shure!

Shout Out and Much Luck to these competitors in the Honda Sessions who have been featured in SnowboardSecrets.com: Tim Humphreys (see this blog 11.25.07), Yale Cousino, Charles Reid, Brandon Reis, Lucas Magoon, Chad Otterstrom, Keegan Valaika, Louie Vito, Mason Aguirre, and Scotty Lago (rhymes with Eggo.) Dustin Craven's on the list too. He was the winner of the Shakedown at Mount Saint Saveur in 2007. We are going to try to make it up to Montreal for the Shakedown this April 4 and 5. We hear it's a crazy mad time!

Women riders we know and have covered are: Jamie Anderson (she's been on fire for the last year competition wise.) Kimmy Fasani, Molly Aguirre, and Marie-France Roy, the only female member of the Rome Snowboard Team, who killed it in their flick "By Any Means." She's 23, from Whistler.

Check out the very nice neat profiles of the riders that Honda has posted. Women's profiles. Men's profiles. Lucas Magoon looks adorable in his snapshot.

Below are the results of the Burton European Open that ended in Laax, Switzerland on Jan. 18, 2008 so you can see who to watch for in the Honda Sessions next week.

Men

1 / Mattila, Risto / Billabong, Flow, Giro, Kostum / FIN / (870.95)
2 / Finch, Andy / Palmer, Ripcurl / USA / (801.61)
3 / Pearce, Kevin / Burton Adio, Oakley, Volcom / USA / (800.98)
4 / Guldemond, Chas / DC Electric / USA / (743.60)
5 / Horgmo, Torstein / DC Oakley / NOR / (743.04)
6 / Aguirre, Mason / Burton Globe, Nixon, Smith / USA / (670.31)
7 / Podladtchikov, Iouri / Red Bull, Santa Cruz, Spy, Volcom / SUI / (667.10)
8 / Bang, Mikkel / Burton Analog, DVS, Red / NOR / (606.10)
9 / Humphreys, Tim / Flow Bolle, Sessions / USA / (602.87)
10 / Piiroinen, Peetu / Burton Anon, Battery / FIN (580.80)

WOMEN
1 / Anderson, Jamie / Billabong, Electric, Salomon / USA (769.08)
2 / Clark, Kelly / Burton Giro, Rvca / USA / (669.66)
3 / Bright, Torah / Roxy Boost Mobile, Milo / AUS (668.00)
4 / Jones, Jenny / Billabong Nixon, Oakley, Salomon / GBR / (644.33)
5 / Beerman, Elizabeth / DC Gnu / USA / (610.22)
6 / Candrian, Sina / Burton Anon, Red / SUI / (608.72)
7 / Haller, Ursina / Eleven, K2, Smith, Vans / SUI / (498.74)
8 / Fliri, Claudia / Billabong Voelkl Deeluxe, Pow / AUT / (490.88)
9 / Maas, Cheryl / Celtek, Electric, Nitro, Nixon, Volcom / NED / (433.11)
10 / Oestgaard Buaas, Kjersti / DC Roxy Oakley, Rossignol / NOR / (389.96)

Here's the official word from Vail about the Honda Sessions:

X-GAMES WINNERS SET SIGHTS ON VAIL FOR 2008 HONDA SESSION, FEBRUARY 8-10

VAIL, Colorado—Three of the top snowboarders in the world will set their sights 100 miles to the east of last week's X Games as Andreas Wiig, Torstein Horgmo and Jamie Anderson prepare to drop in for the 2008, Honda Session, presented by GameStop, February 8-9 at Vail’s Golden Peak.

The Norwegian pair will come packing gold as Wiig, the defending Bud Light Slopestyle champ, claimed top honors in the X-Games Slopestyle event, while Horgmo out dueled American Kevin Pearce for the Big Air crown.

In addition to Wiig and Horgmo, the 2008 Honda Session, presented by GameStop field will also include Mason Aguirre, who just missed the SuperPipe medals with a fourth place finish, as well as top Slopestyle finishers Heikki Sorsa and Chas Guldemond.

Lake Tahoe’s Anderson, runner-up in Steel & Sky Rails last winter, will also have a golden glow when she returns to Vail, having captured top honors in Slopestyle. Other top female finishers from Winter X on hand will include Jenny Jones, Marie-France Roy and Lizzy Beerman, along with perennial favorite Molly Aguirre.

“When we made the decision to change the dates of the Honda Session to February it was to capitalize on the fact that more top U.S. and international riders were going to already be in Colorado,” explained Greg Johnson, director of competition. “With that extra month of hitting big jumps, these guys are going to be stoked to come to Vail and ride the best slopestyle course in the world.”

The 2008 Honda Session will kick off Friday evening, February 8, with Men’s and Ladies’ Steel & Sky Rails. Scheduled for a 6 p.m. start for ladies and a 7:15 p.m. men’s start, the Steel & Sky Rails course, created by Planet Snow Design, will once again provide the riders with a “skateboard park on snow”, allowing them to showcase their talents on a variety of rails and features.

Last year’s rails king Lucas Magoon will return to defend his title, while Anderson will be looking to ascend to the top step of the ladies podium. With prize money payouts every 15 minutes, the action is bound to be fast and furious in both one-hour sessions.

The big air artists will take flight on Saturday evening, February 9, beginning at 6:15 p.m. as a stellar field attempts to wrestle the Bud Light Slopestyle title away from Wiig. Characterized by four of the largest jumps in the sport, the Bud Light Slopestyle course will also incorporate the Steel & Sky rails venue, combining for a jaw-dropping evening of incredible tricks and huge air.

A year ago, both Guldemond and David Benedek landed 1260’s (three and a half rotations in the air) en route to silver and bronze medals respectively. The tricks marked the first time that a 1260 had been successfully performed in a North American slopestyle contest.

The action will come full circle on Sunday, February 10, as amateur riders get their chance to ride the Steel & Sky Rails at the Sunday Session public competition. Slated to get underway at 11 a.m., the Sunday Session competition is for advanced riders and requires a $20 entry fee, with all proceeds benefiting the Snowsports Outreach Society. Prizes include two Vail Resorts 2008-09 season passes and Salomon snowboards.

Beginner and intermediate riders can also take advantage of free clinics from Vail snowboard instructors, with a smaller rails setup in order for participants to get the feel for sliding.

As always, the Honda Base Camp will serve as the nerve center for all Honda Session pre and post competition activities, complete with a GameStop lounge, featuring a variety of gaming consoles, along with live music, a satellite television lounge, board waxing and food and beverages. The Honda Base Camp will open at noon on both Friday and Saturday, with a 10 a.m. opening set for Sunday.

The 2008 Honda Session, presented by GameStop is a project of the Vail Valley Foundation. For further information on the Honda Session, visit www.sessionvail.com. For additional information on the Vail Valley Foundation, visit www.vvf.org.