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Under any normal circumstances, I wouldn't even bother to cover this event, but 1)
there's no snow anywhere else on the east coast, so I have nothing better to write about
and 2) I haven't left the house in three weeks, so I have nothing better to write about.
I think the most eventful part of my day was the ride there. My chauffeur, Tim Zimmerman,
photographer extrodinaire, showed up on time, so of course I wasn't ready. Luckily my mom
paid him off with food so he didn't leave without me. We got about 10 minutes outside of
Rutland, when, in another brilliant move, Tim realized he forgot his skate pads and we had
to turn around and get them. At this point, Ben Barnhart was so intent on getting coffee
that it was all he could talk about. Tim wanted to to go Dunkin Donuts but Ben insisted it
was run by the Russian Mafia and wasn't interested. Since Ben was in the back seat, he was
overruled and Tim only almost hit one brand new Saab between his house and coffee. As if
his driving wasn't reason enough to be embarrassed, when we finally got to Dunkin Donuts,
Tim ordered a "homestyle donut" and a "chocolate iced ring". Now maybe
if you're from PA you don't see anything wrong with this, but here in Vermont that's not
what we call them. The poor girl at the drive- thru window was extremely confused, but she
eventually figured it out and we were finally on our way.
Once we got there, we got the first good parking spot ever had at Stratton, which was
pretty exciting. We went up to the event, where a street course, climbing wall, stage, and
tons of food were set up. The boys had to go fix their makeup so I sat on a picnic table
and waited. They finally came out, and headed up to the pipe, but me with my broken ankle
opted to remain at the bottom. I simply moved to a closer picnic table, where I remained
most of the day.
The snowboard contest happened in the morning, but pretty much all I saw were tiny little
people, who would disappear into the green background if they got above the lip. The pipe
was wide and short, described as ten feet of transition and 2 feet of vert. Of course this
description was from Doug Radefeld from Ohio, so any normal person could see there was no
vert at all. All the the salt, hoarded from the entire season, kept the ditch in
relatively good shape. From my vantage point the pipe looked terrible, but insider's
reports said it wasn't that bad, and with the meager amount of snow I suppose they did
their best.
I am very impressed with how good people have gotten at snowboarding. With the quality of
the pipe it is amazing people could clear the lip, and yet everyone managed to throw down
some pretty tech tricks. Ross Powers was riding well, but only well enough to nab him 4th
place. The victor was Trevor Olivadati, who kicked down some Klampert-esque cripplers to
take home the $750. Marky Radefeld took second and Mark Reilly busted huge airs all day
for 3rd. Not only did Luke Wynen not win, he didn't even show up. The girl's competition
was a little less exciting, with only about 5 girls riding. Kim Stacy was easily riding
the best of anyone, but the judges seemed to think Tricia Byrnes should win anyway. Kim
came away with 2nd, Lindsey Preda 3rd, and Merrill Wintershied 4th.
Down on the street course was sheer craziness. The park was fairly tight, and since most
people are fairly over snowboarding, it was super crowded. Several good collisions were
had, most involving John Smallwood, who was probably drunk. At one point he was hit in the
chest with a runaway deck, knocking the beer out of his hand. His biggest concern, of
course, "Oh man, I spilled my beer." Skating was one giant snake session, and to
get a full run was a feat in and of itself. The mini ramp, which was extremely good
(putting the X in the EQX Games), was equally hard to drop into. When you did make it in
however, it was probably the best place to be, because at least you were alone. I don't
know from personal experience whether the skate park was any good, but if it's any
indication, Tim was having so much fun he didn't want to leave, even with me whining at
him.
Just to the right of the street course was a 30 foot climbing wall, with a few smaller
ones behind it. I bet that was cool, if you're into that sort of thing. There was also a
mud bog, which caused lots of little boys to come down completely covered in mud. If
that's not extreme, I don't know what is. Other events of the day included judged skating,
and a mountain bike race. There were also three local bands playing, but I'm not even
going to get into that. I do feel bad for them, because they got a prime location where no
one could see them, and no one bothered to go. It must be fun to play for a crowd that
doesn't care you are there.
Overall, I must say that this event is one of the smartest things Stratton could do for
publicizing their summer activities. I know many will return for the skating, because if
it wasn't so crowded it would be very good. I also know everyone was stoked to see snow,
even those who claim to be "over it." Best of all, it was one more chance to see
all your friends before you see them all at Hood. As much as I wish it weren't true, I'm
sure I'll go again next year.
 Left: Doug Radefeld thought the halfpipe had
vert. He was quickly thrown out, and had to spend the rest of the day skating.
Right: If you look close enough you can see Tricia Byrnes' panty line. |
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