Union Square, New York City was host to one of the largest rail jams I have ever seen on February 8th called The Union Square Street Sessions. I have competed in other rail jam like this. The Vegas High Roller Rail Jam, The West Coast Invitational and those were great contests, but this one had some different elements that made it the best rail jam to date.

It was in downtown Manhattan NYC, At Union Square. The area is a megamopolis and a very touristy area, so the foot traffic was insane. The Crowd was huge last night! Never of all my rail jam experience have I seen a crowd turnout like this one. I have also never seen so many New Yorkers this stoked on Snowboarding. It was the perfect location.

The media was all over this contest. Luckily only limited media was able to access the event. For example, If you looked like a snowboarder you were in. If you looked like a subway lifer, you were out. No offense to the City Dwellers on that. I guess the point I’m trying to make is when a rider does a “boardslide 450 out like Lucas Magoon did), He is not just doing a 360 and stuff in the air. Their is technical terms that only the core snowboard community can understand. For that reason only certain media members could get inside the gate. I promise this contest is going to get blown away by the media soon enough. You will see.

The level of riding was INSANE! Damn, 25 riders, $15,000, even if you split that purse evenly it would be a session to see. The case was that only one rider could win this event and with a line up they had you couldn’t even expect anything less. RIDERS LIST: Danny Kass, Charles Reid, Pat Moore, Scotty Lago, Scotty Arnold, Aaron Biitner, Sketchy D, Zak Hale, Chris Rotax, Lucas Magoon, Eddie Wall, Yale Cousino, Jonas Milichot, Jed Anderson, MFM, Louie Vito and Jeremy Cloutie. Each rider threw down some insane tricks but it really came down to the top 6 finalists when the heat kicked in. This shit went off and some highlights were… Lucas Magoon did a 270 on 450 off the jeep rail, and a nollie back tailslide 270 out on the middle rail. Eddie Wall did a backside 270 onto the middle rail and stayed consistent all night. Yale Cousino did a 270 on the hard way, 270 out. Charles Reid did a frontside 360 to 50-50 on the middle rail that was INSANE!

The people who made this happen were Snowboarder Magazine, Lat34, Killington Vermont, Mountain Creek, and Jeep and I am not sure who else but I know one thing for sure. This contest was so bad ass that New York City officially deemed February 8th “Union Square Street Sessions Day” and on that note we will see you next year!

-John Centi

-Photos Steve Olson

The Union Square Urban Rail Jam kicked off today in Downtown NYC. At 7 am we showed up to the “Demo” for media. A couple riders showed up at that time. This thing is right in downtown NY, Im guessing you will see some, riders in the subway with their boards shots. The contest begins at 2 o clock with an amateur jib off for Mountain Creek riders that want to try and compete against the big dogs. Lucas Magoon is here, Chris Rotax, Louie Vito and Zak Hale were around this morning throwing down. We got some sick footage and will have plenty more to come when this thing actually starts. Look out for some inanse photo galleries, stories, and videos. Thanks to Joe Prebich from Snowboarder Magazine for helping us with our media access.

The setup: From right to left

1. A flat down bar mounted on top of the roof of a jeep, perfect for gaps.

2. Down box

3. Down bar with stairs

4. Down box with ledge

5. Up flat down rail at the bottom of the setup.

-Photos Steve Olson

Men
1 Steve Fisher
2 Louie vito
3 Tommy Czeschin
4 Ross Powers
5 JJ Thomas
6 Luke Wynen
7 Michael Goldschmidt
8 Keir Dillon
9 Scotty Lago
10 Tim Humphries

Ladies
1 Kelly Clark
2 Elena Hight
3 Gretchen Bleiler
4 Torah Bright
5 Clair Bidez
6 Tricia Byrnes
7 Eliza Greene
8 Katie Williams
9 Elizabeth Beerman
10 Kait Farrington

World Rookie Fest 2007 _ Livigno

World Rookie Fest slope style finish today with a very good showcase in Livigno pro park, dominated by norwegian team riders. During the 90 minute jam session, the champion title was assigned to well known rookie Stian Aanestad from Norway, impressive both on rail and jumps: he show triks like bs900 to sw-bs900 on the jumps and solid on rails.

Today in Livigno top rookies from all over the world, express a very high level of riding, getting the attention of several media and photographers, providing us a good example of rookie to pro system.
(more…)

GO PINK WITH WATERVILLE VALLEY
SUPERBOWL SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Proceeds benefit Boarding for Breast Cancer

WATERVILLE VALLEY, NH - Waterville Valley Resort is turning their slopes pink on Superbowl Sunday and invites skiers and snowboarders to join them in raising funds for Boarding for Breast Cancer. The day kicks off with an Oakley Pink Rail Jam at 12:00 pm. Registration for the Pink Jam is 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. and includes a lift ticket, goodie bags stuffed with event sponsor swag and a raffle ticket for a pink product toss. The $40 registration fee, ($25 for Threedom pass holders), will go towards the resort’s donation to B4BC.

(more…)

On Thursday, February 8th, the world’s top pro riders will converge upon NYC’s Union Square to compete in the city’s first ever major pro snowboarding competition.

The Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep will attract top snowboarding pros such as Marc Frank Montoya, Eddie Wall, and Lucas Magoon to compete Head-to-Head for a prize purse of $30,000. 24 Men and 8 Women will participate in a rail jam format on a customized urban rail, the largest ever built in NYC. The custom rail is being built at the Jib Lab in Mountain Creek NJ.

The Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep will start with athlete training at 3 PM leading up to rail jam competition starting at 5:30 PM. Simultaneously, an action sports block party rocks the venue with live music and a sponsor village comprised of action sports retailers.

The invitational pro field of top rail riders will be augmented by up and coming athletes selected at 3 Street Sessions qualifiers. The top winner at the following events will earn an automatic position - The Block Party in Tahoe, and the Rails2Riches and Shop Wars events at Killington.

In partnership with NYC Parks and Recreation, a pro-am rail jam and winter carnival will be held in Central Park on Saturday, February 10th.

Street Session partners include Jeep as the presenting sponsor, Burton, Fuse TV, Snowboarder Magazine, Lat34.com, Burton, Plantronics, Red Bull, Mountain Creek Resort and Killington Resort.
(more…)

Mountain High Kawsaki Triple Air

by George Crosland

Joe Eddy wins 10 k at Mountain High. This Saturday was like the 11th running of Mountain High’s Triple air. This contest is kind of a cross between a big contest and a local sort of deal. You guessed it; the course is made up of three jumps in a row, and the best run of two won it. Am’s, young pros and some veteran always show up. Heck, a few years ago Shaun White took home the first place money. The vibe is always good, with beers flowing and attitudes left somewhere else. The Triple Air is always fun to check it out and WAY less security the X Games, which were going on this weekend too.

The X Games 11 Slopestyle went down today and it was a site to see. Andreas Wiig, Shaun White, Danny “DAMN” Davis, Danny Kass, Travis Rice, Jussi Oksanen, Anti Autti and Mathieu Crepel were among the elite “final riders” for the X games slopestyle. Danny Davis threw down, he did about two double corked tricks in his run that were unbelievable. Shaun White was killing it and almost landed a cab 1260, Chaz Guldemond stuck an insane 1260, but Shaun couldn’t quite put it down. Travis Rice’s run was epic to say the least, innovative to say a little more, and the best ever to say the most. He did a double backflip late backside 180, and an almost stomped “all or nothing” double corked 1080. Andreas Wiig won the show and deserved it, his run was the most solid, and he spun on and on for days. He stomped his tricks, held his grabs and deserved his win. For Qualifier Results Click more.
(more…)

Chevy Grand Prix Breckenridge

Quotes from the Pros

“Thanks to JJ Thomas for clogging my toilet last night, that was fun” – Todd Richards

“Pipe is good, I hope I do well because I need to buy Christmas presents” – Mason Aguirre

“Scotty Lago has the only backside 900 worth judging” – Todd Richards

Click picture for full story

No Comments »