It's been a weekend long highlight film running live. And still there has been breaking news coming through along the way. The news coming through from California: The SMS Alumni/SVSS veterans, our current Elite Crew and the school's team members on the US Squad crowded the finals of the US Snowboard Grand Prix at Boreal. Podiums and the bulk of the final competitors. Too many to mention. Sure every crew has its day. That crew is having ANOTHER great season. Lizzy, Ellery, Duckie, Danny, Louie, Chris Waker the girlfriend taker! Goldie, Jen Cohen, Shelby Simpson, Joe Mensch: You can be proud. You represent yourselves and where you come from as strong. I know that's not ya'lls style but its a priveledge to be on the same planet.
Back home the tradition continues. The kids want to be in California already. They want that EVERYTHING you've got. They are taking the steps in patience, showing the deepest skills of their generation at the "grass-roots" level. Yesterdays combinations of tech jibs and double-banger jump lines were pro style yet still family funded. Today's pipe runs were as aggressive as they were relaxed. Seeing that is seeing people love snowboarding. The coming together of skills and will that the pro-am and dev crew showed off over this weekend was just so deep and styled that waiting for judges scores at any time was superfluous. They put on bibs to show people what they do all week long. They put em on to show that they too deserve to go to California for some fifty degree shred. Too many good things to list off gold, silver, bronze, so fourth. Big pictures standing out in the highlight reel: the Guts to ride two days in a wrist-cast...that was M Perle running a legit pipe line today with 5 spins- one of those being alley oop rodeo. Hunter Wood crawls out of sick bay at Kate Mitchell's protestations to shiver out a switch back lip, five , five and two jibs I couldn't see in slope. Next day in Pipe a big meth, seven, seven, air, five, five followed by another B.M. to front nine, air, air bs five, fs five run. "Sick as a dog" as they say. How about SINGLEMINDED like a buddha. How about a man with a mission. Did you see Chris Tierney own that park all week? No? Well that's cool because he smoothed it out just the same in a bib saturday. Cab five and back five like people stay up at night and dream of. Randall's clean back flips are the only of their kind and Im only a little bummed not to be able to see his down bar HOT Garbage because Yes He Did It all Week Long, past ninety like he's sliding across the kitchen in socks and pj's relaxed. Tikos was feeling a little restless so he called up MSA's Will Rivera to give him a lil' scrap. He was just looking for a little contact. TTK wiped the blood from his nose and dropped in with focus and stomp-style for his second run on the nitro course. Fitty fitty, bs one off, cab to back fives. Pretty. James-as-always-Haffner rode so sick in the open class that he left Eric Beauchemin no choice but to go all jib crazy as he always does into a quick half cab-nollie heel edged back rodeo off the roller between the next jump and that first rail. Go ahead and reread that. Yup. AS COOL AS ANYTHING I'VE EVER SEEN ON SNOW(Im really old and have snowboarded for more than twenty years)... India spun on and off the down box, blew off the grab and spun the second jump twice...Too many positive things to list medals. You guys are riding like we always hope you will. The coaches on the hill have been stoked as riders, proud as coaches and lucky - just like you to get to roll with this group of snowboarders in our time. Lets all try to keep up the good times. Take care of yourselves in California. Those of you staying home, enjoy the opportunity to get ready for those trips, we have it made here to get where we want to go.
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