Big Jump Opens

Another clear scenic morning quickly turned a bit sour for myself and those unfortunate enough to be in my van. Halfway to the hill I realized I was running on empty and had to turn around and go back to town to fuel up. By the time I got back to the resort there was a long slow line of traffic crawling up the 30-plus switchbacks. As bad as I make this sound we still made it up by 9:45. I made an effort to control my funk which paid off big time. The pipe was perfect once again, but the buzz on the hill was regarding the opening of the large kicker (which had been closed the days prior to Eric's dismay). It had been a few months since any of us had hit a jump of this size, but it looked well built with a long landing. Eric and I slid over to the drop zone and watched a few riders blast into space with butterflys in our stomachs. As I was upset with myself for my lapse in the morning I decided I should guinea-pig it for the team. Once it had been cleared the session was on. In two laps Eric was landing 5s and 7s and by days end he stomped the monster back rodeo you see above. Before too long, Tikos, Randall and Spencer were also enjoying the feeling of dropping out of the sky.
Meanwhile at the pipe Liz was linking front 7s to cab 5s, Joe was landing 9s and attempting 10s, Hudson got 7s back and was gunning for 9s, Mike Perle stomped 9s and James was mixing up combos (nice run on sentence huh?).
After lunch cloud cover rolled in over the resort so we took some mini park laps. Phoebe was itching to try another backflip so she did so. While she sat down again its clear she likes the trick and will have it soon (see photo).

We prepared to split around 2, but Liz had her eye on the big jump and talked me into going back over. I had already cooled down and forgot the speed, causing me to overshoot a bit and turn a mellow 3 into a sketchy 5. This did not dissuade Ms Beerman from ending her afternoon with a large, shifted, controlled floater. She will certainly have some more business with the jump tomorrow.
The weekend crowds should be hell tomorrow. An early departure would be smart, better go check the gas gauge!