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PHOTO
GALLERY
Ladies
and gentlemen…. sharpen your edges! – Well… maybe
not yet.
The long anticipated first day of the Second Annual Summit Expression Session (SES) fell on Monday, February 25, 2002 - but that wasn't the only thing that fell in Summit County, Colorado that day.
Monday morning brought us not the sunny day we enjoyed at Keystone last year for the 1st SES – oh no, the SES sequel brought the falling snow – the falling temperatures – and the (I know it doesn't fall) WIND. The snowstorm that has been eluding the high country for far to long fell on our heads hard.
Of course, we needed it. The snow pack has been down all season, the storm will help the water shed come spring, this is the snowiest time of year, and yadda yadda yadda, but still - for carving?
Yep, there we were – the guys and gals who traveled near and far looking for the groomed of Keystone had instead laid out before them a powder day. It's a good thing my hockey bud Stewart not only knows how to grind the edges (he put a beautiful 3degree bevel on my Volant), he also had the skill for the base – wax on, wax off. (Letting your tuner know you are going to tip them with their favorite beer always helps.)
So it was a powder day – but that didn't mean there wasn't plenty of opportunity to carve - even if it was a high speed dance to keep your edge planted firmly in the hard pack hidden under the fresh. Darting back and forth between powder bumps was an exercise of who could make their legs imitate the pistons of a Harley's V-Twin engine the best. After a half a day of battling the conditions to dig my edge in, I decided to demo a board that may float me to the top of the chop.
Let's see – what do I want to try? So many demos to choose from - Donek, Nidecker, Volkl, Prior, Sims, Arbor? Oh the choices... and I could have even tried a pair of Raichle boots as well as test ride a set of Trench Diggers if I hadn't already had them. What a cornucopia to feast on.
After
much deliberation, I finally decided on the Axis 172 – the new
free-ride board by Donek. Since this was the first time in about eight
years I had ridden a board that was wider than a toothpick, it took
me a few turns to get used to it, but it didn't take long.
Sean Martin knows what he is doing when he dreams up his rides. Not only does the new Axis look cool (the entire top sheet is covered with little American flags – very patriotic), but it also handles excellent. The length gave it plenty of stability, and the width let it sit on top of the snow like ice cream in a root beer float. The flex of the board was of course softer than a full on carver, but when I railed it over a few times to feel how it handled the turns, it pleasantly grinned and bared the forces without much complaint. Nice – I may have to add one of those babies to my quiver for future pow days, or tree riding.
All in all, the first day at Keystone was all it was supposed to be – a gathering of riders from all over the world (had a few guys from South America and Malta!) having a blast ripping it up on the slopes. First timers to the SES, and veterans from last year were left with perma-grin, tired legs, new friends, and some of us where even left with frostbite - myself included.
The happy hour later on at the Dillon Dam Brewery was a time to talk the talk after walking the walk, while drinking the drink, and eating the eats. Of course I showed up a tad too fashionably late with my friend Jenn (last year's lady in leather) to really dig into the grub, but the beer was still flowing freely - (thanks Fin and the Bomber Gang).
Throughout
the night, the conversation slowly shifted from the interesting conditions
we had all day to what the conditions would be like Tuesday at Copper
Mountain. By this time of night, the storm had moved on and left us
with a clear, cold night. Perfect for setting up the next day for an
epic day of carving.
And epic it was.
The recent snow fall, combined with the frigid overnight temperatures (around 10 below), Copper's excellent detail to grooming, and with the sun shining through skies bluer than B.B. King all day, it made the carving seam like a dream.
Well, at least that's what I heard – work made a few of us miss out on that day-O-fun, but I was psyched to hear about everyone's day and how Copper delivered a gold medal performance.
Following this epic day was the Bomber open house where Fin could show off his goods (get your mind out of the gutter and let me rephrase that) – Fin could show off his shop. The fifty to sixty Sessioners that made an appearance to see were the Trench Digger's magical birth takes place and partake in story swapping about the days adventures, were also treated to witness the creation of the new addition to Bombers stainless steel family – the Bomber "Bishop" Telemark binding. Ta-dah! Yep, for those free-healers out there, this new Bomber Binding holds up it's name sake.
Ken" Limbo" Tower (last years Limbo King) has a set of these puppies and tells me they are just as Bomber as the snowboard bindings. Rock solid on the steeps and the traverses and all the other terrain the mountains can throw at you. Go to: www.bombertele.com for more details.
Right on, and congratulations to Fin on producing another high quality binding for those hardcore pinheads (although the Bombers don't have pins), and those of us whom are multi-glisse. Thankya, thankya very much.
Tuesday
was epic all right, and Wednesday was taking place at another carving
capital of Colorado – Beaver Creek. Can we get any better?
This is the same resort where the prestigious Birds of Pray Downhill Course is located, and they take grooming as seriously as carvers do. Those guys know how to lay down a carpet of fresh ridges.
The morning started like the others – gathering around the demo tent, and today it was located at Beaver Creek's Strawberry Park.
A few minutes after arriving, a hand full of us headed up to Larkspur Bowl for the first run of the day. Fin and I shared a chair so I could get caught up on the festivities I had missed the day before, and also discuss the fact of how cool it was that there were more people out for this years SES (about ninety total). We both agreed that it was even better that some of those people where actually female! Yee haw.
I can tell you about the whole day just by describing the first run down Larkspur Bowl for you. I can honestly say that the run for me was one of the best I have ever had in my nine years of carving. Top ten at least.
As Fin and I unloaded off the lift, what we saw was exactly what we had in mind to start off the day – a completely empty, wide open, perfectly groomed trail waiting to be shredded. I couldn't wait. I heard the siren call of the snow calling out to me – it wanted me to fly over it – I wanted to fly over it. What to do – do I stay or do I go?
As Fin played the gracious host waiting for the rest of the crew to get off the lift, I clamped into my rear binding, and I stood there for a few more chairs to go by before I had to glide away into the soul of the morning. I was trying to be sociable, but the call of the wild was far too strong.
(This is when the feeling for rest of the day started.)
As I gained some speed, I dropped into a toe side turn to test out the snow and oh yeah…that felt good. She's gonna hold an edge today. I then flipped her over to my heel side and pushed it low…nice.
Ah, this was going to be a day for pushing it hard, and getting' it low. As I was flying over the snow, there was no one in front of me, no one behind me, and no one on the lift above my head. I was alone on that vast white canvas – a black and red flash making abstract art for my eyes and heart only. Zen would be a good way of describing it – one with all - a private conversation with winter.
I stopped halfway down to stretch out on the snow and watch the rest of the crew caress the slope, and as I lay there trying to catch my breath I couldn't help thinking that they were feeling exactly what I had just experienced. Judging by the grins smeared across their face I was right.
A phenomenal day was in store for us, and we bought it with out hesitation.
It wasn't until after lunch that I had to take some time off from the fun to warm up. I hunkered down in the tent next to the demos were Michelle from Bomber was holding down the fort as Fin ripped up the hill. (Thanks Michelle – guess somebody had to work).
The blue and white eight person dome tent was donated for use by Steve Copeland of Sierra Designs, and had a propane heater (safely away from any flammable materials) that kept everything nice and toasty.
Just where I needed to be – out of the cold, but close to the action. It seems this is where our videographer Greg from Adventure Video Productions needed to be too. He joined me shortly after I sunk into one of the camp chairs set up for us. He said that he needed to keep his last battery warm so he could shoot the Limbo Contest. Works for me Greg, and speaking of the Limbo Contest - I guess this is the time to tell you about it.
As
we all know, last years limbo was won by Ken Tower (ironic last name
considering), and he accomplished this by clearing the bar at an incredible
eleven inches! He was the first Limbo King, and always will be. Hail
to the King! We were all routing for him to do a repeat, and he did
make the bar, but during the preliminaries he made his turn too long
and passed the post we had to complete our turn by. (I think he threw
it just to give the rest of us a chance.)
When it came down to the three finalists, the bar was set at a twelve inches. The first to brave this "height" was Alex Gonzalez. His hip grazed the bar and it bounced off to the snow. Valiant effort for the crown indeed. The second runner up was my good friend Mick van de Wiel – so close was he. His butt tapped the bar and down it went. Sorry Mick.
It was the third and last runner up who had the slim (pun intended)
chance of de-crowning Ken, but you could tell he didn't think it was
going to be easy. If the first two guys didn't make it, how the heck
could he? The crowd hushed as the possible new King started his decent
towards the impossibly low bar – he side slipped most of the way
to control any unwanted speed (rare for a carver) – the bar came
closer and closer – twenty feet – ten feet – five
feet – flop! His edge dug in – as well as his face, chest,
knees, whole body in fact – and he made the turn. He heard the
crowd cheer as he looked over his shoulder in disbelief back at the
bar that defiantly remained on its uprights. The new king has been named!
Sorry Ken, I was really routing for you, but someone had to take it right? After all – it's good to be King. That's right, yours truly has been crowned the new, not necessarily improved SES Limbo King, but remember Ken – you're still the lowest of the low.
So, as not to dig on myself too much, let's move through the rest of the week. Thursday and Friday brought everyone to A-Basin, then back to Keystone for night riding, and then to Breckenridge for the final day. These days continued the trend of great carving for the week, and topped off what Summit County, Colorado has to offer for the snow hounds in all of us.
Sadly, Friday was also the end of the Summit Expression Session, and all there was left to do was throw it down at Barkley's West for the blow out party and huge raffle. There was so much loot to give away it would take forever to list everyone, but I can tell you what – many people left the party very happy. Entire setups of gear wear given away – boards, bindings, season passes, T-shirts, wax, wax scrapers, hats, and on and on.
We also got to watch all the footage that Greg had shot throughout the week to make the video. So much carving to watch and some impressive crashes too. It was time to remember the week and high five your new buds for their skills.
There was also talk throughout the night about who the surprise musical
guest was, but Fin kept that under wraps the whole week. So, as the
film ended the ninety or so participants and friends were pleasantly
surprised and mesmerized by the sounds and sites of "The City of
Denver Pipe Band". Our special musical guest was none other than
the bagpipe and drum troop that Sean and Jennifer Martin are a part
of (for those of you who don't remember, Sean is the owner of Donek
Snowboards.)
During their performance, everyone was in awe – what a thing it is to see them dressed to the hilt with kilts and all. I love bagpipes, and if there was anyone who wasn't a fan before – well, they are now. Awesome is all I can say about the performance. Thank you guys for showing up and playing for us. You kicked a night of partying and dancing off on the right foot.
Once again I would like to thank Fin and Michelle and all the folks at Bomber Online for hosting this event again along with the help of the sponsors (below) for making the Second Summit Expression Session a success (easy for you to say).
So
good bye for now, and I hope you all had as much fun as I did.
Until next S.E.S. – ride on,
Chris Scherer
PHOTO GALLERY
BomberOnline would like to thank the following sponsors of the 2002 Summit Expression Session:
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Summit Expression Session swag
can be purchased at the
Bomber
Store.
