actually wrong. Lots of ppl think they did but they didnt. Heres a whole article on it from powdermag.
http://www.powdermag.com/features/onlineexclusive/chads-gap/
Urban legend has it that the Michigan City Mine in Alta’s Grizzly Gulch was supposedly haunted when local cook Chad Zurinskas went on a little vision quest. He eventually found himself lying on the road between two mine tailing piles and a mine. At the same time, filmmaker Kris Ostness was living in another abandoned mine near the area. It was there the two of them came up with the idea for jumping the distance between the piles. Hmmm. The snowboarding community credits Travis Rice with the first clearing of the jump and defecates on the skier’s version. (see
www.dcshoes.com/home; click on view all James Lipton commercials, Travis Rice).
Benson’s tale sounds more believable: Pro-snowboarder Andy Brewer had scouted the location, told Chad and Brent about it, and said, “You think you can clear that nipple?” They, along with Candide Thovex and Ostness, headed up. Brent turned to Chad and said, “Well, you think you can clear it?” Chad said, “Yup, no problem.” Then “guinea pigged” twice into the wall.
Thovex stepped up, crashed once and then stuck the first-ever landing of Chad Gap’s- sailing about 100 feet with a mute grab – to the awe of all in attendance. Motivated, and a few days later, Chad succeeded on his third attempt and Benson got the shot seen ‘round the world.
After Ostness filmed Chad clearing the Gap for his film Clay Pigeons, he dubbed it “Chad’s Gap.” “I preferred The Nipple,” said Benson. Soon readers and viewers had seen Chad’s Gap in action and wanted a piece. “The pictures blew everything else away. They hadn’t seen anything like that,” said Benson. “Back then, it was a crappy five-foot long take-off and crappy five-foot landing. We had no idea what we were doing. Then all the nutswingers like TGR came down and started shooting it.” Today, the ramp is a 14-foot buffed ski run that leads to a 120-foot soar on big days. “There have always been ‘gap jumps’, just like there have always been ‘extreme skiers’,” said Ski To Live Coach Kristen Ulmer. “But Chad’s Gap started the craze.”Urban legend has it that the Michigan City Mine in Alta’s Grizzly Gulch was supposedly haunted when local cook Chad Zurinskas went on a little vision quest. He eventually found himself lying on the road between two mine tailing piles and a mine. At the same time, filmmaker Kris Ostness was living in another abandoned mine near the area. It was there the two of them came up with the idea for jumping the distance between the piles. Hmmm. The snowboarding community credits Travis Rice with the first clearing of the jump and defecates on the skier’s version. (see
www.dcshoes.com/home; click on view all James Lipton commercials, Travis Rice).
Benson’s tale sounds more believable: Pro-snowboarder Andy Brewer had scouted the location, told Chad and Brent about it, and said, “You think you can clear that nipple?” They, along with Candide Thovex and Ostness, headed up. Brent turned to Chad and said, “Well, you think you can clear it?” Chad said, “Yup, no problem.” Then “guinea pigged” twice into the wall.
Thovex stepped up, crashed once and then stuck the first-ever landing of Chad Gap’s- sailing about 100 feet with a mute grab – to the awe of all in attendance. Motivated, and a few days later, Chad succeeded on his third attempt and Benson got the shot seen ‘round the world.
After Ostness filmed Chad clearing the Gap for his film Clay Pigeons, he dubbed it “Chad’s Gap.” “I preferred The Nipple,” said Benson. Soon readers and viewers had seen Chad’s Gap in action and wanted a piece. “The pictures blew everything else away. They hadn’t seen anything like that,” said Benson. “Back then, it was a crappy five-foot long take-off and crappy five-foot landing. We had no idea what we were doing. Then all the nutswingers like TGR came down and started shooting it.” Today, the ramp is a 14-foot buffed ski run that leads to a 120-foot soar on big days. “There have always been ‘gap jumps’, just like there have always been ‘extreme skiers’,” said Ski To Live Coach Kristen Ulmer. “But Chad’s Gap started the craze.”
