This past weekend was one of the most exciting and entertaining weekends at Ski Sundown in CT. Every year the park crew puts in ridiculous hours in order to put together the best slopestyle course Connecticut can offer. It all started last weekend with the snowmaking, then once the snow is all piled up and ready to be pushed around, the park crew went to work. Through-out the week they started by shaping the drop-in roller, then the rails went in (A 32' down flat bar set-up urban style, and a 5' high, 6" wide flat bar with drop off - nicknamed "Big Red"), then the real work started, pushing and shaping the 50' step-down jump (with Jarrod showing off his one-armed cat driving skills). Once the 50 footer was shaped and cut, the smaller kids needed something to hit so they pushed and shaped a 25 foot step-down right next to the 50 footer, finally a 2' wide flat box was put in for the kiddies, and the finishing touches were put on everything to make it look pretty. Then Saturday morning at 8AM, the lifts started running on a beautiful bluebird day, and the Snowboarders started their practice runs, by 11:30AM the Snowboarding Slopestyle Competition began, and everything from floaty Cork 3s to Rodeo 5s to Backside 10s were thrown down off the 50 footer. By the end of the day the Skiers were ITCHING to hit the course, but we would have to wait till Sunday morning to do so. Sunday morning at 8AM, it was our turn for some practice runs. By 11:30AM the Skiers began their Slopestyle Competition, which saw some insane sized 3s, 5s, 7s, and one 13 year old kid throwing the most massive 9 of the day! Flat light made corks and rodeos tricky, but that didn't stop Greg Kuhn from taking a Cork 7 three quarters of the way down the landing (roughly 75-80 feet) to win the Slopestyle comp. Second place was taken by a guy on Tele-Skis (sorry, I forgot his name) throwing Corkish 7s (and even attempting a Cork 9 - ON TELES!!). Third was taken by Peyton O'Connor with a 7 and a super stylish switch 3. All in all it was a SUPER fun weekend, and the oddly warm January weather made for some soft snow which helped everyone stay safe and have a good time. Unfortunately, I took a spill on my 3rd hit and injured my calf muscle which prevented me from throwing any real tricks off the 50 footer, but straight airs and grabs on a 50 footer still provide for some great shots and excitement. Me grabbing True Tail:
Greg Kuhn 360 Tail:
Jarrod Moss with his broken wing:
Sean Mullins Screamin' Seamen:
Evan Harwood going 7:
Evan Lai-Hipp switch 5:
Kirk Scully - This 13 year old threw his first 9 ever off the 50 footer:
Congrats to all the winners of the weekend, and thanks to Jarrod Moss and the rest of the Park Crew for putting in so much time to make this weekend such a succsess!