Snowskate Roundup @ Stevens Pass, Washington
Until now Mt. Baker was the only ski resort in the U-S-of-A, I had ever been to, and that was before I retired my snowboard. Knowing that Stevens Pass is home to Steve Frink the Godfather of bi-deck snowskating, I was to say the least very, very excited about the Snowskate Roundup. Oh, and did I forget to mention it was being held on Easter sunday which just happened to be April 20 or 4-20... in Washington where recreational marijuana use is now legal for adults... OH YEAH this was going to be awesome!
So to start, I thought my passport was good until October of this year, so I didn't check until a couple of weeks before the event, and then realized of course that it was in fact expired. Cash has been tight, and dealing with the passport office is such a hassle, and we were hosting an event 2 days later in Whistler, so I thought maybe I would sit this one out... Yeah right, this was to be the first ever event sponsored by Squampton Snowskates and I was not about to miss it. With only a few days to spare I got my shit together and made my way to the passport office. While in line I get a text from Jesse saying that although we thought I was the dummy for not checking my passport, in fact he was the real dummy, because his was also expired and now there was less than a week to go. Thank who ever you pray to, or don't pray to for that matter, for RUSH passport service! Somehow we got it all figured out and we are headed for Stevens Pass.
Heading across the Canada-USA border has always been nerve racking to say the least, and now with the new Pot Laws in Washington we weren't sure of how the border crossing would go, but with Old Dog Nick Varey behind the wheel we were good as gold with the armed man sitting in the booth. Also I had spoken with Vic who was organizing the event and who also happens to have a beautiful newly legal garden of which he was happy to share it's fruits, so there was no need for silly risk at the border. Word was the snow had fallen the night before and it was looking like we might even see some rain with the thick cloud cover throughout bellingham and beyond down the I-5, but the closer we got to Stevens Pass the nicer it got, until we got there and the sun was shining.
As we pulled into the parking lot it became instantly clear to us how much the times have changed in Washington. Bongs, pipes and blunts were being passed around the parking lot like it was the Vancouver Art Gallery, there was even a guy with dreads and a rasta hat who had wrapped his ski poles with some white padding and turned them into giant joints. So we hopped out of the truck and joined in on the festivities while getting our gear together and meeting our snowskating brothers from south of the border. I have to say it is very strange meeting people for the "first time" that you have "known" for a while through social media, funny at the same time. ( I even knew Gergis' dog Jo-Jo through facebook already ) After formally meeting Gergis and his dog Jo-Jo, we met Erik from Chiller Decks and his family/entourage who were all decked out in biking shorts and shin pads in a tribute to the memorable style of Vic Zurn, the event coordinator, and those little kids could rip!
Once we got our lift passes figured out we headed over to the park to help Vic set up the generator and DJ table, and hit a few small jibs. Then we met up with Ed (Hogan), another "friend" on facebook, lol, and he gave us a tour of the mountain before we headed back to the park to meet everyone else who had now shown up, and engaged in a pre-event safety meeting. Now there were a whole gang of people I had "met" on facebook, Ryan Palmer, the Shag, and of course Lord Brendon the Banana Stallion, any one of these guys could take the honours today, Bryce from Boyd Hill, and the boys from Hovland. Oh and then Adrian Rasmussen and his old man John showed up just to make sure everyone stayed on their toes in the park. I had met Adrian a couple times already and this kid can skate!
After a warmup in the park we all headed up the lift so we could start the race and easter egg hunt. Wow, some of those guys can really fly on their skates! Half way down the course there was a young kid in the woods with an arm load of easter eggs that he was so pumped he had found, unfortunately we had to roll him for the eggs and tell him to come by the park later for a prize, as the eggs were full of cash and prizes for the skaters. I have to admit I am some what surprised that I can keep up pretty good on my skate, as I let everyone start in front of me so I could get a shot of everyone racing on film, but by the end I think I ended up finishing 4th. (must be all the extra weight that carried me through the flats)
My memory is somewhat hazy (possibly from the 4-20 festivities) so I can not remember who took all of the prizes, or in what order, but I do know that Adrian took first place in the mens park jam along with Silas, Palmer and Shag. For the women it was Jamie and Lydia taking home the prize packages. If my hazy memory serves me correctly I believe Lord Brendon took the race. I would also like to remind everyone that Jesse was the only one to follow Adrian through the jump line in the big park, so although he did not get formally recognized I am recognizing him now for his efforts. ( I know Adrian was also impressed with how much Jesse improved since the last time we all got to shred together ) One of the highlights for me anyway was when Vic pulled out his rather large jar of green leaf and started making his way around the circle handing out buds saying " Happy Easter" like he was the easter bunny, oh and I can't forget Gergis aka the Spacecraft Bunny skating through the park and giving out candy.
I would like to thank Victor for putting this event together, I hear he is hoping to make it bigger next year and also somewhat of a trade show, so can't wait for that, also thanks to Gergis and Burt Cooper for taking plenty of photos and Jason Stoehr for killing it on the ones and twos all day. Oh and I can't forget John for taking the rest of the green leaf we had left over so as not to get thrown in jail at the border crossing. Can't wait to do this again and hope to see you all next year at Stevens Pass. - Jon Samborski {Squampton Snowskates}