The final stop of the 2011 series of The North Face Masters of Snowboarding went down at Kirkwood yesterday and today. With a closed venue full of new snow, tracked only by ski patrol and the Mt. Sports International ninjas, and blue skies on both days of the competition, conditions were excellent for a second year in a row.
The top of the qualifier venue
Alex Yoder and Danny Day atop the Finals Venue with the Finish in the background
With a 20% chance of weather moving in, riders were told that we’d have 1 run only so as to not be cut short by stormy conditions and poor visibility. This in mind, riders were charging, going for the win. Overall points leader Jonathan Penfield of Whistler fell, leaving the door open for Forrest Burki and Aaron Robinson tied for second.
As I sat in 1st place at the bottom of the venue after my run, I saw some extremely sick snowboarding. Andrew Irwin of Squaw, part of the UnofficialNetworks team, laid down a super sick straight line that required a couple calculated turns, finished with a smooth 360, finishing the comp in 3rd place. Aaron Robinson showed up a bit late, but dropped in and nailed the fastest run of the day, complete with 3 monster airs, one of which was a stylish 360, bumping me into 2nd place. Other notable lines went to Chris Galvin, also part of the UnofficialNetworks team, and John Rodosky, who did similar lines, both fast and fluid, and tied for 4th. Moss Holladay rounded out the top 5 with an exposed line and some solid airs.
This is why you wear a helmet.
Tim Carlson, the winner of the Crystal Mountain TNF Masters, had the only scary fall of the day, reminding us why helmets are mandatory. He was very lucky to have gotten away with only a broken helmet.
