2014 Jim Jack Cowboy UP Freeride Comp

A lot of great skiing by some of the best Junior Freeriders in the Pacific Northwest was seen and had this past weekend at Stevens Pass. The new round of snow came just in time to make the event a go, and kudos to all at Stevens Pass for putting on a great event.

Approximately 50 competitors showed up representing 7 different Freeride Teams and some independents. The event was comprised of Qualifying runs on Saturday and Finals runs on Sunday. There was some fog to contend with, and hats off to the organizers for making the critical decisions to get the event done.

Some amazing skiing by a host of kids. Need to give a couple quick shout outs to Zach Mosely for his "go for it" Finals run (he crashed) and huge backflip, and Anna Thompson for killing her Finals run to win the Girls 12-14 age division.

A good weekend for our Team and Athlete Graham Griffin who placed 3rd overall in his division. Freeriding is a lot like the Downhill in the Olympics and FIS skiing, a huge game of tug of war between risk and reward. It is easy to look at the venue and find the biggest drops......yet the question begs how many times out of 10 will you land it. We will take 8 out of 10 everyday, 5 out of 10 some days, and 1 out of 10 only when it counts.

Graham took a 7 out of 10 line that included a big 35 foot air at the top in to a narrow landing zone (check out the POV in the vid below). Only 2 other riders hit that cliff, one blowing up after rocketing out of the landing. He decided NOT to backflip the big jump at the bottom for of number of reasons, but mainly the hard landing. It was a 5 out of 10 move.

Here's a link to the video of the event highlighting the beautiful day and great skiing. I am getting better at capturing content but still have a ways to go. LOL.

vimeo.com/85799712

Some more pics here:

www.facebook.com/pages/Shot-8-Freeride-Team/561702940520155

and here:

www.facebook.com/internationalfreeskiers

As I have said many times, watching a Freeride comp is just like seeing your favorite ski video live. Just amazing stuff. Come on out!!

Stomped it! Awesome. I love seeing these, all the more so with a Bon Jovi soundtrack

Thanks Marcus! I really enjoy sharing them as well. I just wish I was better at filming. As noted, I am working on it.

As for the music, I had to choose a "Cowboy" song (Cause I'm a Cowboy, on a steel horse I ride) to go along with cowboy theme. Thought about a bunch (Kid Rock's Cowboy as an an example or the Grateful Dead's Me & My Uncle or Mexicali Blues), but the best choice seemed to be Bon Jovi.

Plus it is my wife's favorite band. She loves him, even has a pillow cover. LOL. I am all good with it though, and even took here to see them in October. HAHA. That was my trade off to be on Tour this fall with my band Furthur!