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WinterWizardryWickednessBy Tim Kronenberg / tkronenberg@msn.comPhoto: Katie PanzerIt was well before sunrise on the morning of Saturday, March 16, whenthe SLUG crew met up at the office and prepared to embark on theirextensively planned journey into the Great White North, otherwise knownas the land of Ogden. The nerds had taken their stand at Brighton andleft triumphant. Their calculated maneuvers, however, were no match forthe beast that The SLUG Games was about to unleash upon the realm ofSnowbasin Resort for the first time in history. The beast would come to beknown as Winter Wizardry Presented by Scion.The wizards had declared battle. All that was left now was the hunt for aworthy proving ground in which these youthful skiers and snowboarderscould compete. Snowbasin’s Terrain Park Manager Tim Eastley wasappointed the important task, and along with his terrain park staff, Eastleywas able to construct a world-class arena on-hill and slightly offset fromSnowbasin’s Earl’s Lodge. Local artist Dusk painted the spellbinding funboxes, and wizard-manufacturer Tommy Dolph created an army ofsorcerers to stand as sentries along the course. In the mix of the wizardswere two 25-foot down boxes, a gap to 20-foot wizard wand, a cheesewedge box jump and a 30-foot kicker for good measure. The highlight,of course, would have to be either the quarter pipe feature, located at thebottom of the course, with multiple plans for attack, or the plaza feature,which is a 100-percent replica of the famous Burlington High Schoolstair-set in Vermont. This gargantuan feature brags one flat-to-closeout railfollowed by an immediate 15- to 20-foot drop. To the right of the flat rail isan accompanying 10-flat-10-stairset featuring one down-flat-down kinkedrail to the far right, and its twin anchored to the wall as a “creeper” ledgeon the far left. This is all mumbo-jumbo in “people talk,” but in the worldof immortal wizards and action sports, something this big can only bedescribed as “high-risk.”As 11 o’clock crept up, SLUG staffers and park crewalike helped put the finishing touches on the alreadystunning course, Uinta Brewing poured fresh draftsof potion and shot games of corn hole, RAMP Sportsoffered free ski and snowboard demos and Park City’sSwitchback Sports offered free wand waxes for theshreddy masses. Scion and Yelp also joined in withthe rest of the tent village to offer hot chocolate anda few handouts to kick off the games with a bang.However, no one could have possibly predicted themagnitude of the blood shedding and rail-shreddingonslaught that was about to ensue.Men’s Ski Open: (L-R) 2nd Zachary Jenkins, 1st Rich Frogh, 3rd Matt Newton.Ken Russell sneaking up on the creeper.Photo: Katie PanzerWarm-ups came shortly after final touches weretweaked, and faster than DJ Slap N’ Tickle (akaJeremy Riley) could take his place atop the 20-foottall quarter pipe/podium to blast his retrograde-’80sdancepop-gangsterbeats, they were off! This was alsoabout the same time that resident wizard and SLUGGames Events Coordinator Mike Brown stepped upon the podium to take a better look just in time to beflown over, as rider Ken Russell gap-to-cardboardwizardtapped over the QP and judges underhead.By high noon, snowboard judges Matty Ryan,Blake Payne, Lena Nance and ski judges IanWade, Blake Nyman and Molly Morris were inplace waiting for the show while emcees BJ Emeryand myself laid down the law of the land. It wasdecided that every heat of competitors, four in all,Mike Brown The Purple chargingwand his wand on a Scion on a Scion car.Mike Brown The Purple charginghis car.Women’s Ski Open: 1st Tara Woodward.44 SaltLakeUnderGround slugmag.com 45Photo: Jesse AndersonPhoto: Katie Panzer