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(24) SLUG
I Love the Smell of Fresh Cut Wood in the
Morning: The SLUG Games Lumberjack Jam
By Sean Sullivan
Sully@slugmag.com
The SLUG Games Lumberjack Jam is by far one of my favorite
contests to be a part of for a number of reasons, but mostly
because I’m a patriot, and lumberjacks are about as American
as apple pie. George Washington, Paul Bunyan and Clarke
Griswold are all prime examples, and on Saturday, January 12,
over 70 kids got their chance to don some flannel
and lay some metal and p-tex into wood
under perfect blue skies at Brighton
Resort.
Set up at the top of the
Majestic Lift, terrain park
manager Jared Winkler
and the Brighton park
crew teamed up with
SLUG and Team
Thunder to create
a venue perfect
for an original,
all wood,
jam-format
contest.
This was
SLUG and
Brighton’s
second
Lumberjack
Jam, so
the course
featured
some
timber from
last year’s
event, as
well as a slew
of new wood.
Competitors had
their choice of three
lines: there was an uplog
that fed you to a flat
log, a roller next to a tree
that set you up for a healthy
lil’ jump with a pole halfway out
the deck for bonk-tap-chop-spin
combos and a handrail-style down log
into a really long, arcing log that was a true
test of board control and balance.
Photo By: Dave Brewer
Both spectators and competitors were treated to free flapjacks
courtesy of SLUG Magazine and an open-entry hatchet-throwing
contest hosted by the boys from Celtek Gloves. Ryan Powers
set the tone for the contest with a never-ending playlist of fun
music, while Laura Hadar rocked the mic. All day she was
calling out tricks, heckling the judges (Team Thunder, baby!) and
photographers, providing entertaining commentary on the proper
application of sunscreen in a Borat accent and taking her jacket
off to let a few young girls duke it out for her steezy duds. SLUG
couldn’t have asked for a better MC; she knows her shit inside
and out, plus she’s an excellent role model for the younger kids.
After a mellow warm-up session and a ton of Red Bull and
flapjacks, the 17- division was ready to shred.
During the jam session quite a few egos
were bruised (along with faces, hips,
asses, backs, necks and knees)
because the wood used to make
the jibs was a bit softer than
expected, and just about
every competitor caught
an edge and got served
quicker than Robert
Downey Jr. at
an empty bar. I
watched a group
of sick young
shredders adapt
and conquer
a setup that
would have
sent lesser
riders right
down into the
lodge.
The open
division was no
different; kids
were getting
racked left
and right as the
17- lumberjacks
chopped the rails
up quite a bit, leaving
the open class to
deal with wood rails
that I thought couldn’t get
much gnarlier. I don’t think
that phased anyone though,
because right off the bat kids
started throwing hatchets like there
was no tomorrow. The pole-chop jump
saw a lot of action, with lumberjacks serving
up hearty portions of bonk variations including shifty
back 1 high five taps, method front three taps, f/s shifty back 3