Brighton Jazz Jam 2009

Christian Hobush throwing down a backlip on the donkey rail

Saturday March 7th, 2009 Brighton Ski Resort hosted the Jazz Jam. Now why was it called the Jazz Jam? Well, Zane Miller who rides at Brighton is the grandson of the Utah Jazz owner. He pulled some strings and got the Jazz Bear along with NBA player and snowboard fan Ronnie Price's entourage to show up and be guest judges. With the help of other brands like DC, Skullcandy, Fuel TV, Snowboarder Magazine, and U92 radio there were tons of great prizes. The first 100 people to signup received a limited edition Jazz Jam basketball jersey, and the winner of the open class received $1,000 cash.

The contest set-up had 4 jibs positioned next to each other. From riders left-to-right you could choose a double barrel down bar with donkey at the bottom, a 4” wide flat down bar, a flat-to-down box, and a stock double-tubed down bar. If you wanted to score big, pulling off a trick on the down bar with donkey was a must.

The Jazz Bear, Fuel Gorilla, and the view of the rails from the tents

First up was the 16 and under category. This group of young shreds were pushing it, and they showed great potential. It's amazing how the level of riding from these kids is on par, or above, what the top pro riders were doing 4 years ago.

In the girls division, it would have been nice to see a few more girls compete, especially with Laura Hadar making a special appearance, but non-the-less some ripping ladies were there. Madison Blackley was pulling a wide variety of tricks consistently on all the rails. Socal original, Gabby Maiden was putting together some banger tricks on the donkey kick bar. And local girls Jessica Marina and Mahlene Mereado were impressive as well.

Next up was the 17 and over division. The flurry of tricks and riders was rapid fire. Some of the tricks being thrown down by this crew were backside 180's on – 180's off, 270's on, front blunts to hard way out, and many more. It was much harder to judge these guys as there were so many, riding so well.

Last up was the open class, which had $1,000 up for grabs. A thousand dollars is good cabbage, so a lot of the young, local pros showed up to try and take it home. Guys like Sean Black, Zak Hale, Cameron Pierce, and others like locals Alex Andrews, Brandon Hobush were ripping to the next level. They were throwing down switch back 270's onto the donkey, 270's the hard way onto the down bar, back 180's – 180's out on the donkey, and combo moves.

A big thanks goes out to Jared Winkler, the Brighton park staff, and the sponsors: Utah Jazz, DC, Skullcandy, and Fuel TV for putting on this event Brighton is a great hill with a laid back style, cheap lift ticket prices, great snow, and even better terrain, it's like riding at your local skatepark with your friends; you always find something fun to ride.

Here's the top 3 results for each class.

L to R: Chase Breen (missing), Ben Bilodeau, Rex Codon
16 and Under Top Three

1. Ben Bilodeau
2. Rex Cordon
3. Chase Breen

L to R: Jessica Mariana, Madison Blackley, Gabby Maiden
Women's Top Three

1. Madison Blackley
2. Gabby Maiden
3. Jessica Mariana

L to R: Chase Newtek, Brandon Hobush, Donny Bueller
17 and Over Top Three

1. Brandon Hobush
2. Donny Bueller
3. Chase Newtek (is that really your last name?)

L to R: Sean Black, Cameron Pierce, Zak Hale
Open Division Top Three

1. Cameron Pierce
2. Zak Hale
3. Sean Black

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