Superpark 12: Day 3

Day three started off with really high winds here in Mammoth for Superpark 12. Gale force gusts and big jumps don’t pair well together so the crew on hill was dramatically smaller than it had been the first two days. The dwindled crowd and mellower atmosphere did nothing but emphasize the riders that did show up and make it easier for them to focus when putting themselves in compromising airborne situations.

Lonnie Kauk, Chas Guldemond, Dustin Craven, Andrew Hardingham, Jonas Carlson, Jake Koia, Travis Rice, Robbie Walker, and fifteen year-old Seb Toots were among the standouts on day three along with the first two ladies to hit the 80-footer, Jamie Anderson and Kimmy Fasani. Lonnie brought the blade out and was putting down heavy double lines through the big jump and then over the channel with his signature tail mute grab combo. Lonnie is as comfortable as they get in the air and he really knows how to land. Robbie Walker was getting super, good switch backside nines, and young Seb was getting some sort of backside ten late cork over the big jump.

As the day progressed, the wind died down and the patchy clouds blew over. The sun shone down and those of us not putting our bodies in harms way posted up with a couple coldies, soaked up some rays and enjoyed the show. With less riders on course, and less pandemonium in general, the ones that made it out had less distractions and more time to get creative. Enter the double channel gap. There’s the standard 60-foot channel gap, but if you go off the riders left corner of the takeoff with a little more speed you’d get sent over not one but two channels into an adjacent landing. Pretty sure Travis Rice hit it first but the first one I saw over the beast was Hardingham with a back Rodeo something. Not sure exactly how many rotations he put together but in any event he went large, got upside down, and it was a beautiful thing.

After one dicey smash into the knuckle and barely avoiding a fifteen-foot free fall into the flats of the channel, Pat Moore proceeded to nail frontside threes, fives, sevens and even a nine, as well as a couple hardway backside 180’s off his heels over the sucker. Another rider who I’m not sure of wasn’t so lucky as he went for a back five and hit the knuckle bouncing up onto the landing and then down into the channel. The crash was violent as hell, but dude was on his feet in a second and seemed good to go—fair enough.

The level of riding gets higher and higher as the riders who came to put in work get more comfortable on the course, and as more riders who aren’t snowboarding at a true Superpark level start to filter out of the mix, the cream really starts to rise to the top. We’ve seen a lot of heavy stuff so far and the end is near, but there’s still plenty more to come. We’ve got enders on the way so stay tuned to Snowboardermag.com for all things Superpark.

Related Links:
Superpark 12: Espen Lystad Day 2 Photo Gallery
Superpark 12: Day 2
Superpark 12: Aaron Dodds Day 1 Photo Gallery
Superpark 12: Day 1
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