93/94's Fall Down

It's starting to get cold in Burlington, Vermont, and that means one thing - well actually two. One: snowboard season is about to begin. Two: the East Coast girls at UVM are hitting the caf' hard, packing on that winter thickness to stay warm. Ahh, the onset of an East Coast winter ...



And what better way to kick it all off, than to check out some sick new shred videos at a raging party held at a drive-in? Oh yes, the second annual affair came together nicely after a rainy day turned clear, just in time. The drive-in was packed with all the New England riff-raff we've come to expect at events like this: Grenade dudes, hicks, pickpockets, and loose women. There were even a few shredders - you could tell by all the puffy coats that still smelled like moth balls. The New Hampshire Dirts rode their donkeys into town to help construct the Waterville Valley mini-ramp under a circus tent - good for the clowns. There was a DJ spinning, but why wasn't it ADog? JD from Fuse Sports was working the grill with free burgers and dogs for the hungry.

Everyone was enjoying refreshments, some people were even enjoying them a bit too much, but not me and Jeff Kramer, we chilled. The others, however, were getting out of hand with a crazy contraption that allowed 6 people at a time to take rather large sips of their icy-cold malt beverages. This weird dude named Johnny Bowles named it the Crab. And it can accurately yet distastefully be said that Bowles, Bridges and the crew were responsible for giving lots of people crabs last night. Ooh, that sounds gross. OK, scene set: A drive-in full of Darryls, a DJ spinning records, a skate ramp, free burgers, and tons of shredders standing around waiting for the action to begin.

The Vermont crowd cheered their local boys on in Grenade's sophomore movie release: NIGHT OF THE LIVING SHRED. Good work gents. The horror is hella and the shredding is sweet. If you haven't seen this yet, you will. Watch Danny Kass, Lane Knaack, Kyle Clancy, Shane Flood, Zach Leach, Colin Langlois, Rahm Klampert, Mark Reilly ... you know, all the the Jersey meatnecks and Vermont/Mammmoth rippers, ripping ...

Iron Curtain III: Abandon Ship began with the high-pitch whistle and pop of bottle rockets. Again for this year,series creator John Cavan outdid himself. Pretty much every East Coast rider of consequence fires across the screen in Abandon Ship. From Japan to Oregon to upclose action at the best events in the sport, Cavan documented a year of snowboard mayhem. With terrain of all sorts, from Tahoe to the streets of Finland to New Hampshire handrails, no spots are left un-schrapled.

Mack Dawg's SHAKEDOWN also played to the drive-in crowd. Lots of people have seen that work of snowboard perversity. LeBlanc, Huffman, Walker; enough said.

Fireworks were screaming overhead and the ground was littered with empty beverage cans. Wet hippy dogs darted in and out of the crowds of partiers who milled around sloppily after the movies were done. The night was cold and clear so the enthusiastic crowd split the drive-in to chase after other demons before the sun of Sunday morning would rise. It was a night just like any in '93-'94, where the hell were you?