Craig Kelly Remembered, Issue 15.8

Craig Kelly - the name brings up so many memories for me, where do I begin? I can't believe he didn't buy a round after he won $20,000. He earned the nickname " the rabbi" and the boys at Baker flipped him shit for ten years but he more than made up for it. I have memories of him being frugal (in hindsight he knew what most guys never figure out) and many more memories of him being very giving to so many people.

He drove like a hick from Vernon with knowledge of physics and geometry, which he applied to a '79 Subaru like it was a new Audi S6 (mind you this was '84). Fulton, Carter, Janko, Danno, and Kelly Jo all were 21 or had fake IDs. Being 15, I had to wait in the car until they were ready, ready to go f--k with me (Your friends ever punch you so hard you couldn't ride the next day?) and race around the one-way loop at Baker. It was always bump and pass.

We all knew Craig was good but had no idea what was to come. Jeff Fulton, Steve "Mr. Clean" Shipsey, Kelly Jo, Craig and I went to the first World Championships together (my mom gave Craig our family VW bus and he seized the engine but he was such an Eddy Haskel that he pulled it). Imagine going to the World's with your obscure yet talented friend and he wins overall. At 15 I was stoked.

Skip ahead a couple of years and he became what I always referred to as "Competition Craig." (He told me years ago he got out just in time before Terje mopped the floor with him.) At the time I thought, "Terje's too good...he has a funny name...no one will survive his wrath." Once again, advantage Kelly.

Filming Road Kill we went to Baker and I was stoked to see Craig, Iguchi, and Terje. Feeling at home riding powder with Craig, I didn't film that week. At that time, I was practicing lipslides on ledges. Craig saw me do it and exclaimed, "That's dumb!" Later that night at dinner Craig started asking me what I was doing and I said I was trying to do lipslide. He came right back and said, "Looks like you're buttering a muffin to me." The whole table fell over laughing, but with out knowing it Craig coined the term.

Fast forward again, Craig asked me to come to BC and heli from a remote spot. F--k yeah! He asked about Rocket Reaves and I was all for that, so Rock and I went on a 200-mile mud road to meet Craig. Best trip ever; 20-mile heli ride to the remote cabin, personal cook and heli. Weather was coming for the next three days and we were bummed. Craig called the heli back and we got a ride to the liquor store and loaded up for three days. That act blew Rocket and me away. Before the trip we were like, "No weed, out of respect for Craig." Although Craig did not smoke, he sorted us as soon as we arrived.

That was the day where Craig transitioned from post halfpipe to controlling what he wanted. It's like he did what he had to do in order to do what he wanted to do. It sounds easy now, but it took a lot of balls and the fact that his sponsors backed him but questioned every move was a heavy risk. What if they didn't believe him? Who knows where the filming side could have gone.

The true progression of our sport is in the big mountains. Delicately picking lines that would wipe out small cities with the debris. Craig was like that with a much keener sense of his surroundings. I never saw him do a reckless line; he was much more scientific about it. He also new when to blow something off and realize he was in a sketchy situation and know that instinct not contemplation would carry him through. Even a couple of years ago at Baker, we did a line and he went first and before he dropped he gave me this shit-eating grin and dropped in. When I inched up I noticed two things: no hiking out because it was too steep, and he took the only line. Well, I was fu--ked, I hacked down it, only for Craig's pleasure.

I think about and miss Craig daily. I'm so f--king lucky to know him, let alone feel like he was my big brother. My mourning is not alone because not only his family but all of us, we all lost a brother, whether you knew him or not because he touched people around the globe. You know why? Because you could tell by a photo that he was a very humble and approachable human.

I remember riding with him on regular basis and still feeling blessed to watch him simply turn a snowboard. Craig's spirit can't die; neither can Tristan Picot nor Jeff Anderson. These are three different individuals that will leave a lasting print on our sport but more so to their close friends and especially there families.
Mike Ranquet

In 1990, I ran into Craig at my home mountain in Colorado. I was a little local snowboarder and he was Craig Kelly, the world champ, top of the heap, number one. I was completely enamored but he was so down to earth. He just wanted to cruise the mountain with the local kids and have us show him the hot spots. He asked us to take him out of bounds so we took him to the scariest chute we knew of. We were all standing on top of the chute when Craig says, "Whoever cuts it gets all those fresh tracks down there." Wanting to show off, I volunteered and headed across the chute, got to the other side, looked back at Craig and said, "It's safe, I'm going," but being a little scared I hesitated and he replied "Too slow!" and flew past me taking first tracks. This was indicative of Craig; he was about life experiences and creating friendships on his journey. When I talk to people about Craig we talk about his self-enlightenment, how easygoing he was, etc. But the other side of Craig was a competitive, a tough big brother who reminded me to go after what I wanted, learn life's lessons along the way, and above all, don't let people take cuts in front of you. I miss him very much.

Matt Goodman