The Final regional stop of the Shop Wars contest series went off this past weekend at Copper Mountain in lovely spring snow showers.
Thanks to mother nature, unlike the rest of the country, all of the kids from the Rockies have been able to ride all season, hitting park jumps, sliding city rails and bombing anything you could make a transition on.
So when it came down to stepping up to claim top shop privelages for the Rockies, the heat was on. The morning started with mild snow showers and cold temperatures so the schedule was altered a bit to allow for the landing of the jump to hopefully soften up a bit. Instead we took it to the 1/4 pipe.
Copper Mt. provided us with arguably the best pipe of the series and unarguably the most creative with two faces on the 1/4 pipe so guys could transfer like a hip. Guys were getting some good clean tricks, but halfway through the jam Satellite’s Curt Sorenson raised the bar with a near perfect front nine nose, and never looked back. As mentioned above, the kids from the Rockies have been hitting park jumps all season and it showed during the Big Air jam. 9s, 10s and even a 1260 were par for the day. But when it came down to it, the judges were most impresed with the amazing steeze of Billy Rodriguez from Emage Denver with an extra stylee switch back seven … good style beats hoola-hooping every time!
The rail jam wasn’t quite as easy for the judges to pick a clear winner. Though there were two lines, everybody was hitting the same soft kinked rail to rainbow or battleship features. Mad 270s were being displayed as well as crazy combos and taps on and off the rail. CJ Marsh took the check though, with gap 270 the hardway. Props out to the Rocky jibbers for keeping it fresh.
Thanks to all of the sponsors involved in the Shop Wars series, and to all of the shops for coming out and sharing good times. Should be some serious competition at the finals this summer. Stay tuned for the details.
Results:
Transition:
1. Curt Sorenson (Satellite)
2. Eric Van Assche (Powder Tools)
3. Bryan Daine (The Project)
4. Wyatt Glen (Installation)
5. Rob Bak (Emage Denver)
Big Air:
1. Billy Rodriguez (Emage Denver)
2. Blake Eddington (Powder Tools)
3. Ryan Darker (The Project)
4. Madison Ellsworth (The Big Hit)
5. Ian Smith (303 Boards)
Rail Jam:
1. CJ Marsh (The Big Hit)
2. Sage Keltner (Boardroom Avon)
3. Matt Puodzienas (Trife Life)
4. James Frederick (Satellite)
5. Andrew Buergin (Colorado Boarder)
Shop Results:
1. The Big Hit
2. Emage (Denver)
3. Powder Tools
4. The Project
5. Sattelite
