Tyrol Basin is hanging tough though—staying on a strict diet of snowmaking and cheese, to overcome the less than generous Mother Nature. As it turns out: not only does Tyrol know how to make snow, but they can turn it into a damn fun Mini-Park„¢. Even after weeks of rain and warm weather, 100 riders came in from literally all over the Midwest—Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois and beyond for a fun-filled day of shredding.
Set to the music of Breckenridge’s DJ Majai on the wheels of steel, the contest began in true TransAM form—total chaos. The Traffic Jam„¢ format puts 100 riders all hiking and riding the same Mini-Park„¢ with no holds barred. Like a scientific snowboard experiment, the level of riding progresses rapidly as the specimens feed off each other like little cannibals in tall tees.
Throughout the madness the TransAM judges, like snowboarding’s legendary Jason “J1 Gerardi tossed standout riders TransAM t-shirt bibs advancing them in to the Final Jam. All kinds of craziness ensued including all the compulsory spins, flips and slides that make up modern snowboarding. One guy hooked his nose under a fence ollie feature ripping the top off launching him into a rather large unplanned front flip, which was a bummer … for him (everyone else seemed to like watching it).
With the field narrowed to 40 riders, the finals set the stage for some healthy snowboard trickery. Ryan Paul who drove in from Minnesota linked together some knockout runs including bs 270′s the hard way onto c-boxes and all kinds of crazy crap. The women’s winner Joanna Dzierzawski took apart every feature the course had to offer, and then some. The real hero of the day was Osceola, Wisconsin’s Ethan Deiss. The young Academy rider defined the meaning of standout. No matter how many people were riding at once your eyes were always drawn to his combination of style, creativity and technical awesomeness.His peers voted him the Best Overall Nutty Extreme Rider (B.O.N.E.R.) by a landslide.
The top riders made out like bandits. Taking home matching Dakine bags, Custom painted gold, silver and bronze Oakely goggles, Allyance outerwear, hundreds of dollars in Zumiez gift cards, Ride snowboards, giant $1.00 Checks courtesy of HCSC and much more. In addition these riders earned spots at the TransAm Finals this spring at Northstar, and a shot at making it to the TransWorld SNOWboarding Team Challenge.
It’s no surprise that Tyrol pulled off a great event. Rich in snowboard history, Tyrol Basin was one of the first resorts in the World to have a pipe and a park. Tyrol’s roots in snowboarding run deep and their dedication really shows. The park manager, Jordan Leahy lives in the parking lot in his car and the mountain manager and part owner, Don Mckay builds all of the park rails himself (and actually welded up a sick new t-box for the event the night before the contest).
So remember to support the resorts that support our sport — and we’ll see you Saturday, January 20th at Bear Mountain as the series marches on.
MEN:
1. Ethan Deiss (Wisconsin)
2. Nate Lavik (Wisconsin)
3. Ryan Paul (Minnesota)
WOMEN:
1. Joanna Dzierzawski (Tahoe)
2. Emily Blewitt (Wisconsin)
3. Cassandra Winner (Wisconsin)
MOST CREATIVE LINES:
David “Danger Dave Geary
RIDERS CHOICE AWARD:
(Best overall rider, as voted by the competitors)Ethan Deiss
