The action at Stratton has been ratcheting up for the last few days of qualifiers at the US Open here in Vermont. I just drive over from New Hampshire and caught some afternoon pipe. Junior Jam kids were sessioning the giant pipe and a few stragglers snaked in for one-hits. The weather went from sun to snow to sleet to overcast and back to sunny all in about 45 minutes. That is patented US OPEN weather.
Check back all weekend for coverage of the open, here are a couple random photos from today.
Anyway, we’ll have a gang of magazine staff here over the next few days, covering all the action as we approach the finals. Check out the sweet images that photographer Jake Stangel has been posting so far, right here.
I ran into slopestyle competitor (and possible TTR Tour Champ) Chaz Guldemond as well as fellow DC team rider Lonnie Kauk this afternoon; both spoke favorably of the slopestyle course. I also ran in to local dude and pipe slayer Jack Mitrani who just had wrist surgery. He will be watching from the sidelines this Open. Gretchen Bleiler was up riding the pipe today with Stratton legend Tricia Byrnes. A few people mentioned the Washed Up Cup, an event for washed-up, ex-pro shredders, that could be (kinda) fun to see … Seems like the all the pieces are falling into place for the event. Stay tuned.
ON THE COVER:Luca Debari and Marie-France Roy were out on the Conquihalla Pass in BC filming for The Shred Remains. Filmer Gary Pendygrasse's bro took them to this misty spot. The crew scoped out this "golf ball" feature and built it up, but then weather moved in. They came back a few days later with a fresh dumping of snow on it. Features like this with a landing are surprisingly hard to find. This was Debari's first hit of the day and Senior Photog Ashley Barker's first shot of the day. MORE INSIDE THIS ISSUE >>
