Words: Laura Austin

Some things just don’t go well together: toothpaste and orange juice, sex offenders and drunk children, flip flops and socks, etc. You would think snowboard contests and summer would fall into the same category, but on September 24th at Bear Mountain it was definitely a different story. 130 tons of ice, two-dozen riders, and thousands of colorful spectators gathered at the base of Bear Mountain for the 8th annual Hot Dawgz & Hand Rails.

This year’s setup was the most progressive I have seen at the event, and maybe any rail jam for that matter. The drop-in consisted of two identical wallrides that led the contestants into the main features. On the viewer’s right was a massive wallride containing a creeper rail allowing you to slide the rail or utilize the wallride and air over the whole thing. Along the wall was a stairset with a flat box that dropped off more than Charlie Sheen’s acting career and a down bar. To the viewer’s left was a closeout down bar and a gnarly down-flat-down with an aggressive 3-foot flat making the feature even more technical. And to top it off, in the middle was a large patch of grass, which riders could choose to air over from the upper deck making it a 20-foot gap to the landing.

The competitors were able to take advantage of every aspect of the course. Spencer Schubert pulled out one of the most technically impressive tricks of the contest with a backside 360 to 5-0 on the down-flat-down. After many attempts, Cody Boan was able to ride away from a backflip off the wallride (a definite crowd pleaser). Despite Jake OE’s lack of highbacks and tightly laced boots he was still smooth as ever throughout the whole setup. Ryan Paul pulled off a switch frontflip to a 50-50 on the creeper. Ted Borland had a noespress through the entire closeout down bar. Jonah Owen was one of the more consistent riders, laying down hammers all day including massive 270 front boards on the closeout rail. To be honest, with so many talented riders and the setup Bear Mountain laid before them I could write a novel trying to list all the standouts of the day.

When push came to shove the judging panel (Joe Sexton, JP Walker, Seth Huot, and Lauri Heiskari) had to come to the difficult conclusion of who would be walking away with the prize money. Melissa Evans took the $1,000 for the ladies being one of the only females to step to the monster wallride and ride away from it. Jesse Paul scored himself 3rd place and a cool $1,000 for the men. Brandon Hobush took second and $3,000. And to top it all off, crowd pleaser Ryan Paul came out with the win and $10,000.

There isn’t anything quite like Hot Dawgz & Hand Rails. When you put snow, 80 degree temperatures, spectators who are willing to do anything for free product, insane features, and a handful of entertaining riders in one place you know you are in for a treat and a great way to lead into the winter season. We are anxious to see what Clayton Shoemaker, Rio Tanbara, and the rest of the Bear Mountain crew have in store for next year.