Best Overall: Rem Robinson. Runner-up: Eric Singer Third Place: John Adkins

Written by: Andrew Hart

The first stop of the 2008 Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour at the University of Colorado-Boulder with Boulder Freeride was a homecoming of sorts for me. Even though I had never actually been to Boulder before, I have long been convinced that the picturesque gold-mining town was my true home. And who wouldn’t want to live here? Boulder is one of the sportiest, greenest, artsy, brainiest, and best cities for singles in America. And seeing as how I am perpetually single, what’s not to love? The icing on the Boulder-cake is the incredible snow-sport scene that permeates this mountain-side town.

Eric Singer. Photo: Drew Diehl

But as the Galvanic Design crew saddles up for the next stop on the tour, this journalist sits heart-broken after painfully realizing that I don’t have what it takes to call Boulder home. And why? Because the folks that claim local status here are tougher, smarter, cooler, and better snowboarders than me. This was made clear as the Norlin Quad at CU-Boulder came to life for the heavy metal mayhem that occurred on February 7, 2008.

John Adkins. Photo: Drew Diehl

The rail-setup constructed by Galvanic Design, Boulder Freeride, Civil Apparel, Tony at Eclipse Snow Park, with snow from Eldora Mountain Resort, was a towering monstrosity. Thanks to Eclipse Snow Park, riders had their choice of a down box, down rail, or a down-flat-down rail, all measuring in at 30 feet in length and smooth as silk. The great thing about being a journalist is you don’t have to hit the features, which is wonderful for preserving my ego. Instead, I got to watch as the Best of Boulder got down-right nasty. The two heats were stacked with riders and skiers from Boulder Freeride, Signal Snowboards, Civil Apparel, Kriminal Apparel, Cannon Apparel, CUST and kids half my age. The entire field got right to work greasing the rails with all kinds of tricks that I don’t even know the names of. But what’s more important, they looked good doing it. While this journalist sat shivering beneath 17 layers of clothes and cursing the negative 1,000,000 degree temps, the contestants cat-walked down the setup wearing jeans, t-shirts, and the crowd favorite tiger-print jacket of Shane Pizzutello. Since this post is supposed to actually be about the riding that occurred, I will refrain from the rest of my fashion analysis.

Greg Fass. Photo: Drew Diehl

Fueled by the oh-so-sweet sounds of DJ Gristified, Clif Bars, and Red Bull for days, both heats were firing on all pistons. M.C. Grady Skelton called the play-by-play action and appeased the masses with more give-aways than Ed McMahon. Had my fingers not been so severely frost-bitten, this reporter may have had a better chance of winning a brand-new Signal snowboard in the Cricket Wireless text-to-win giveaway. After two heats, twenty riders were selected for the finals which were a cross between rail-jam and circus act. The ladies got a little less friendly after the triple-team attack of the qualifiers. There were no holds-barred as Diana Sciandra-Distrol, Amanda Hankison, Michelle Zeller and Kendal Wilson got rough in the finals.

Best Overall Skier: Mark Stover Runner-up: Bill Flemming Photo: Drew Diehl

The skiers were down-right unconventional, with Mark Stover throwing 270’s in one way and out the other, and Landon Spear getting greedy and transferring from one rail to the other.

The snowboard men walked the line between technicality and insanity, getting hoots and hollers from the crowd and nervous looks from EMT’s. Hometown hero and Signal team rider Maxwell Scott got bored with frontboards and switch-ups through kinks and swung for the fences with a frontflip into the cold, dark night. Civil Apparel rider Eric Singer got gritty with some distinctly Northwest switch 270 to frontboards and a death-defying scorpion off the setup. Fellow Civil rider John Adkins served up a piping hot stack of backlips and some fresh pretzel-outs. Not wanting to let the west coast get to comfy, the Colorado Contingent kept things local with a large presence in the finals. So fresh and so clean Shane Pizzutello kept it fun with a grab bag of combos and a couple methods. Ricky Bates of Boulder based Kriminal Apparel made a swipe for the prize purse with a proper nosepress backside 180 out. Filling out the greatest hits were Joey Stokes switch frontboards, Bobby Flanigan and Boulder Freeride’s Greg Fass charging through the kink, and the Cannon Apparel Furry Monster’s backside twist. But when the dust settled it was Forecast snowboards’ Rem Robinson who stood above the rest. Rem kept everyone on their toes by jamming on all three rails, with a mixtape consisting of slick frontboards on the kink, classic nosepresses, and switch hits.

Killa Cam. Photo: Tom Zittel

RESULTS:
SNOWBOARD MEN
1st - Rem Robinson
2nd - Eric Singer
3rd - John Adkins
4th - Shane Pizzutello
5th - Greg Fass

SNOWBOARD WOMEN
1st - Michelle Zeller

SKI MEN
1st - Mark Stover
2nd - Bill Flemming
3rd - Landon Spear

Winners were rewarded with cash and gear from Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour sponsors Cricket Wireless for giving out 3 months of service to a lucky Facebook group member, Snowboarder Magazine, Giro, Clif Bar, Signal Snowboards, Spyder, Boulder Freeride and Fuel TV. The best part is that no one went home a loser thanks to the After-Party hooked up by Red Bull at The Foundry in downtown Boulder.

Maxwell Scott. Photo: Tom Zittel

The Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour heads to the University of Denver for the next stop on February 12. The jam starts at 2:00 pm at Veteran’s Park (Vine and Iowa Park, Near University of Denver). Apply online at www.campusrailjamtour.com. Become our friend on myspace at myspace.com/campusrailjamtour

Female Best Overall: Michelle Zeller. Runner-up: Amanda Hankison. 3rd: Dianna Sciandra-Distrola

DJ Gristified. ALL love. Photo: Drew Diehl