Red Bull Third Shift at Snoqualmie Central

When I first saw the mock-up drawing for the Third Shift contest, I was pretty much blown away. It meant constructing a town square in the terrain park that was literally a urban jump/jib contest over and onto buildings. For the northwest, it was pretty rad to see freestyle progression come here and be on the slopes so anyone could watch. This was an event that would push progression for local skiers and riders.

Earlier this week, I joined on to contribute to Teton Gravity Research so I’ll be working with them to take photos and share different stories than I would post on Shayboarder.com. The Red Bull Third Shift article for TGR is here, so definitely check it out.

I headed up to Snoqualmie early so I could get in some powder turns before the event. I just didn’t imagine that the mountain received 2 feet of snow but by the time I arrived, there was still powder turns to be enjoyed.

With all the new snow, the Summit at Snoqualmie park crew did a great job of maintaining the features and making sure it was rideable.

By the time I arrived at the top of the jump course, skiers and riders were waiting for the jump to be rideable. The snow conditions and the snowy cloud coverage over the park made it impossible to see the takeoff and even harder to see the landing. So the jump portion of the contest was cancelled but that meant it was a jibber takes all rail jam once the darkness came out.

The 2-story wall ride was easily the best feature to watch. It was insane to see how the skiers and riders tackled it differently. I liked watching everyone’s style and of course hoping they would land it.

 It was a good thing the skiers and riders were young and had cat like reflexes, some of the landings were incredibly hard to watch. But they took it and hiked back up for more.

Underneath the jump portion was a built in bar for everyone to enjoy. I showed up early to get shots of the drinks, the snow bar and look out the window at the rail jam view. Pretty awesome that they put together something that competitors and spectators could both enjoy.

I really owe thanks to Travis who joined me for the event and was my notepad for getting rider names during the contest. I put him to work with my cell phone and he ran after riders left and right. So thank you Travis for helping me out, especially when you can see there was still powder to be enjoyed behind him.

 The last run was a good powder filled one and I hit the highway to head home to Stevens Pass. Thanks to the Summit at Snoqualmie and Red Bull for hosting the event. It was awesome to get on the snow at the resort I learned on.