Share your crew snowboard giveaway WINNERS!

Last week I announced a snowboard contest based around how your snowboard crews make you a better snowboarder something that everyone around the world could relate to and give away a couple sierra crew snowboards in the process.  The results were clear, so many great responses, stories and experiences that can only be shared by “we” and not “I” on the mountain.

When it came time to determine the two winners (male and female), I went to my friends Philip and Amy who are part of my riding crew to decide who would take home the price and after reading each of the entries, they have decided on winners (though not easily).

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Congratulations to our two winners!

Bug Stroope for the men and Kristin McManus for the women.

Here are each of their writeup’s and congrats on winning a Sierra Crew snowboard!  Thanks to everyone who entered the contest by sharing their crew experiences, we really had some great entries that were hard to pick winners from!

Bug’s write up

“What a great topic to talk about, thanks for the contest. As for my crew, we roll deep and look out for each so closely, that “family” is the justifying word. I started riding in 1998 when I moved with some of my hometown boys to Brian Head, UT. The sport was new to me, but what really got me hooked was how much fun I was having with my friends. We were all so stoked on snowboarding and the whole lifestyle that encompasses it. The next season we moved to Steamboat with some more friends joining us and meeting more once we arrived. From rallying like packs of wolves through Shadows on a pow day to putting back PBR’s while we had a wax session, these were the people I wanted to surround myself with for the rest of my life. Friends can come and go, but when you share the passion of riding and the common goal of progression, you come so close together. I watched everyone get better and was just as stoked for my homie sticking his trick as I was for myself. That’s when you are truly a “crew”, when you take care of your own and truly love to see them progress. The next step for me was getting my crew to competitions and that’s when I created TEAM INSECTICO in 1999. The goal was to sell t-shirts and hoodies to make enough money to sponsor my friends and it well for a few years. We had many good times on the road and it was amazing watching everyone achieve their goals. Most of us filtered down to Durango, CO were the crew grew and stayed strong. As we have become older, married, and even parents nothing has changed. We stay strong and regroup as much as possible. I owe everything that I have gotten out of snowboarding to my friends, without them, I would have not accomplished what I have in the sport. When I think of my crew I hear laughs after tree runs, I smell wax and beer, and I see smiles on faces. They mean the world to me. This is my first season back in the Boat since 2003 and today I was riding with a new crew member off of Pony to Fish Creek Falls. I couldn’t help but think back and remember some of the lines I had rallied almost 10 years ago and the memories I will always have. The legacy of snowboarding with good friends is something I will pass down to my son proudly. To see our crew and some pics of the past check out Team Insectio on facebook. Again, thanks for the contest and your website.”

Kristin’s write up

“Hm. What to say about my crew. Well, we ride a small Ice Coast resort in PA, and needless to say, I am by far the worst rider haha. But, I would be far, far worse than I am now if it wasn’t for the awesome crew I ride with. Right now we are working really hard to set up a Park & Pipe team to represent our hill(to call it a mountain would be a bit of a stretch), but it’s moving kind of slowly due to lack of funding and recognition. The kids in my crew are out there day in and day out, digging out features in the park and making it the best park at this resort in memorable history. They work so hard, ride with the cats at night, and get out there and dig some more the next morning without even being paid for it. My crew works hard just because we love our hill and we love our sport. We ride bruised, broken and beat, but there is never a day without at least a few of us out there throwing down. The crew definately makes me a better snowboarder, no doubt. This is only my second season, and last season I could barely even carve my turns. These kids push me so hard to keep up with them, both freeriding and in the park, that this season I am easily carving my turns, and I just learned to backside the flatbox. Conquering that flatbox was a huge thing for me, since last time I tried it at the end of last season, I fell and smashed my face on it really hard, and my fear of it has gotten the best of me until just a few weeks ago. I know I couldn’t have done it without the crew, and especially without the other girls in our crew who really throw down and represent the women in the local comps, and win. These girls really inspire me to get over my horrible anxiety and get out there and try to compete, even though I may not win, just to help to encourage some of the other female riders out there to enter and compete with the boys. All the funny stories, all the best memories, and all the things that no one else would understand, these are what make our crew what it is – even if there is a little drama thrown in here and there (as the Whitetail turns baby!), this is where I fit in, finally. I want to be on the hill with my crew all day, everyday. So much so that I am the proud new owner of a goggle tan line! Like I say, I have no life outside of the mountain life, and I kind of love it.”