BIG AIR: April 16, 1999 By the time we arrived, the fight had begun. No fists, no Olympic Presidential boxing match like last year, this year it was toss around anything you found under your feet, mainly snow. The only time the crowd of over 10,000 ever made an opening was when the snowball fight had erupted into hand-to-hand combat and lines were drawn against neighbors who would retreat in an attempt to either regroup your allies or just back up so you could really put some arm into it. No one was spared. The poor bastards whos only job was to light up the riders in the air with spotlights were instead using these massive stage lights on their marked platform target as shields against the constant onslaught of snow. It got to a point that there was so much snow being thrown that it began to rain. It was cool.
Then just when you think the crowd is comfortable with the inevitable snowball in the ear at any moment, the main organizer and posse bust out a big slingshot and start flinging toilet paper rolls filled with money into the crowd. I don't know the exact formula for instigating a riot, but this has gotta be top ten. Before they had launched the second roll of TP the fencing behind me gave way and a bunch of Japanese girls were screaming in the snow as I contemplated saving my camera or these girls. I stepped away and held my camera firmly against my chest as I go tried to keep the snowballs that were hitting me out of my collar.
Again the only female I saw stick anything was a large and lofty backside three by Jamie McLeod. She was displaced by local hippy, Star Of Peace Quinn and our cute commando of the evening Kim Bohnsack pulled a melancholy 180 big spin of her own. Like the riot and flinging snow wasn't enough to try and work around, then the kids busted out some impressive fireworks and some guerilla skier (probably the same guy that poached the pipe) took to the kicker and did a little inversion of his own. The best part again was the crowd pelting him with snow in disgust or maybe just jealousy.
The air ended and the band began with the night's festivities already in full swing regardless of where you were. It is time to make party.
| |||||||||||||
THE EVENTS WESTBEACH: 1998 1997
SCHEDULES: | |||||||||||||