STOP #1 OF VOLCOM'S NORTH AMERICAN PBRJ TOUR 12/19/2012
6:30 →Rising before the sun is easy to do when it’s the first PBRJ of a new season.
As the 2012/13 PBRJ tour gets underway, premonitions of another great season of
travel and riding seem almost assured.
8:00 → It’s Saturday December 15th, and the 2012 Peanut Butter & Rail Jam tour
has barely drawn its first breaths. We find ourselves on the 3rd floor of Mammoth’s
main lodge preparing for registration. Sign up sheets, waivers, piles of safety pins,
stickers, free tees,, oh yes.
8:34 → Perennial PBRJ competitor and Tahoe native Bryce Salazar arrives at
registration. Although born in LA, he now lives in Homewood, on the west shore of
Lake Tahoe. Which reminds me, the 1st PBRJ of 2013 will be at Boreal this year!
9:04 → Freeman Andrews hailing from New Zealand’s North Island, Tauranga,
arrived a few weeks ago and will be in Mammoth through the end of April. He’s
roommate is Volcom Oz’s Joss McAlpin. Josh won our New Zealand PBRJ back in
2011 and is hoping to keep the party going in North America.
9:09 → Brock Crouch just sauntered in. This guy’s been eating Mammoth’s early-
season powder days for breakfast. No complaints about the park either.
9:21 → 9-year PBRJ veteran Joanna Dzierzawski steps up to the registration table.
She’s planning to follow the World Cup tour this season but is unsure of her
readiness. That said, she’s excited about the event in Sochi Russia (February).
9:23 → Flanked in fancy flannel, Jed Sky just made his way into the room. A native
of Concord NH, he moved out to Mammoth last month. Standing on the PBRJ
Champs podium is his #1 goal for the season.
10:02 → JUDGES:
1) Scott Paravia leads this year’s panel with years of prior PBRJ experience.
Unfondly recalls the snowstorm of our 2009/2010 Wild West PBRJ theme.
2) Derek Shea hails from Anoka, MN. He came to Mammoth specifically to join
the Unbound Terrain Park crew.
3) Eric Meyers is stepping into the role of PBRJ judge for the 1st time. He’s got a
long PBRJ history and was no stranger to the podium.
10:12 → Mammoth’s Unbound Terrain Park crew once again assembled an
exemplary contest site. Turning back the clock in some areas and forecasting the
future in others. A huge thanks to Michael Gregory and his team for being on point!
Zone 1: Pole jam to down ledge with donkey kick
Zone 2: Flat-down tube with menacing stair set lurking below
Zone 3: Closeout to down lift tower
Getting Ready To Unleash The Beast
10:17→ Clear Blue skies and frigid temperatures greet us as we sashay outside to
visually partake in the free-for-all that is the PBRJ’s practice session. Close to 100
competitors are attacking the contest site like a rabid wolf pack loose in the meat
department of a grocery store.
10:50 → The ‘feel out’ process for Unbound’s contest site has been short and
sweet business. Just a few minutes into the heat, riders are testing the limits and
giving spectators something to think about!
11:02 → Announcer Brandon Janssen is rallying the competitors to the bottom of
the contest site to go over the event format and meeting. Riders slowly and
reluctantly make their way down.
“Welcome to the fist stop of the 2012/13 Peanut Butter & Rail Jam Tour here at
Mammoth Mountain! This year’s format will consist of four jam-packed heats with
up to 30 riders in each.”
11:15→ The 15 & under division riders are making their way up to the top of the
drop in. They’ll be the first to test their mettle against the three features. Some are
pacing, others are stretching to stay limber and warm.
The 15 And Over Division Cracking It Off!
11:18→ Locked and loaded, the 15 & Under riders have revved their engines and
rolled onto Mammoth’s custom PBRJ set up.
“5-4-3-2-1; bang, bang, bang, the 15 & Under division is under way!” The groms
have just begun riding amidst a fervor of frantic activity.
11:21 → Matt Williams is wasting no time to getting down to business. He just
spread a b/s 270 to boardslide all over zone 2.
11:23 → Jacob Fulton just nailed a ridiculously smooth b/s lipslide in zone 2.
11:28 → Jacob Fulton is continuing his onslaught. This time we saw a bluntslide
270 out in zone 3! Can he keep it up? It looks like it but the path to victory is a
long, windy one.
Brock Crouch Blasting A Back Lip
11:31 → Matt Grant just asked me to move some imagery out of the way so he can
try to gap from the zone 2 kicker to the tower at the end of zone 3! I’m not
confident this is possible, but I’ll give him a little extra room and see what he
comes up with.
11:36 → Matt just attempted the gap and came up short. If someone can muster a
little more speed and pop, it’s possible.
11:39 → Joey Fava just boosted a beautiful method to f/s boardslide on the flat-
down rail in zone 2! A beauty indeed.
Pole Jam Nose Slider
11:42 → A high overcast layer of clouds is rolling in an blunting the sun’s warming
effect. The wind just picked up and the temperature dropped 10 degrees. Sweet.
11:46 → There’s only two minutes left in this heat and a palpable sense of urgency
is apparent amongst the 15 & Under ranks!
11:48 → Buzzer-beater Sammy Swanson just nailed a high-speed 50-50 f/s 360
over the stairs!!
Locked And Loaded Switch 50 50
12:01 → The 16 & Over division is now underway. The strength and purpose these
guys are riding with is apparent.
12:05 → Jed Sky is off to the races with a gap out method to lipslide in zone 2!
12:09 → Jed is at it again. This time he put together a monster cab 270 to front
board on the flat-down rail.
Jed Sky's Clean Cab 270 Front Board
12:12 → Joss McAlpin just through his hat into the ring with a gap to lipslide on the
flat-down rail in zone 2.
12:17 → Plake Parker is staying in the mix with his b/s 180 up the pole jam to
switch 50-50, switch f/s 180 out . The game is afoot!
12:21 → England’s George Scott just made his mark on the day with a switch front
boardslide on the down-rail in zone 2.
12:25 → Vincent Fava is looking solid with a nollie b/s lipslide in zone 3.
Front Board On The Close Out By Blake Petnitz
Plenty Of Style With This Stalefish To Back Lip
12:28 → Hugh Marsden turned a few heads with his boardslide f/s 270 out on the
ledge in zone 1!
12:35 → The 16 & Over division just wrapped up and competitors are at the base of
the contest site devouring all the free PB&J sandwiches. Perhaps I’ll head down for
one myself.
Free Lunch!
12:58 → The girls are off and jibbing!
1:02 → Mariah Dugan and Danika Duffy just went head to head with f/s 180 switch
50-50 on the pole jam ledge in zone 1!
1:06 → Mariah Dugan is continuing to separate herself from the competition with a
smooth bluntslide 270 on the closeout in zone 1.
Mariah Dugan's Pole Jam 180 Switch 50-50 Back 180 Out!
1:09 → The Danika show is in full swing! Act 2 is a gap stalefish lipslide on the
flat-down rail!
Danika Duffy Warming Things Up
1:15 → Katelyn Jones is keeping pace via a smooth f/s boardlisde on the
closeout
1:20 → Nirvana Ortanez just made her presence known with a nollie lipslide in
zone 3
1:23 → Joanna Dzierzawski has arrived! Not sure how I missed her up to this point
but her gap lipslide to fakie in zone 2 was a pretty piece of work
1:28 → Joanna just struck again with a 50-50 b/s lipslide on the pole jam to
ledge
Joanna Dzierzawski's Back Lip Through The Donkey Kick
1:37 → The main event has just begun and a tangible aroma of anticipation is
hanging thick in the air.
1:38 → It’s taken less than a minute for the first showstopper! Ryan Pluche’s b/s
360 50-50 b/s 180 out in zone 2 has spectators high-fiving one another!
1:43 → Austin Bayless has struck zone 2 with a switch front board f/s 270 out
Back 270 Lip
1:47 → Brian Pracht has been making some noise the past few minutes. Most
recently with a f/s 270 lipslide to fakie on the flat-down rail!
1:50 → The switch f/s bluntslide 270 out on the closeout Mike Gray just threw
down is being well received by the PBRJ’s discerning spectators
1:56 → Wow! Brandon Davis’ switch boardslide up the pole jam f/s 270 50-50 f/s
360 out is the best trick we’ve seen today! Only 10 minutes left!!
Brandon Davis Was On A Mission
2:00 → Austin Bayless is hanging tough with a 50-50 to nose press down the
ledge in zone 1!
2:03 → I just turned around in time to see Jared McDaniel assemble a gap f/s 360
to 50-50 on the down rail!
2:07 → The final horn just sounded and I feel as winded as the competitors! Now
that is how you start a PBRJ season!!
Blast Off Back Lip
Half Cab Tail Press
Pivot, Swivle, Stomp!
Big thanks goes out to Mammoth Mountain for hosting the first stop of the tour.
Molly Dawoud, Sam Poffley, Michael Gregory, and Lauren Burke took care of us
from start to finish. Honorable mention goes to Chris Martinez for all his help with
the PBRJ program. Volcom's Jarnold and Tyler Vandora came out in support and it
was greatly appreciated. Lastly, thanks to our sponsors for kicking in the extra
goods and pumping up the stoke:
