Big Bear Mountains Hot Dogs and Handrails snowboard contest took place Sept 16 2006. Hundreds of people showed up to watch the top summer/fall jibbers ride. 40 snowboarders showed up to compete for a total purse of twelve thousand dollars. The setup consisted of six obstacles set up for the riders to hit all day. In between heats were food and fashion, hot dogs to be exact.
A large crew of rides showed up to hit some hand rails and eat some hot dogs. Among the crew were Kyle Lopiccolo, Harrison Gordon, Kirk Kaufman, Matty Ryan, Robbie Sell, Yale Cousino, Lucas Magoon, Keegan Valaika, Mac Spedale, Mike Casanova, Laura Hadar, Desiree Melancon, Melissa Evans, Johnny Miller, Pat Milbery, Mac Spedale, Max Weinberger, Kevin Casillo and Matty Ryan. There was about a thousand spectators and some sick exhibitors that came out to check the action.
The setup consisted of six obstacles. The drop in was steep and gnarly.
1- Down Bar
2- Down Flat Down stair set
3- Down Flat Down box
4- Flat Down Box
5- A barrel rail with a sketchy take off
6- Double sided transition wall rides.
The event began at three o clock and everyone began to battle it out for a spot in the final. A ton of tricks were thrown down throughout this event. Some Highlights…Kirk Kaufman- Nose slide pretzel the staircase rail, Kyle Lopiccolo- Gap to back lip the staircase rail, Matty Ryan- Huge ollie 180 the staircase, Robbie Sell- Radical grabs over the staircase
After the qualifiers there was a twenty minute break that consisted of a fashion show, a ton of hot dog eating, and a lot of drinking. This gave the judges time to decide who would move on to the finals.
The finals started off strong. Yale Cousino had a large bag of tricks and landed a shit load on each feature. He rode very consistent all day. Lucas Magoon was throwing down two-seventy, blunt slide, four-fifty out. He also pulled a nice front board through the stair case kink rail. Johnny Miller “rainbow man” had some sick fifty-fifty, front side three sixty out and two-seventy combos. Keegan Valaika “last years champ” had some nice nollie back tail two-seventy combo. Mac Spedale “last years best trick winner” rode solid. He did a two-seventy(the hard way), two-seventy blunt slide, and a two-seventy tail slide on the down rail.
Kyle Lopiccolo came out and surprised everyone. This kid threw down numerous gaps on the staircase and wall ride. He did a gap two-seventy on the staircase that landed him best trick and ranked 2nd place. Yale Cousino had mad consistency and this paid off. The judges ranked Yale in 1st place and he went home five thousand dollars richer.
The ladies were killing it too. Laura Hadar ranked 1st place at the end of the day. Laura kills it on her snowboard and it shows. Desiree Melancon and Melissa Evans rode very well. Desiree had a super clean front board slide. She also threw down a fifty-fifty, one eighty out on the down bar. Melissa who ended up in second place rode hard, fell hard and showed some serious determination to riding.
This was a great contest. Thanks to Big Bear Mountain, Active, Vestal, Planet Earth, Electric, Burton, Forum, The Block, Burton, Boost Mobile, Special Blend, DC, Thirty Two and 686. All of the companies, spectators and most importantly riders made this event one to remember. It also makes everyone look forward to next year. Big Bear Mountain Hot Dogs and Hand Rails.
-Laura Hadar
Yale Cousino, Kevin Casillo, Johnny Miller
Keegan Valaika
Kevin Casillo front board
Kirk Kaufman
Kyle Lopicollo best trick
Mac Spedale
Lucas Magoon
Matty Ryan
Max Weinberger
- Sal Masekela and the Dingo