There is nothing like a homecoming trip; a trip to revisit a place that years ago introduced you to snowboarding and at the same time a trip to share with that place what snowboarding has brought to you, with a crew truly born and raised in New York. A group of riders with origins in different areas of Upstate New York, with different riding styles, with different current locations coming together to share in two commonalities, a love for snowboarding and a love for their roots.
Buffalo, NY and its surrounding areas, are easily some of the most blue-collar towns in America, second to Detroit. As cliché as it sounds, it’s the “work hard play hard” mentality of the people in Western New York that give this area its character. So wouldn’t it make sense, upon hearing of a recent massive onslaught by lake effect snows brought on by the early winter offspring of Mother Nature and Lake Erie, to gather a crew of riders, born and raised in the lands of New York with that same blue collar work ethic to counter the storm with an onslaught of their own?
In typical Western New Yorker fashion, the crews initial rendezvous was based around pizza and wings where at the Depot in Ellicottville, NY, John Centi, the four riders and I met. The Depot is the home of the second location of snowboard shop Suburban Blend and was the perfect location to meet up, eat up, gear up and roll out.
Steve Pelc; is a full time plumber, maybe that’s why he always seems to have a hammer and has mastered riding kink rails switch. Maxwell Scott; complains if the hot sauce on his chicken finger sub isn’t “Franks Red Hot”, so you know he is a true Western New Yorker. Matty Mo; surprised me by being the ambassador of metal for the trip, but there was no surprise in his pure talent and style. Ben Farrell; works his ass off all summer so he can take off the whole winter and ride every single day, it shows.
THE INITIAL SESSION.
This initial rail session featured a visit to a familiar rail from the previous New York rail post, a lengthy down round bar. The session started with four but dropped to three after Steve Pelc headed to go to a cash payout rail jam in Ellicottville to “try and win a thirty pack”. After Matty, Ben and Maxwell all logged a few shots we stopped by the contest long enough to see Steve win that thirty pack before heading out to our night spot, a kink rail, and eventually making it back to the hotel to indulge in Steve’s winnings and relax after a long day of logging shots.
- Matty Mo takes the plane 2000 miles, then takes the train 600 miles, then the car 30 miles and now he hikes 100 yards to hit this priceless rail.
- All that traveling really paid off for Matty. Stoked to finally make this home state session a reality. We have been talking about doing this for two years now.
- Maxwell Scott is a Buffalo born and raised shredder. Maxwell did a backlip on this. Then he did a 5050 three sixty, leaned a little back and snapped his board.
- Ben Farrell presses that tail.
- Matty Mo preparing to drop in.
- Matty Mo front board.
FEELING THE CHILL OF THE NIGHT
Welcome back to New York. Having been out in Salt Lake for a couple of months now I almost forgot just how cold it can get on winter nights in New York. We came up to a spot in a small town outside of Jamestown after Ben had near romance with a girl working a corner store gas station. The school had a few features but we focused on a kink rail; a steep down leading to a long flat and a second smaller down. Matty and Maxwell got things going, opting to skip the last down with spins over it instead. Before the session wrapped up Maxwell yanked a method over the last down; a method with more meth than the freakish neck bearded ladies that inhabited this town. We’ve seen enough for tonight, back to the hotel.
- Matty Mo may never forget just how cold it is back here. Although Mammoth can make some riders a little soft on the temperature tip, Matty's roots won't let him forget.
- Steep kink, long flat and short down to the donkey show. Matty Mo backside three and Maxwell Scott front side three out.
- Matty handled this kink no problem.
- Maxwell Scott, Method over the donkey show.
Closing It Out.
Day three and four we headed to Johnny’s so called “Mecca”, a true secret spot of sorts where without exaggerating at all, there are too many things to ride in just the two days we spent there. We stuck to a few rails before ending up on the downside of the love/hate relationship every snowboarder endures with Mother Nature. The snows were turning to rain and the remains were getting slow, meaning our big plans for several features would have to be put aside for now. Unfortunately, Ben and Maxwell had to head back to Utah and Colorado respectively after day four but we picked up another true New Yahkah, Ricky Beuler.
- The crew, getting ready to close it out.
- Ben Farrell closes this rail out.
- Steve Pelc SWITCH 5050 through the close out rail.
- Matty Mo 5-0 through the closeout. This rail is closed now you dont have to go home but you wont find this.
Ride The Water into the night.
No need to drag on here, the story is brief. A near perfect thirty something stair wood rail. Everyone was getting their various presses on and then all of a sudden Matty comes mobbin’ into this thing way faster than everyone else. Then he does something else different, pops, pushes his board over the rail and back lips the shit out of it.
- Ricky Bueler is about to get on this rail. The crew looks on as he goes.
- Maxwell Scott got this shot early in the day.
- Tripple Take | Ben Farrell. Ben did this rail a few times with his board snapped in half. Wait till you see the video where he does a nose press 180 out to broke board manual rideout. It was insane.
- After Ben did it, everyone had to check out the shot. You know with Mark Dangler behind the lens the shot will be insane.
- Ben treating that Rome right. Walking the wounded soldier off the battle field.
- Matty Mo, backlip on the 33 stair solid wood rail. This shit was BANANAS.
- Ricky Bueler isn't afraid of the dark. Nose press down the rail.
NIGHT TIME IN THE CITY.
The inaugural night of the trip was spent out late checking spots and eventually ending in a pre dawn session on a fence ride that to a furious bystander Johnny swore, “we have the mayor’s permission” to which the man responded “F*%$ the mayor!”. Two kids who had been watching the boarding out of their bedroom window then proceeded to run outside and try to persuade the man to allow us to continue. All of this at 2am, what a start to the trip.
- Matty Mo spreads his wings and wall rides the fence. This fence was right next to a house that looked like the home of the Grinch who stole Christmas. At 2am he came out of his house, screaming and threatening to kill us. He didnt look like the Grinch but more like Santa Clause on crack.
- Mark Dangler filming this from belooww.
- Matty Mo rode up the ledge that appears to the right in this picture, then jumped off it, to lipslide, to drop. Here he is mid drop.
- Born and praised in New York. From left to right, Bill Cooley, Jose Martinez, Maxwell Scott, Mark Dangler, Ben Farrell and Matty Mo.
TO BE CONTINUED | The preview
Join us next Monday for Born and Praised in New York part two where we session a metal down bar, a sunset session at the Reservoir, a huge close out at Holiday Valley and find pow runs that are mirror images of interior BC.
- Metal rail saw some tricks.
- Matty Mo gets gnarly
- Monster close out rail session.
- Bet you didn't believe this was New York.