We aren’t sure why New Jersey is known as the “Garden State”, but the weather was great and hit a high of 71 degrees on Fri. Mountain Creek is near the relatively small town of Vernon in the Northern part of New Jersey. Apparently self-made distractions and small-town atmospheres make a good breeding ground for homegrown characters like Danny Kass.
Thursday night I visited New York City for the first time. Thanks to television and real-life dramas like Ghostbusters, I knew NYC and everything in it was huge. Even with this in mind, the sheer scale of it blew me away! Times Square is massive and the city is completely packed with people. I heart New York!
As we prepared for the contest Fri, Matt Jankowski and the Mountain Creek crew took a few moments to warn us of the potential hazards that tend to coincide with contest registration in New Jersey. “Fist fights”, “projectiles” and “ill-tempered parents” were just a few of the terms mentioned. To ensure everyone survived, the Mtn even arranged to have a security team on hand! Thankfully, we had packed our riot gear and cattle prods!
The custom PBRJ contest site looked great and consisted of a C-rail (or slant-box as they call it at mountain creek - thanks steven!), down-rail and mini battleship.
Saturday brought a cloudless blue sky and another day of soaring temperatures. Surprisingly, registration went smoothly and the contest got underway just before 10am.
The 15 and under riders kicked off the proceedings with some solid riding on all three features. It was super cool to see some familiar faces like Vermont’s Forest Bailey and his Dad/taxi Barry. The 16 and over division was up next and raised the riding to the next level! Rippers like Brian Hamill and Tom Weiss were regularly throwing down heavies with Jim Goodman and Cody Boan hot on their heels. The most insane/spastic trick of the day had to go to Cody’s switch 50-50 to backside rodeo off the battle ship!
The girls attacked as everyone dove into the mountain of free PB&J, cookies, chips and drinks. The competition was super tight with the girls being separated by only a few points. Last but not least, the Open division went to work and inspired spectators and competitors alike with smooth nollie b/s 270 lipslides and some of the most tweaked nose/tail presses this side of NYC!
A huge thanks to Matt Jankowski, Chrissy, Nicole, Vanessa and the rest of the Mountain Creek wildlife. This was our first PBRJ in the area and we had a super good time. Thanks to Dave, Mike and Bramley for judging and Charlie Kiesa for being a great host/filmer. Thanks to K2 Snowboards, Santa Cruz skateboards, Vans and Anon for helping us stoke kids with prizes.
After all was said and jibbed…
15 and Under:
1 – Louise Hanft
2 – Justin Mullen
3 – Sir Forest Bailey
4 – Brett Stewart
5 – Eric Ryan
16 and Over:
1 – Tom Weiss
2 – Brian Hamill
3 – Jim Goodman
4 – Cody Boan
5 – Justin Brzostowski
Girls Division:
1 – Tanya Oleskowicz
2 – Laura Winberry
3 – Christina Myal
Open Division:
1 – Matt Albsonde
2 – Brian Taggart
3 – Cody Bush
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