There is only one road
to Horseshoe Valley: Highway 400. Just a flat-out high-speed burn through
Barrie, passing exactly one Tim Hortons/Wendy's combo, a McDonalds, and zero
Starbucks save for one off Mapleview Drive. But there's no time for such
unnecessary detours: It's December 8th and it is time to snowboard.
Finally!
Andrew Skelhorn and
Jeremy Ing greeted me in the parking lot. I filed down my board's Ginsu-sharp
edges even though it was icy. Skelhorn felt over-gunned on a 156; the poor guy
still thinks he is in Whistler. Jeremy makes his own stickers so he can pretend
he's sponsored. (Jokes: he works for The Program).
Andrew and Jeremy.
A female representative
from City TV ran over and asked what I was doing to my board. "Can you pretend
to do it again? Our viewers will get a kick out of it."
"I don't think so lady,
beat it," I replied. My audience laughed and guilt set in, but we didn't come
up to Horseshoe on opening day to pose in front of TV cameras. Karma kicked my
ass when I fell about five seconds after strapping in for the first time.
The crew for the day.
"Loose" is the word that
first comes to mind to describe the riding I witnessed, as riders tried to get
used to new gear and not riding for months. Many riders subscribed to this
style, including: Steve "PH" Powling, Ryan "Smolik" Helstern, Skelhorn, Brody
Pigeau, Craig Gouweloos, Blair McKinney, Andrew Rusk, Jon Rusk, and many more.
There are probably five web videos already posted of sub-par, but good-times
riding.
PH Powling on the feature of the day.
The highlight of my day,
however, was taking the chairlift with Mike Scott. Not the No Limits soldier/Push.ca
columnist Mike Scott. I'm talking about O.G., artistic recluse Mike Scott. The
best switch rider in history, Michael-Jordan-tongue-swagger on every air, Mike
Scott. He rode hard in six-year old gear, but left early. There must have been
a karaoke session starting up in town.
Blair McKinney and Andrew Rusk keeping the park in check.
A quick wrap-up: Pole's
were jammed. New outfits were shown off. Crotches were ripped out of brand new
too-tight pants. Balance was shaky due to rider's narrowing their stances.
Death cookies were pillow-dropped. Helmets weren't worn. Horseshoe will
definitely be the place to ride this year. Brody and Kea Mowat looked cute in
their matching but opposite outfits: black and red, red and black. Both were
ripping, making it easy to tell who spent time in Whistler over the off-season.
The crew in the old, muddy Tech Nine gear was riding hard. I think a few hockey
rink sessions were to blame. Smolik was the man in black. Trevor Harris wasn't.
Both looked handsome.
Break out the old gear...retro is in.
As far as terrain went,
the offerings were meager with one red mailbox receiving the brunt of the
crew's stoke. Luckily Pony Trail was one of the two runs open, a personal
favorite. With the cm's about to get stacked by this weekend, a full park
offering should be available by Friday. The Rome Premature Jibulation is set to
run on Sunday, so get up to Horseshoe over the next few days and warm up those
legs. The season started late, but the park will be taking shape very quickly
now.
Thanks to Matt Baird and the rest of the ‘Shoe crew
for catering to snowboarders this season. Get up to Horseshoe ASAP! Winter is
finally upon us.
Ontario photog Richard Roth sent over these shots from the secret Sunday session that went down even before the hill opened to the public:
Tyler Ashbee. Richard Roth photo.
Andrew Rusk. Richard Roth photo.
Andrew Skelhorn. Richard Roth photo.
Ruskasode Sunday session edit:
Powling Sunday session edit:
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Related:
Unexpected Turns with Andrew Skelhorn
Opening Day Ontario 08/09
Down With Horseshoe