Horseshoe Valley Resort played host to the Brad Martin Pipestyle over the weekend and although it was the Halfpipe Olympians name on the event, there was only one man walking around with "BOSS" written on the credential's band around his arm: Jesse Fulton.

Jeff Batchelor, "BOSS" and Brad Martin.

These two personalities, along with the dedicated crew at Horseshoe, pulled off quite the good times event, but due to Mother Nature's failure to put out, the ‘Pipestyle' didn't include actual parts of a halfpipe. The competitors were fine with that though. Who rides tranny anyway? That's for people who have to submit urine for drug tests after linking six double corks and then throwing their arms in the air for the judges. And people with rusty knees. The Horseshoe crew brought what the riders wanted: jumps, rails, and a unique hip/quarterpipe log jib feature where dreams were either made or shattered.

The day started in the Athlete's Lounge where the spread of snacks, video games, Internet access, energy drink gum, Marley headphones, all-you-could-drink Jones soda, and gyroboard decks set up like elevated skateboards that dished out more carnage than the course. Admittedly all these distractions made it hard to leave, but there was some serious action going down on the course to take in.

Once in the fresh air I cruised a couple laps with Brad Martin, who donned his patented ‘ketchup and mustard' jacket and pants combo from Ripzone, before his duties on the microphone called. He was hyped to be back in his homeland and check out the next generation of riders. I don't think he was expecting the Old Boys Club to be in the mix as well though.

Brad Martin tests the course for himself.

Ontario OG's like Morgan Parker, Jim Brace, Mike Osachuk, Adam Drover, and Andrew Skelhorn all ante'd up and threw down against the next pack of rippers like Harrison Gray, Taylor Watling, Brady Swartz, and Derek Livingston. It was great seeing different generations going head-to-head just for the love of snowboarding with their bros.

William Izzard.

Although I'm disappointed that Jesse himself didn't enter his own contest and throw down a double Fulton flip to flat, he did put a lot of hard work into making this event a success. The Boss, in his usual expletive filled but heartfelt words had this to say:

"This is the sh!t I'm talking about. This sh!t right here is fu@king snowboarding. Rekindling what we needed to, getting everybody stoked. Encouraging everyone else in the industry to dig deep and give back to the young riders."
- Jesse "the Boss" Fulton

Joel Dalacker.

Fellow Halfpipe Olympian Jeff Batchelor was in attendance, but just cruised laps all day and never entered the competition. Perhaps proving how high the level of talent the kids in Ontario possess these days? No one who competed on the world stage would want to risk losing to an unsponsored grom. A potential future Olympian, Derek Livingston, once again showed that he has one of the smoothest styles to grace the slopes as he took home the Jones Soda Best Style Award. As a prize Derek gets to pick his favorite flavor of soda and will receive cases of it with his face imprinted on the bottles label. Jones Soda will also take this new logo and throw it into the randomized run of labels to appear on actual bottles. That's even cooler than appearing on the back of a milk box carton.

Adam Drover.

With all the OG's on the hill they were rooting for each other, hoping one would step it up against the youngsters. On this day Adam Drover, wearing one of his custom leather jacket creations, answered the challenge and made us all proud. Proving his leather and gold bling isn't all show he rode hard and not only ended up on the podium, but also took home the House of Marley Trick of the Day Award with an insane Miller flip over the log jib obstacle, a feat that no one else would step to.

Harrison Gray.

It was close in the end, but no one could take out Burton/Nike's Harrison Gray. Fresh off a hectic early-season competition and filming schedule that has taken him around the world, it was his day to stomp and take first place over the well-rounded field of Pro Men.

"The contest was a lot of fun, a lot of the original Ontario guys were out so it was a good fun day of riding with a lot of guys I haven't seen in a few years. Horseshoe did a real good job on the course with the conditions they where given. Basically a good fun day of riding with the boys...haha!"
- Harrison Gray, $1200 dollars richer and about to buy a new G12 camera because it's a "pretty sweet little machine."

Amazing.

Once the winners had been paid their cash (down to 5th place) and picked up their prizes, it was time for more bottomless drinks from Jones Soda for the under-19'ers and Motts Clamato Caesars for the over-19'ers. Both groups earned every sip. Competitors also received New Era Blue Jays snap backs as that is Brad Martin's signature cap style.

Ontario event season is just getting warmed up. Mark these upcoming two contests on your calendar: the next event is the World Rookie Tour on February 25th at Horseshoe, followed by the Jones Snowboarding Championships at Mt. St. Louis Moonstone from March 1st - 4th.

Samm Denena.

When all was shredded and the Caesars were done, Brad Martin had this to say:

"I would like to thank everyone who made this contest happen, from 365 sports, AOS, to all the sponsors like Ripzone, I/S Eyewear, Jones Soda, House of Marley, Launch Gum, DaKine, Nitro, New Era, Motts, and anyone else who has helped make this event run smooth. It turned out to be a great day. We had about 100 competitors register. The winners took home $1200 cash each and we paid down to 5th place for both open men and women. It was great to see a bunch of familiar faces out riding, from friends I grew up riding with and looking up to, to the new faces that I've recently got the chance to meet. I hope the riders had a good time out there. Thanks all." 
- Brad Martin, contest namesake and two-time Canadian Halfpipe Olympian

All photos: Richard Roth/rothphoto.ca

(keep reading for full contest results)