Live (sort of) coverage of the Frozen Rail Jam.

Words by Doug Bishop, pictures from Mike La-Anyane.

I just got back from the qualification round of the Frozen Rail Jam. The course was tight, and had many options. It had more of the feeling of a skatepark than a slopestyle course. I loved the setup, everything packed into a small area, having so little time to think about what you're doing next. Your tricks have to be dialed in, and you gotta land everything.

The feeling in the air was what I expect from an event at Blue. Everybody knows each other, your buddies are standing at the sidelines cheering you on, and there's a positive vibe in the air. The competition was for a copious amount of prizing and the few spots available in the pro event happening later tonight. As of yet, the results of who will move on has not been decided, but we will keep you posted when the judges announce the winners. Sadly, due to a forgotten camera and a last-minute drive into collingwood, we didn't manage to get shots of the day event. Oops!

The night event is being set up as you read this. The spotlights, lighting rig, sound sysem are all being put into place, and the pre-qualified athletes are out warming up their game to throw down tonight. Here are some shots of how the night course is turning out:

The run will start up at the top, and the first feature is a mellow down-flat-down box. I'm sure we're going to get to see lots of spins and tech tricks to open the run.

Following that is the K2 single kink rail. It's big, scary and perfect for spins.

Event staff assemble the scaffolding towers that will hold the announcer, judges, and massive lighting rack that I saw at the bottom of the hill.

We're just waiting to hear from the judges to have results from the Day event, and get a roster of who moved on.

The judges have made their decisions!

AJ Delong, the only athlete to not forget the finals came in first!

Following that and filling out the roster of athletes for the night:

Mark Bradford

Darren Mooney

Sam Pedlow

Jamieson Irvine

6:00 marks the start of training, with the first rider dropping at 7:00.

Results are in!

The night comp was crazy. I managed to get eliminated in qualifiers after an absolutely pathetic display of skiing. Note to self: Party AFTER competition, not before...

After two runs of qualifying, the field was narrowed down to five male skiers, and two ladies competing in the finals. The finals were an hour jam, with skiers and snowboarders sharing the course. The level of riding was amazing. The riders started out with the safety tricks, getting their runs dialed in, but quickly moved to the big spins on the single kink. I've never seen so many 450's in one competition.

Tom Throws a buttery-smooth 270.

Taking the prize was Tom Dolozel, with the run of the evening consisting of a 450 on-270 out on the single kink. The speed was a little difficult, so most of the athletes were disastering the down-flat-down box to the end keeping the trick simple just to get the speed for the showtime kink rail. Tom walked away with the big plastic cheque for $250.

Mark Radford gaps to the last down

Coming in second was Mark Radford with smooth switch tricks on both rails. A smooth switch 270 on the downkink sealed the deal, sending him home with a new Nintendo Gamecube and a bunch of other stuff.

Third place went to Dave Pauls, throwing a plethora of tech tricks on both rails. Speed was a bit of a problem, as Dave went for the switch 270 disaster by 180ing the top rail.

For the girls, Denise Jaworsky went home with the cash cleaning all the rails with ease and making the gap to the down quite nicely.

Second place went to Alaina Lorimer who was close on Denise's heels all night. Taking a few hits, she managed to put together some solid runs.

Park staff Dan Kellar pulled changeups both frontside and blindside all night long.

This event was one of the best comps ever run at Blue Mountain. The crowd was really into it, cheering the riders on, and the talent of the Ontario locals was extremely high. The setup was great, the riders going off, the crowd energetic, and the party will be magnificent.

As I type this, the party rages on, so I end it now and head there.

 

Tom showing he's the king of the Blindside Changeup

Cory VanderPloeg and some of the other riders sit down and try to decide what video to use for Newschoolers.

***Watch the video!***

Here's a few more pics we just got from the day too!

Big shoutout to the boys at Mauiimedia for supplying us with all the footage.