StartFragmentIcer Air 2008 BlogI wasvery excited for this years Icer Air event. Media pass in hand, I was lookingforward to the evenings festivities (Something to keep my mind off a dwindling401k). As we were driving up from Santa Cruz, I was pumping up the event to myengineer bro "D" (An Icer newbie) about all the ripping camera angleswe will have access too! Connectingfrom 280 to 101, I kept telling him "Check it out...you should start tosee the ramp from here"...I nearly ran of the road squinting to locate theramp at the park???? WHAT THE F*@&!!!! Where the hell is it??? Well, theymust have move it...yeah, that’s it! Makes sense, start it in the stands overhome plate...less scaffolding, no direct sunlight on the ramp...That HAS to beit! Wecheck into our hotel, made sure camera batteries were charged and headed downto the pier for some over priced calamari. D & I talked over a few AnchorSteams about where we would like to setup in the morning, including capturingsome city shots for our annual 'CrackTube" Icer contribution! "Dude,its 9:00pm, lets head over to the Media Party". TheMedia Party was held at the Aquarium this year - great idea, something todistract you from the $8.00 beers! (I think I'm getting a money complex here).Tons of wannabies made the show and a couple of shredders but most of theAthletes were getting some well-needed rest. We ran into the crew from BNQT andasked (knowing they had already captured two days worth of footage) what thescene looked like? "Well, consider it Icer Light this year!" theevent was moved to McCovey Cove parking lot A and instead of a ramp; theybrought in a Euro Catapult! After picking our jaws off the floor, we decided tocall it a night! Loadingup on the morning hot brew and unloaded the previous nights calamari we decidedto head over to the park. Waiting in line (Still fuming about the $20.00parking, guess it is a money thing!), I couldn’t help but notice there was nostructure in sight (even over the 6' temporary crowd control fence). Moving throughthe maze of tables, we finally made it inside, D turn to me and said “Is thisit?” not saying a word we walk straight over to the jump area. Standingin front of the jump-site two things came to mind, “Sign of the times and whois going to risk their career on this thing?” Just then Sammy Carlson camestrolling up, I asked what he thought? ”Should be fun, I guess”. I asked SimonDumont the same” Not sure yet, we’ll see”. I then walked over to theever-positive Jon Olsson and asked if he would be jumping today and he said, “Iwish, looks like a lot of fun”. Jon is still on the mend with a banged upmeniscus and another heavy year of filming on the books. It wasalready noon, the gates were open, crowd filling in and the guys had yet tolaunch any practice runs…and there was an obvious lack of snow! What’s goingon? Accordingto an insider, this years financing fell through due to a personal relationshipsplit! Sounds a little spinned to me! (What happened Glen?) On topof that, the show had to deal with striking locals ? Union scaffold buildersbecause Icer brought in non-union ramp builders in from Sweden, can’t we justhave a show without some kind of drama! TheCatapult was at ground level, about 75’ in length, 6’ wide and a 15’ - 60degree vertical launch ramp to a right hip. Riders held onto a ¾” rope and hit0-60 in 2 seconds. Skiers straddled the pully system while boarders shot fromone side or the other. The brave test pilots reported back to the team, thiswould need further discussion before anymore effort was put into it. Ariders meeting was called at 1:00 to discuss whether or not they would moveforward with the program. Meanwhile, the 80 degree afternoon-sun was beatingdown on the snow, salt seeding seemed useless! It wasa little strange when golden boy, Jonny M. was on the ramp; in flip-flopsstealing snow from the edges, to fill in the bare patches in the middle of thelanding area…where the hell was the ground support? It wasdecided a free-for-all “Best Trick” would be the way to go, splitting the pursebetween skiers and boarders. All were winners! BMX& SKATE crew did their best on a smaller ramp version - I just kept havingflashbacks to Spinal Taps, Stonehenge scene! MetalMulisha still blows my mind, how do you move that much steel in mid-air, I would say THEY were the highlight ofthe show! Therewas an obvious lack of vendors and if felt like a disconnect in every sectionyou stopped at. Cool stuff from Go Pro Camera’s and Quad Pong beer pong tables,they had a very good stoke going on. Great to see the continue support from theUS & Canadian Resorts, very important to have them on board! TheAthletes, what can you say - it is such a treat to have these rippers in anenvironment that will stoke the newbie’s unable to see this kind of air inperson on the slopes. It’s so important to have these young ambassadors jack upthe kids on taking this sport to the next level. Thank you guys for riskingyour careers and lives for our entertainment. IcerAir is such a treasure for the NorCal area and we (the consumer) need to doeverything we can to help make sure this event continues on. This was just alittle speed bump, bad timing, sucky economy, and who knows…maybe the lastshow! Lets make sure we spread the word for next year’s event and go out andspend some money! OUT!EndFragment