SLUSHBACKS
FEET
AT 10,000
If you were one of the frantic few
who spent last winter waxing your
stick instead of oilling your trucks you
probably stashed your snowboard
deep in the closet when Soda
Springs closed last April. But as you
hang out at the ramp hoping for early
winter snow, surf deviants are still
carving up the High Sierras at Lake
Tahoe.
Yes, snowboarding continues late
in the summer for hardcore riders
Keith Daly, Bruce Theale, Eugene
Trinidad, and others in Desolation
Wilderness. These high altitude surf
fanatics set up base camp at Lake
Aloha deep in the white granite ter-
ritory preying daily on the few re-
mainding alleys of shreddable snow.
Few, for sure, but definitely worth-
while vertical.
Hearing stories of high altitude
surf city from both snobby back-
packer-types and local snowboard
sympathizers Damian (white-head
wonderboy of the Sims World
Championships) Sanders, his bro,
Chris, and frenzied photog Lester
"Molester Robertson snagged a
couple of war-shocked boards,
loaded cameras, not enough
Weinhard Ale, and went looking for
this stranger-than-fiction camp.
Rumors trickled down the mountain-
side of 8000 ft. saloons stocked with
two cases of brew offering Tequila
slushes in between runs.
The search party knocked off the
first four miles of the journey by dol-
ing out three greenbacks for the
taxiboat ride to Upper Echo Lake.
Not even padded seats. Don't go
looking for any deals at Echo Lakes,
Keith Daly sez the mini-market
wouldn't even front him a $1.00 Bud
for his last three quarters after he
hoofed it from Lake Aloha. Little
Nazis.
After one and a half hours of
footin' it, well-marked trails led the
threesome to the base of 10,000 ft.
Pyramid Lake somewhere in the vi-
cinity of alleged snowboard camp. A
brief lookaround proved that surf city
either took a hike or relocated out of
sight. So, the search party, standing
at the foot of some of the only snow
left in the Sierras, decided to rack up
some vertical. Why not, the midday
top layer softens to near mid-season
conditions.
After two hours of shredding hairy
canyons and frantic fall lines it was
time to cruise homewards. They set
bearings for the nearest skarfstop at
the bottom of Horsetail Falls. Boards
on back, weak knees stumbled
down the valley in search of
Michelob and Doritos and a ride
back to Echo Lakes.
The next day Keith and Bruce
were found in front of Raley's Super-
market with snowboards for sale,
shredders tired of surfing hungry.
As of August 5 there is still plenty
of snow in Desolation Wilderness for
runs all summer. Grapevine sez
Mammoth Mountain shreds, too.
Don't miss cuz you thought snow-
boarding ends in April, hardcores go
twelve months.
-slash-
Damian Sanders grabs a slushy but sano backside
air and relaxes with bro Chris in between runs
A-TOWN UPDATE
I'm in the Air Force (or "Death
Force" as my friends back in Mis-
souri say) stationed at Andrews AFB
about 20 minutes away from the An-
nandale ramp. I'm originally from
Missouri where I skated the Metro
ramp. When I left all my friends
thought I'd never see a board
again-ha! I knew different as I
listed my preference of where I
wanted to be stationed at. Raking
through old Thrashers it wasn't hard
to find all the rippin' spots that I could
list. D.C. was second on my list and
if I had to do it again it would be
number one!
There are so many skaters here,
not just your average weekend war-
rior but real hardcore "balls to the
wall" skaters. I'll start with the heart
which is Micro, the real ramp master
and keeper without whom there
probably would be ho ramp due to
the shaky ground it rests on. Micro
just tears on the ramp ripping back-
side grinds the whole coping length
into a tail stall, precision aerial fail
stalls and burly frontside airs over
the 12 foot high side. He skates with
fire in his eyes, the kind of skater you
want to be friends with because you
know he'll never quit-skate to live,
live to skate. Then there's Scott
Lizama A.K.A. "Faction" and the
Faction crew which consists of
Bishop The Arch" and Henson.
When I first got there Faction had
only one move and was determined
Micro binating backside at A-Town.
to get better. Now he's blowing
minds with his outstretched
eggplants and nose-bombing Indys.
Bob Blair, when not in jail, just defies
all logic and common sense when
he acid drops off the high side and
ascends up the other side with his
ratty board and olles 4 feet past the
coping, then thinks about grabbing it
while his feet are in some goofy pos-
ition about a foot apart, making it
sketchy as hell. Not your typical all-
American image skafer. Then Puker
will do things that give you no reason
to ask him why they call him Puker.
He's so good but doesn't care, no
big egos or sponsorships for him,-
just his hippie music and greenless
ones. How he skates as bio as he
does to that mellow shit I'll never
know. No drug can alter John Ayers
skating, I guess that's what it takes
to be on the legendary Toke Team
though. I'll never know, skate
straight or die high is what I say.
Right now Ayers is living in Ocean
City. He's a cool guy who always
does well in contests cuz he's so
damn consistent. Dan Heyman
gives a good Indy air show and will
let you know how good you are skat-
ing whether you feel like hearing it or
not. We've got a new comer to the
scene who hangs out with Dan and
Wiggy and those two heckle poor
Shawn to do a front-side grind.
Shawn makes really good faces
when he skates! This one guy we
call 9 to 5 will come out after work in
his suit, changes into his Rector
pads then lets the beast within out of
him and flows the brewskies.
Well, that about covers the cream
of the crop of skaters. There are
many more hot ones that come
down every now and then from far
away, like Doug Mayer and crew
from PA and Josh Marlow and Tobin
from Ocean City. Pat Crotty rips in
the summertime when he's out of
college and does cool boner man-
euvers. Phil Burcher from Colorado
is here to stay because he digs the
scene so much! He's an excellent
smooth skater and so is Allen
Chaney. Bruce and Brady Bird,
when in town, rip the ramp heavily.
Pat Clark is always here for the
summer and enough has been said
about him before-he really sucks!
He wins all the contests and should
Well, that took up a good part of
my midnight (graveyard) shift here
at work where I babysit these radios
all night for Uncle Sam, whattascam.
I wanna end this by mentioning my
good friends in Missouri whom me
and Micro will make a visit to shortly
so they know I'm still alive and skat-
ing and they are: John Romney, Dan
Anderson, Danny Manestar, Glenn
Stallings, Danny Gibson, Tim Davis,
Chris Hartman, Matt Bramlette,
Dave and Brian, Ted Raine, and of
course, poor Sherman Brittingham
whose always had the worst luck
and is in the Navy now.
Special thanx to Mr. and Mrs. Jab-
lonski who have been through heavy
skater stress. From injuries to deal-
ing with cops and many other similar
unavoidable hassles. Please don't
destroy the ramp, Mr. J
A day not skated is a wasted day.
Visit DC if you get the chance.
Steve B.
SKAR
ARD
Sizzlin' Steve Bacon pushes skyward at Annandale
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