Right: Crazy George Pappas
looks for a point of contact
upon execution of a well-
flapped invert. Far Right: A
clean frontside trajectory by
Lake Tahoe pilot Terry Kidwell.
MINI-INTERVIEWS
by Joel Gomez
Micki Fruh, 21, Zurich, Switz.
Did you skate before you started
snowboarding?
I skated first. I got my first
skateboard about 1977.
Do any skaters influence your
snowboarding?
(Laughing) Yeah, sure. If I get air,
I want to look like Christian Hosoi.
What are your favorite tricks or
terrain?
I like getting air.
What's the biggest rush for you
when you ride?
I like going really fast. The best
thing is when you go cliff jumping.
You can make really big airs. My big-
gest is about 10 meters.
Do you like music when you ride?
I like music in the half-pipe. I like
the Bad Brains, the Descendants
Any closing comments?
I think skating and snowboarding
in a half-pipe are very similar. It helps
you get good at snowboarding if
you're already a skater
Amy Howat, 16, Mt. Baker, OR
Skate before snowboarding?
No. I tried skateboarding last sum-
mer, but I haven't had the time to
really get into it.
Skater influences?
I don't watch skate competitions
much, but skateboarding definitely
influences other guys, like Craig Kel-
ly. I watch those guys, so indirectly
it does influence me.
Favorite tricks or terrain?
A combination of things. If you do
one trick too much you get bored with
at. I don't like lip tricks because I can't
do them well yet. I like aerials.
Terry Kidwell
Biggest rush?
A powder day up at Mount Baker
Going as hard as I can, run after run.
Music?
I don't listen to it when I ride, but
before I ride I usually listen to reg-
gae or something that makes me
happy and kind of mellow.
What's the gnarliest experience
you've had while snowboarding?
Fifteen minutes before a half-pipe
competition in Austria, I was walking
across this lake and I fell in. It was
freezing-I almost drowned.
Closing comments?
Mount Baker is the raddest place
on earth.
Shaun Palmer, 20, Lake Tahoe, CA
Skate before snowboarding?
Yeah, for about three years.
Skater influences?
Hosoi and Caballero, because
they're both so smooth. I like to look
like them in the pipe when possible.
Favorite tricks or terrain?
I like doing backside airs in the
pipe the most. Caballerials too.
Biggest rush?
Going fast or big air in the half.
Music?
I like the Cramps, the Damned, the
Dead Kennedys.
Amy Howat
Gnarliest snowboard experience?
With Keith Kimmel at Donner Ski
Ranch when I jumped off this big
wave and got all stiffy. I landed on my
back on this little stump and it knock-
ed the wind out of me. I almost died,
I think.
Closing comments?
I'd like to see more skaters get into
half-pipe riding because they'd like it.
Craig Kelly, 22, Mt. Vernon, WA
Skate before snowboarding?
Not much. I like it, but I never put
the time into learning it properly
Skater influences?
I don't really concentrate on copy-
ing certain riders, but skating in
general influences my riding. The
only person I really hang out with and
watch is Mike Ranquet. He's got a
huge ramp in Washington. I tried to
skate that a few times but I slamm
ed too much. It put me out for a
month one time, so I gave it up.
Favorite tricks or terrain?
If I mix it all up. I can do everything
every day and enjoy it.
Biggest rush?
The best situation I could be in
would be really deep, medium weight
Dan Donnelly
powder at Mount Baker, around
twenty degrees. If it's too light it
doesn't support your turns as much.
Riding the cornices and hips at
Mount Baker.
Music?
No. I can't ride with a Walkman.
Normally I hit whatever I want and
turn wherever I want, but the music
distracts me and makes me ride dif-
ferently. I like background music at
contests, but a Walkman is right in
your ear
Gnarliest snowboard experience?
Close calls when riding with
somebody right next to me; three
times in one day with Dan Dondely.
He cut underneath me while I was
going off these steps and I used his
head as one of the stops. Then, the
next run, he went off this jump and
crashed and I went off right after him.
I would have landed on him but I
bailed to the side. My board still hit
him and cut his ear open. Dan and
I play this demolition game and if one
person falls or gets stopped, he has
to walk all the way back, so we try
to knock each other down. On the
last run I hit this jump and went right
over his head. He tried to reach for
me, but I was so high he couldn't
even touch me.
Closing comments?
Treat snowboarding as a recrea-
tional experience. Go into it with an
open mind. Don't try to copy anybody
or develop a certain style. If you start
from scratch, you'll end up having
the best time, instead of trying to
force yourself into the situation.
(Continued on page 100)
Frank Messman
RECKEN
TDK
MEAL
γέρν
Kelly Jo Legaz
Craig Kelly
Shaun Palmer
Mickey Fruh
Keith Walface
Mike Ranquet
OK