SLIPPERY
WHEN WET
THRASHE
FREELA
STYLE
Clockwise From Left: Having discovered the newest, "coolest" skate
style around, Steve-O kicks back to take it all in. Toasty wahines on
an open grill-a Sierra specialty. The Rain Man pops up for some
sequentialized fender bendin' slider action. Midway through a man-
handler of a run, George Johnston snacks on a nose roll and some
cam snow chowder. When all that soft slippery stuff gets boring, hard-
core hounds like John Cardial seek the comforting contact of board-
on-bone-shattering-manmade object. Fully loaded with all the killer
goods, the Doctor prepares to perform pre-contest contructive surgery.
DAMN THE WEATHER
LET'S SKATE!
At the first skate/snow.
crossover clash of its kind,
the boys from Thrasher and
the California State Snow-
board Series took on
Murphy's Law and beat it,
wheels down.
Story by KT and Crew
Yes, against all odds, common
sense, Mom Nature and skiers, the se-
cond Annual Spring Shred (last year's
end-of-snow season California State
Snowboard Series blowout didn't have
a skate side) took place at Boreal ski
area in the Sierras. Through rain, sleet
and even snow, forty-odd pro and am
snowboarders and thirty-something pro
skaters delivered a high-energy show
despite the conditions. Of course, every
day for three weeks before the
brouhaha, the skies over the Tahoe/
Truckee/Donner Pass area were totally
clear and temperatures were so warm
the real concern was whether Boreal's
permanent snowpipe would hold up.
But all we had to do was mention those
four magic words, "let's have a con-
test," and the course of destiny was
changed forever. Or at least through the
weekend of April 7th and 8th.
Despite the ugly turn by the weather.
and the short notice in scheduling (this fest was hard on the heels of
the NSA Honolulu streetstyle battle the weekend before and many big
names were still lounging on the shores of Oahu while we were driving
into a freezing rain), most everyone in attendance agreed that it was a
fun scene with a low pressure atmosphere, limited security measures,
riotous good times, A-1 skating, snow, snowboarding, some very hearty
spectators, sleet, parties out of bounds, wide-eyed skier-types, helicopters,
rain, plenty of plywood and a wind chill factor that kept a cold Bud cold.
and chilled a freshly delivered pizza. As they say, when the going gets
tough, the tough get going. With that credo in mind there were many
acts of bravery and side events worth mentioning at the awards banquet
after the whole ordeal was over. ►
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