Cold
Shap
Clockwise from left: Cory drops one on Donner Summit, startling the
motorists on Tahoe's scenic 1-80. Mammoth's Gorilla Gap gets gaffled by an
X-large late season Alley-oop. Photos by Sedway. The Florin/Perkins banks in
Sac was victimized in '91 by this vintage slappy. Photo by Luke Ogden.
C
OR
When was the first time you
noticed the rolling thunder?
I was hanging in a break-
dance circle at this school in the
East Bay, and I saw these guys
Moe, Jeff, Jason, and Alonzo
skate up, pushing a store dis-
play on their boards. It was from
Alpha Beta, and it had this little
tranny with a deck like a perfect
mini quarter-pipe. I bailed the
breaking circle, watched them
and borrowed their boards a
couple times.
And that was your first intro-
duction to transition?
No, my intro to tranny was
back in Alameda. When I was
about seven or eight years old,
we used to go to the Alameda
AHTO ONG
Skatepark and slide into the
bowls on cardboard on our
asses. I also saw my sister
slam going up a curb cut on her
banana board. She broke her
arm and got beat. So, I guess
that's my intro to the beauty of
slamming.
How about the snow scene?
When I was twelve, these
friends of mine were in the Boy
Scouts, and they told me they
were going on a trip to Tahoe,
and I wanted to go, so I joined a
week before the trip. I went up,
went sledding, hit a tree, and
broke my arm-full ghetto kid
sliding around in the snow.
I meant snowboarding.
It was cool. You get stoked
when you're a kid and you
break something. I thought I
was tough. As far as snow-
boarding, I was down in Long
Beach at a trade show, and my
ride home had to judge a Cal
Series contest at Mt Baldy, so I
went there with Bostick and
Steve O. It was dumping, and I
had to borrow all their clothes
and boots and shit and just
cruised up to check the con-
test. I borrowed this guy Devin
Ryers' board, pointed it at this
kicker, and did like a nollie
front-flip and got beat. It proba-
bly looked hella funny, but fuck
it, it was fun and didn't hurt or
anything. So, I went home all
stoked on it.
What about it appeals to
you nowadays?
Riding big mountains, doing
steep lines, learning edge con-
trol-everything about it, really.
Ask anyone. It is so addictive.
Tell me who some of your
early heroes were like whose
pictures were on your walls
while you were growing up.
Everyone that sported the
big boy style: Blonder ospecial-
ly, Schroeder, Lopes, Losi, JJ
Rogers, and Kele Rosecrans.
And nowadays?
Well, there are no pictures on
my wall now, but some people!
have much respect for would
be Wade Speyer, Julien
Stranger, John Cardiel, Tim
Brauch, Dan Drehobl, and Chris
Senn, because they always find
the lines. Oh, and obviously the
Gonz. They all see stuff on a
different level.
Who rocks the slopes?
Same deal, people who do
different shit, not just the same
old rodeo flip crap. People like
Tex, Jaime, Jason Morvay..
Noah Salasnek, AV, and Peter
and Terje, because they have
edge control beyond anyone's
comprehension. I'd like to say
Peter Hewitt did rodeo flips before anyone.
Where do you ride at?
Mostly Squaw or Boreal, anywhere in
Tahoe that's got shit going. But basically I like
anywhere on the West Coast. Maritime
Snowpack is where it's at.
Is there any-
one you'd like
to thank?
My mom and dad,
SESSIONS
obviously, and my brother
and sisters as well. Also
Sedway, KT, BK, Dom,
Luke, Brett S, Bob D at Santa Cruz
Snowboards, Shane, Shannon
and TC at Black Flys, Joel,
Cindy and Scotty at Sessions,
and Joey and Keith, the Fish
Paw guys. Hello to all the
good ol' boys, Toll, Squid,
The Turk, Ward, Rocker,
Big B Griz, Wester,
Weasel, Corina B, Hauser
S, Jimbo Riza, Moran, The
Rock, Cole, Antho,
Shrewgy, Pettit, Bancroft,
Tony Alva, and anybody
I've shared the good times
with. AVOK lives forever.
Troy Clower, keep on rockin'
in the afterworld.
-Matt Kennedy
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