Could there be a better day job than traveling the world skiing and snowboarding epic lines with your best buds? Maybe. But I can’t think of one. When a $15,000 paycheck depends on you landing a perfect switch 1080 mute grab or a signature kangaroo double back flip, the pressure mounts, but the snowboarders and skiers competing at this year’s Esurance ICER AIR competition were all high fives and smiles.
In 2005, San Francisco’s infamous Fillmore Street hosted a 100-foot jump that 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist Jonny Moseley dreamt up; two years later on Saturday November 3, 2007, his vision of snow slathered all over iconic landmarks in San Francisco has collected serious hype and tremendous turnout. The jump, placed in AT&T Park, stretches from the top of the scoreboard to second base. This year’s second-place skier Simon Dumont summed up the vibe permeating the air, ‘I was never looking to be a pro skier when I was skiing at Sunday River [east coast], but I couldn’t ask for a better day job. I get paid to do what I love and to hang out with my best friends all day.’
Just because those riding snow planks will take precedence in this particular article given the time of year and the locale of Moonshine Ink, let it be known that ICER AIR offered more than one ski jump. There was wake boarding on the Bay, a motocross park competition, BMX and skateboard vert, plus a closing soundtrack on Sunday afternoon provided by hip-hop icons Mos Def and Talib Kweli. It was an extreme combination of extreme sports for a two-day event to give city-crawlers a taste of this adrenaline-packed outdoors life.
All the snow-sports athletes were supportive of one another as they made their way down the sticky jump set up in the middle of AT&T Park. Everyone sat along the railing of the landing and watched with the rest of the 32,000 in attendance as their comrades contorted, twisted and flipped their bodies through the air.
Before Jonny Moseley, host and founder of ICERAIR, hit the jump for his second run of the evening, I had a chance to ask him what he thought about this year’s turnout and the progression of skiing. ‘Everything this year is low-stress. I am stoked to come back and see the crowd grow every year. Kids like Sammy Carlson, T.J. Schiller are exciting to watch and Jon [pronounced Yoon] Olsson’s kangaroo double back flip is incredible.’ The new schoolers can throw down crazy stunts, but the iron cross back-scratcher that Jonny threw down on his first run brought back some old-school flavor.
The mood of the Tahoe locals in attendance was still somber in light of a recent loss of a dear friend and fellow rider. Fallen comrade Charles ‘Coogan’ Kelly, a Truckee snowboarder, died from a gunshot wound over Halloween weekend, and some Tahoe competitors put him forefront on their minds and in their hearts. Snowboarder Chaz Guldemond, who closed the snowboard prelims in first place, wore a white hoodie with ‘REMEMBER COOGAN KELLY’ on his sleeves. After qualifying for the snowboard finals in first place, Chaz reflected for a moment on the recent passing of his dear friend, ‘It’s not just the win that’s for him, it’s all for him.’
Other locals representing the Tahoe scene were snowboarder Andy Finch who didn’t qualify for the finals but wowed the crowd nonetheless. Sean Field, a skier calling Tahoe home, was catching mad air; he didn’t come out with the grand prize of $15,000, but held his own and closed the night with a final score of 62 and a paycheck of $3,500, beating last year’s champ T.J. Schiller for the sixth spot.
Simon Dumont, the east coaster, ended the skiing prelims on top so he was able to hit the jump in the finals after everyone else. But on his second run, Swedish skiing heartthrob, Jon Olsson took first with a score of 95. Even though they were each other’s top competition, Simon and Jon were chilling out and chatting to hungry reporters at the bottom. On his final run, Jon nailed his double kangaroo back flip, so the pressure for Simon to go big or basically go home was thick. Simon did go big but came up short on his 1260 attempt, which secured the win for Jon. ‘Winning is more important than money,’ Jon said.
The boarders were equally exciting. Chaz threw down the switch 720 inverted corkscrew on his second run earning him the top spot going into the finals, but when Travis Rice busted out a double back flip double-rodeo 1080, the sticky conditions weren’t the only obstacles the riders faced.
‘It’s euphoric and I don’t think it’s ever been done in competition,’ Travis said.
Travis defended his 2006 Esurance ICER AIR title with a near-perfect double cork 10 on his third run and won the $15,000 prize by 12 points. Tim Humphreys came in second with his half-nine-nose grab to win $7,500 with a score of 83. For a complete list of standings, icerair.com.
