The Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour jibbed up the U on Thursday afternoon as a slew of skiers and snowboarders attempted to traverse a man-made setup.
The setup included a down box, a kinked rail and a down rail. The box and down rail were set up along the edges of a structure with a 10-foot drop off each side. Pads were located under the drops, but that didn’t cushion every fall. The crowd witnessed more than one huge fall off the sides, but everyone walked away with nothing more than a few bruises.
“The rails were set up pretty well, not too sketchy,” said freshman John Ware, who took second in the male skiers division. “There was a good variety.”
Before the riders could hit the rails, though, they had to conquer the near 90-degree drop-in.
“The drop-in was sketchy and kind of hard to do,” freshman Dan Sylvain said.
Other participants agreed.
“It was a good setup, but it was hard to get used to the really sharp transition,” said Kristie Giles, a Westminster College student who took second for women skiers.
The competition was split into two heats. Male skiers and boarders made up the first heat. The second heat consisted of all female boarders and skiers, as well as the rest of male boarders who showed up to compete.
The heats were intense with lots of heavy tricks thrown down and plenty of cringe-inducing falls. Solid front-boards and tail-presses were common tricks among the competitors. Two skiers dual-jibbed a few times with one hitting the kink and the other hitting the box. It ended in a collision once. There was also plenty of fancy jibbing, including a back-lip to fakie, a 50-50 front 180 and a 270 on switch up, switch out.
The skiers and riders dominated the rails and had fun doing it. Most thought the campus was a great place for the jam.
“It’s way more laid back and it has such a good vibe,” said Erika Vikander, who took first for the women’s boarders. “When you compete at a resort, everyone’s so serious.”
The top three places in each division will advance to compete in the Rail Jam Championships in Oregon.
Regardless of the mud, steep drop-in and big falls, the rail jam was a success. The rails were sick, the competition was fierce, and plenty of free swag and prizes were handed out. After all, everyone knows that’s what really matters.