Rollin’ on the River A new snowboard series bolsters Maine's competition BY SAM PFEIFLE

Skip Winter is at it again, this time with an endeavor perfectly suited to his last name. Winter, whose Fringe Marketing was behind the S3 Skateboard Series "Game On" reported on this summer, has now unveiled High Rollerz, a snowboard competition specifically geared toward a class of snowboarder who aspires to professional heights, but doesn’t necessarily get wrapped up in the head-to-head side of things. The first competitive event in the series will be December 13, at Sunday River, and two other events are scheduled for New Hampshire’s Ragged Mountain and Massachusetts’s Blue Hills. Those three are qualifiers for the finals, to be held at New Hampshire’s Waterville Valley, on March 6, 2004.

Winter has already rallied some interest by getting people out on the slopes for a meet-and-greet sort of thing November 8, at Tenney Mountain — you know, the place with the crazy fake snow they can make even when it’s warm?

Winter, a former pro skater himself, always seems to know what the guys and gals who actually skate and ride want. Trying to get the most fervent boarders out to an event? Well, hold it at the only place in New England that’s open for riding. If you’re jonesin’ for air, you’ll go to Tenney Mountain in November.

Plus, the organization of the series itself is exactly what the boarders are looking for. Instead of a half-pipe or snow-park or boardercross or slalom competition, High Rollerz will simply require participants to bust out one big air and then immediately hit one kinked and one flat rail. Then do it a second time.

"It’s way better," says snowboarder Alex Lund, who’s been riding competitively for about six years, and attended Carrabasset Valley Academy, a skiing and snowboarding school next to Sugarloaf. "It’s pretty much giving us what we want. There’s been a lot of complaining lately about icy pipes, kinks in the pipes. People don’t really like pipes as much as they used to. So jumps and rails are where it’s at."

Thus, Winter got 75 kids to show for the "pre-registration jam," and expects a full house of 100 competitors for the Sunday River inaugural competition. "I think it’s going to be pretty damn close," he says. "The guys for sure will fill up, and I’m hoping for great numbers in the women’s division."

Portland snow and ski shop Sunny Breeze, who are one of High Rollerz’s sponsors, will likely add at least one girl to the mix through their store-sponsored competitive snowboard team. Breeze owner Steve Everett says we "are always huge advocates of competitions. It just puts more exposure for the sport out there. And Skip Winter is extremely talented . . . I really respect him." Thus, his competition team, who all receive big discounts on equipment at the store, will be sending Ben Manheimer, Brad Hawthorne, Craig Bradbury, and Hannah Fuller to Sunday River next weekend.

"When you can get a buzz going on with a competition," says Everett, "especially this one, hitting a big air kicker and then some rails, a format that’s never been done before, I think that’s great."

Of course, competitive snowboarding is nothing new, especially in Maine and New England — heck, it’s a friggin’ Olympic sport. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Sunny Breeze also helps sponsor the Maine Mountain Series, which opens up with a half-pipe event January 3, 2004, at Sugarloaf. Maine Mountain contains 17 events in all, moving to Shawnee Peak, Lost Valley, the River, even Big Rock (at four hours plus from Portland, you may want to skip that one if you live within this paper’s distribution area). The events are all sanctioned by the United States of America Snowboard Association, who have governance over 35 regional snowboard series throughout the country, and winning enough points in the series can qualify you for the USASA National Championships. (Ironically, USASA just added freestyle skiing to their list of sanctioned competitions — go figure.)

But that’s only for amateurs. One of the other novel aspects to High Rollerz is that amateurs will be competing right alongside professionals, and a cash prize is being offered to the winners. Winter has set up deals with both USASA and the US Open (the big pro event of the season), so that point-leaders in the High Rollerz series will get a wild card to the USASA Nationals (should they be amateurs) and qualify for the Open if they’re pros.

Lund likes that just fine. "It’s a cash purse" for the top three finishers at each qualifying event, he emphasizes about High Rollerz.

What do you get at the Maine Mountain Series?

"Just a medal and some points that no one really cares about."

Come on, you want to beat the other guy, right, get more points?

"I think I get a little upset when I don’t do well," Lund admits. "But it’s only with me for about an hour or so. Most people are out there just to have a good time."

So why compete?

"Competitions are cool cuz you get to see all your buddies, guys you don’t get to see all the time."

That’s something that has attracted Everett to the competitions, too. "The idea is just to go out and have a lot of fun," he says. "Even though it’s a competition, a lot of kids actually root for each other, which I think is a great trend."

That does sound like a great trend, and a great time. For High Rollerz, though, you’ll have to sign up fast if you want to get in on the fun. Spots are filling up quick.

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at spfeifle@phx.com

For more on High Rollerz, check www.highrollerzsnowboarding.com