After the gauntlet at last year’s Mike Baker Banked Slalom, it seemed unlikely a quaint, family-owned resort like Ragged Mountain would let a bunch of NHD’s come back for more. But despite the ice chunk tossing and beer spitting of the past, on March 14, 2014 pretty much everyone who’s ever considered themselves a snowboarder in NH gathered to race down the hill once again.
Unfortunately, Ragged was just out of the trajectory of the storm that dumped two feet of snow on parts of New England a day earlier, but that’s no reason to let a layer of ice covered with a little bit of snow ruin the fun. Jamie and the crew stepped up the course from last year, adding a few extra turns and one roller that was immediately followed by a tight (and firm) quick right and a left. This section of the course caused most people to come to a stop, but those with the sharpest edges and strongest legs were able to negotiate it with ease.
The hefty crowd lined up for a solid 3 hours while everyone took their turns at racing. In addition to the locals and super locals, Lib Tech also brought in some heads such as Jesse Burtner, Brandon Reis, Max and Gus Warbington and Sam Hulbert. Mike Rav was there, as was Sean Genovese and even Preston Strout of Crab Grab fame made it out. But as soon as Ross Powers rounded the first two banks of his run, it was pretty clear that it was a race for second. In everyone else’s defense, he has an Olympic gold medal. He made it down the icy turns in a speedy 44.9 seconds. Dude goes fast.
As with any good Banked Slalom there were a number of side bets. Tanner McCarty won the honor of slapping Sam Hulbert across the face with a wet sock for besting his time and Eric Kovall is out $100 after Nelson Wormstead beat him by .4 of a second. And as tradition states, Ethan Norton will soon be the proud owner of an NHD tattoo for getting last place.
Really, this event was just the start of an action packed weekend on the East Coast. This weekend also boasts the Near Canada Open at Sunday River, the Slash and Berm Banked Slalom at Killington, Back to the Boneyard at Waterville and to cap it all off, Last Call at Loon. So if you’re on the east coast, get your lazy ass to one of these events and if not, stay tuned for coverage all weekend long. For Full Results Click Here