The season is winding down and the rain is setting in here in the Northwest and we wanted to get the downhill skate community together for one last jam. With Halloween on the horizon, we took advantage of the holiday and planned the Boomtown 10: Halloween Hill Jam. The familiar location of Moon Mountain in Eugene, Oregon was once again the destination for riders who dared to brave the threatening weather in search of downhill slides. Earlier in the year, Boomtown 9: The Big Boom brought riders from across the west coast to the same location to skate a large assortment of ramps and rails in a snowboard style slopestyle and boarder-x competitions. Because of the weather and time of year, Boomtown 10 had no ramps and fewer participants but many sponsors and local riders still showed up to skate with friends from across the Northwest.
As expected, the morning of the event was cool, grey, and wet. Though the forecast was grim, many riders even showed up early to session the hill before registration. To encourage some holiday spirit, Tactics offered a $50 gift card to the best costume and a free raffle ticket was given out to anyone who dressed up. I dressed up as Luigi, though there was no Mario in sight and my helmet didn’t match my outfit, but you get the idea. Quite a few other well-known characters took to the streets including Superman and an Irishman who wasn’t afraid to let everyone see under his kilt. Carmen Shafer and Alicia Fillback won best costume with their Dragon/Knight in Shining Armor combined costume.
The official jam began at noon and riders gave the weather little regard as they charged the wet streets and pushed their boards sideways. Just as everyone was getting used to the slippery slopes, the sun came out and began to dry out the road. Dry patches popped up along the center of the street and flung riders off their boards as their wheels gripped up unexpectedly. I decided to take advantage of the occasion by offering up a fresh pack of grip tape to whoever could throw the longest slide on the dry pavement without losing their board. Dry roads and wet grip tape are a tricky combination, and the results were just as comical as expected.
With conditions getting sketchy, we checked the riders speed by holding a best trick contest while we waited for the remaining wet patches to dry up. Multiple slide combinations, kickflip variations, and silly dork tricks were landed in front of the judges before Anthony Clark took the win with an improvised 360 butt blunt slide.
Though we could see some threatening clouds on the horizon, the sun did its job and completely dried up the road. A free-for-all jam session took over once again and many riders took the opportunity to tuck full speed into the corners and drift them in tight packs. Others took a more creative approach and painted ‘thane lines down the course as they pushed out tasty tricks and slides on their way down.
The final competition of the day was a game of “kick the can”. In this variation of a longest slide contest, riders have to start a stand up slide before a designated line while keeping enough control to aim their board toward the can and knock it over. Each time the can is hit, it is pushed farther away from the slide line. When the time is up, whoever hit the can at the longest distance wins. As the competition began, the ominous clouds caught up with us to dumped rain and hail on the road. A few dedicated riders still flung themselves towards the cone and Jaden Chavez won with a distance of more than 60ft.
After the conclusion of “kick the can”, slide jam podiums were announced and the raffle begun. James Wetherell won the grom division, followed by Harrison Finney, Dylan Cornelius, and Martin DePass. In his first showing at a Boomtown event, Mike Bucknell wowed the riders with his old school street style and took first place in the open class. Regular Boomtown attendees Jaden Chavez, Jed Johnson, and Matt Clark placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively.
Thanks to all the sponsors: Tactics Boardshop, Gullwing Truck Co, Sector 9 Skateboards, RAD Wheels, G-Form, RDVX Grip, Caliber Truck Co, Volante Wheels, Blood Orange Grip, Rayne Longboards, Vicious Grip, Omen Longboards, DB Longboards, and Cloudride Wheels for stoking everyone out and making this event possible!
Words: Ross Druckrey
