Monster Boarderstyle, Fernie 2016
It was the best of times it was a blast of times. The Monster Energy Boarderstyle broke out of the Whistler bubble for the first time and landed in Fernie BC this weekend. It was the first stop of the new “Boarderstyle World Tour” - a tour that consists of only 3 stops that all take place in Canada, obviously.
The backspin on the event: Boarderstyle is a hybrid boardercross / slopestyle / obstacle course where four riders simultaneously run the gauntlet where a table-top awaits at the finish line. Judged full rotations are mandatory and landing better tricks then the rider in front of you will push you through to the next round or higher on the podium. Controlled chaos at its finest.
Fernie mountain hasn’t seen a proper jump in years let alone a freestyle race event with spines, gaps and pond skims. Not very surprising the local heroes took some time to figure out this event while being stacked against some heavy hitting tourists like Logan Short, Mark Tremblay, Charles Reid and Mark Sollors.
When the last drop gate fell the men’s podium saw Charels Reid stomp a backside rodeo to the flats in first. Followed by Mark Tremblay (who hammered the best time in qualifying) in second, a casual Mark Sollors in third and local champ, Jordan Howard, rounded out the top four. Jordan also wins a paid trip to the world championships in Whistler for his performance. Hell yeah.
It was a strong showing by the ladies - they showed up in numbers and threw down in their heats. But it wasn’t a contest for local Jamie Warner, she was light-years ahead of the pack in every race. Like a true champion she was the only lady to spin off the final kicker and celebrated the win by partying like a thirty-something teenager into the early hours of Sunday morn. Respect. Emily Park, Laurie Fichter and Lisa Kotry’s smashed through heats and followed her trail to the podium.
Monster Boarderstyle hits Stoneham Quebec on April 2nd and wraps in Whistler on April 16th. Get there if you can.
Photos: @RussellDalby