TURNING MAN 2022 | SALMO, BC
After a 2-year event hiatus, it was time to bring the Kootenay snowboard community back together for some good old-fashioned grassroots fun. With the blessing of Turning Man founder and host Danny Davis, the Tribute Boardshop crew resurrected the event. Originally an invite-only session at Baldface Lodge featuring some of the world's best boarders, we brought it down to the valley peoples of Salmo, BC. The Salmo ski hill is volunteer-run since the 1950's. A national treasure and a place that locals hold dear, Salmo was a natural fit for the next chapter of Turning Man. With 33$ lift tickets, 7$ burger and fries, night skiing, and the self-proclaimed longest T-Bar in Canada. A legendary group of shop staff, team riders, volunteers, reps and local artisans was assembled within weeks to bring the course to life and get everybody back together again. Led by former Olympian and current National Snowboard Team coach Mark Fawcett, it was clear this would be one of the funnest banked slalom courses ever. Online registration for the 80 available spots sold out in 3 minutes, with another 85 ending up on the waitlist. The hype was real ! By sheer manifestation, a handful of super-pros were in town for Natural Selection and came out to support grassroots snowboarding. What a day it was!
Words by Zach Aller / @zach_aller
Video by Alex Bocajj / @cillematography
Full results are available here: https://turningman.ca/results/
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Nyle Mulkey Chose Bluebird Day Foundation (nmcbluebird.org) and Salmo Ski Hill. #SendItForNyle
In the end, only the G.O.A.T. himself Travis Rice (yes, you read that right) and Gabe Ferguson broke the 40-second barrier, earning 1st and 2nd place in the Men's Pro category. With big bro Ben Ferguson finishing 3rd just a few milliseconds behind.
On the women's Pro side, France's fastest Marion Haerty who finished on top with Hannah Beaman in close second, followed by Robin Van Gyn in 3rd. Tribute's own Mark Morrison was crowned winner of the Men's Open category, closely followed by Charles Pratte, another fast frenchy and Burton ripper. Zach Aller claimed bronze, just .08 seconds behind his protégé (we knew that day would come). A podium for the books!
Sacha Jones got the top spot on the Women's Open side, followed closely by Baldface's own Estelle Pensiero and local shredder Veronique Desrosiers. The 40+ Masters category had a serious lineup of rippers, but in the end it was the master of masters, the unf*ckwithable Mark Fawcett that would hold the fastest time (no big surprise there) followed by local rattle-cat Scott Reynolds and Thomas Rodrigue.
Special thank you's go out to Shane Johnsen and Mark Fawcett for making this happen. Jason Davies and his team at ITS consulting for the back-end logistics and web development, Teddi and Mac Whillans for graphic and course design. All the homies who contributed in one way or another, and of course Margaret and Wally from Salmo Ski Hill, who have voluntarily poured their heart and soul into keeping this gem going for over 40 years. Turning Man goes down as one of Canada's most memorable banked slalom events and we can't wait for the 2023 edition.