The Slug Games Night Riders 2011

The 11th Annual Slug Games took place at Park City Mountain Resort on January 8th, 2011. After a solid morning of snowboarding, I was pretty anxious to get the contest started. Around 4p.m. the registration had closed and they let everyone practice on the course. Due to the massive amounts of competitors, and the long hike back up the course, most riders only got 1 or 2 practice runs. I opted to take the lift up the first time, and got two runs in before the contest.
The course PCMR and Slug Magazine built was definitely a step up from most rail jams that I have done. It consisted of two different sections with some very unique features. Only pictures can do it justice. With about an hour to kill before the girls division, I rode pick and shovel park under the lights! Night riding at park city is incredibly fun right now, and they now have the park lit up too!

When the girls division finally started around 5:30, I was tired. Just thinking about the tedious walk up the course was exhausting, and I hadn't even stared yet! Fortunately, I had a couple of friends competing who were keeping me lively. We jammed for about 30 minutes, and I wasn't feeling quite right. But, it was fun to see a lot of other girls competing and having a good time, so I put my game face on, and tried to step up.
When they announced the finalists, I was thrilled to hear my number, regardless of the fact I had no energy. The finals lasted for about half an hour, and people were really getting after it. I kept catching on the features and I wasn't sure why, but I got a couple of good tricks down, and was happy to hear the 5 minute countdown. With five minutes to spare, I hiked all the way to the top of the drop-in, and pointed it to the side of the jump by the gondola's. I did a huge method grab, into a 270 on the box, and almost fell, but I shook it off and awaited the awards.
When I looked at the base of my snowboard while waiting, I realized I had completely blown out an edge, and had a piece of my base about 3 inches long dragging along the bottom of my board. That explained a lot. I ended up in 3rd place, and was pretty pleased with that considering my board was totally sketchy to be riding the whole night!
Thanks to PCMR and Slug Magazine for putting on a great event!