Red Bull Slide, Auckland, July 2003
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The Red Bull Slide
competition jam took place the week after
I left Auckland having stayed there for
two months and been itchin to dent the
rails of my new option sansalone the whole
time. Had I still been there that weekend,
I would no doubt have turned up with said
board, wifebeater vest, "smoothed"
the metal edges off nicely by rubbing
them back and forth on some concrete steps,
and no doubt I would have also been in
with a chance to win the $5000 prize purse,
which would have more than paid off the
$2000 I paid for my flight to NZ in the
first place. But alas, I flew home, broke,
with (still) brand new and shamefully
tidy edges on my snowboard.
Oh, and I have the knowledge that the
guy who won that $5000 won it with a trick
I was doing two seasons ago, fuck it.
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Chancery Lane, Auckland
Over 80 tonnes of crushed ice had been trucked
into central Auckland in the early hours of
Saturday morning transforming the urban jungle
into a man-made snow rail course.
The course ran for 70 metres with competitors
riding two different rails, a rectangular 7m
long tube steel bar and a 10m plywood curved
ledge with a steel top, to show of their jibbing
skills. Adding flavour to the course, organisers
had placed a car as the ramp on to the second
rail.
An awesome line up of snowboarders and skiers
showed up on the day including 19 year old Travis
Kennedy from the States and local A listers
Tim Jackways, Roland Morley Brown, Steve Ferguson
and Josh Clarke.
The day kicked off with a two hour practice
jam allowing competitors to trial the course.
Many were challenged by the second rail having
never jibbed a car before. Competitors were
then split into four divisions with the top
four from each division going through to the
semi-finals. With a price purse of $10,000 up
for grabs the competition was stiff.
The finals were held under flood lights with
the live sounds of DJ Logikal in the background.
The pace picked up as competitors dug deep for
tricks and technical skill.
Jeremy Thornes from Nelson took first place
with a frontside 270 boardslide on the first
rail and a switch frontside boardslide on the
second. He walked away with a cash prize of
$5000.
“It’s unbelievable.
This is my first win and I didn’t expect
it at all,” said an overwhelmed Thornes.
Results
1st prize - $5,000
Jeremy Thornes - Nelson
2nd prize - $3,000
Brad Prosser – Wellington
3rd price - $2,000
Travis Kennedy – California (USA)
    
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