From the Rome desk:

After two years of waiting for an event we thought may never happen due to a certain global pandemic, the Sidehit Seance came to life. Last March, we assembled a heavy crew of Global Pros, Ams from across the country, and regional rippers to terrorize the inaugural Sidehit Seance at VT's very own Sugarbush Resort. With an amazing hand-built course courtesy of Snowboy Productions and Sugarbush Parks' crews, the vibes were heavy and the stoke was flowing.

Watch Stale Sandbech, Len Jorgensen, Ivika Jurgenson, Madison Blackley, and all your favorite Syndicate AM rippers rip the Sidehit Seance setup now! 

Special thanks to Snowboy Productions, Sugarbush Parks, and Monster Energy

Filmed by Chris DeJohn and Devin Bernard
Edited by Devin Bernard
                                                     
                                                                                      
                                   
ANDD A QUICK TAKE WITH THE CAPTAIN OF ALL THE CHAOS; MATT STILLMAN

Rome x Snowboy, insane connection! When’s the next one?
A wild connection indeed but definitely a natural one in the scheme of things. Snowboy has been putting on the premier events in snowboarding for so long but even that description doesn’t do Krush and the Snowboy team justice. This was the first go at the Sidehit Séance concept, we really couldn’t have had a better course build, crew of riders, or weather window. For the second iteration of the event, we are taking things on the road and heading to Waterville Valley to live free or die. WV has a long history of storied snowboard events and we’re looking forward to evolving this concept with a new location.

Whoolordy that’s a tough question for sure. The first person who comes to mind is our videographer, Devin Bernard. Shooting a Snowboy event is a daunting task, there is action coming at you constantly, always changing locations and with sessions popping-up without warning. Basically your head is on a swivel from the first drop till lot beers, then you’re logging and labeling clips till the wee hours of the morning. So suffice to say Dev maybe slept 6 hours all week? I honestly don’t think he changed his shirt either but he was grinning and getting everyone fired-up the whole time. 10/10 effort , stoke and final product Dev!

Riding wise, Len Jorgensen always brings the good vibes and non-stop-hike energy. Just seeing him flow around the course was a treat, oozing his buttery style through the transitions is a pretty much what the course was designed for. Having Len, Stale, Madison, Ivika and Ozzy there and riding with the an all-time crew of East Coast rippers was an awesome merging of worlds.

Casey Savage was also riding like a man on fire. As a southern VT local, this course just seemed to make too much sense to Casey. Effortlessly going sidewise through the various tree features and taking speed with reckless abandon. Just love to see the mans ripping around no gloves, flannel flapping, straight 90s vibes, gets the people hyped.

Give us the backstory - Who created the park? Who was involved?
The course/ park/ trail / sidehit garden/ transition emporium of vibes, was a collaborative effort of legend. Quick backstory, I reached out to Krush, I guess it was spring of 2019, just wanted to see what the possibilities of working with Snowboy might look like. I kind of gave the soft pitch of the idea of a trail full of embellished sidehits, truly not knowing if it was feasible or fully half baked. Krush instantly picked-up what I was putting down and I could hear his gears turning even of the phone.

Sugarbush Parks is right down the road from us and we’ve worked together on some smaller scale stuff in the past but to those paying attention, it’s clear the caliber of the program over there. Krush had worked with them for the Bush Projects a few seasons prior, so it was a no-brainer to reach out and connect those dots. Trevor and the Parks crew pitched it up the ladder and we were a go.

Smash cut to March 2020 where the world came to a screeching halt. So the Séance was put on ice, hibernating in our proverbial notebooks and budgets.
As the world returned to some semblance of normal, Krush, Trevor and I starting scheming again, locking-in dates and occasionally maniacally wringing hands like Mr. Burns.

In the fall of 2019, The Bush Parks crew had spent some time clearing brush and sort of preparing the side of the trail on the rider’s right side. So we had a slight frame work of one edge of the course so to speak. With that in mind, Krush sketched a few options and ideas, pulled a few choice jibs from the railyard and the game was a foot. Trevor, PJ, Tyler and CO from the Sugarbush Parks crew mused over the sketches, everyone chiming in as to what they thought would work and what needed adjusting.

So a typical Snowboy event and build is three full days. Those are long, long days, spent with a mixture of cat time to get the larger features in some form and then a heavy dose of hand raking ensues. The Bush Parks crew seemed fired up at the idea and fully got behind it, truly cannot thank that crew enough! This past season Krush was rolling with an epic three person team who meshed with the Parks crew like they’d been working together for years. I think ultimately the build was a collaborative effort that was equal parts Krush inspired transitions with the unique twist of natural features and embellished sidehits if you will.

Favorite “side hit” / feature?
Hmmm as the dusty TM here, I think my personal favorite feature was the bottom bowl. Just super fun to carve or use as a large transition element. But the volcano with the ‘Dot’ on top, seemed to the crew’s favorite as it had the most sessions go down and probably the most potential for freestyle freakery.

LAST question... can we come next time?
Pretty fired up to have locked in Waterville Valley, March 8th- 10th. The course will be open to the public that weekend the 11th and 12th so for real, anyone and everyone, come through! Let’s friggggin go.