Riders Rally . . . Because That's What We Do!

The group seemed pretty beaten afterwards, but K.C. Gandee--one of the three AASI Snowboard Team members leading the event--launched into a jump progression in the smallest park off Discovery Chair, and his near maniacal energy and exuberance for snowboarding did wonders for group morale. By lunchtime, we were all tweaking and boning out our tricks with big smiles on our faces.

The fact of the matter is that sometimes you have to rally together to find the good stuff. That's snowboarding, and that's what the Rider Rally is all about.

First held in 1999, the Rider Rally was the brainchild of then AASI Snowboard Team member Eric Sheckleton, who started it as a freestyle-focused event for members of the Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) Division. In 2000 the rally was opened up to all AASI divisions, with NRM at the helm until the event went "national" this year. Past rallies have taken place at Big Sky, Montana; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Mammoth Mountain, California; Breckenridge, Colorado; Snowbird, Utah; and Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Today, the Rider Rally gives participants the opportunity to explore new terrain alongside members of the AASI Snowboard Team, which this past spring included outgoing coach J. Randy Price and team members Chad Frost and K.C. Gandee.

"You get to come ride with the snowboard team at a mountain you don't know," said Phillip Howell, snowboard school director at Boston Mills-Brandywine Resort in Ohio, a mountain that has 240 vertical feet, 300 snowsports instructors, and sells 14,000 lessons weekly. "We have a large, educated ski school, but we have to go out to a big mountain to further our riding training." When asked what he thought of the first run, Howell replied with a smile, "It got everybody moving and thinking. It was fun."

Many of the folks who come to the Rider Rally return year after year, with some in attendance as long as eight and nine years. "Big Joe" Fucci, a former instructor at Stratton Mountain, Vermont, has attended all but one. The Rider Rally at Big Sky was one of his favorites; participants went cat riding followed by dinner with the cat operations crew in a yurt up on the mountain. The last time he was at Mammoth, the skies dropped three feet of snow.

But every year is different. This time, riders spent the first day and a half experimenting with techniques to handle the frozen, variable crud before a Tuesday afternoon hike to Lincoln Peak served up some steep, sun-warmed snow. Wednesday was a free day; a hardy few rode out a windstorm that rolled in and were rewarded with a couple inches of powder, while others spent the day golfing in nearby Bishop. Thursday morning the hunt was on for wind-blown powder, and by Thursday afternoon, the clouds gave way to sunshine that refused to quit, closing the week out with the slushy spring snow for which Mammoth is famous.

Among this year's 22 participants was a large and rowdy contingent from Bridger Bowl, Montana, in addition to quite a few Eastern Division members. Participants roamed the mountain in small groups exploring areas of interest to them.

"I've been practicing my freestyle," said Missy Cashman, a Level II instructor at Bridger Bowl, who works as a radio deejay when she's not snowboarding or teaching others to snowboard. "I came here to get more comfortable in the air. Now that I'm here, I'm stoked. It's only going to get better and better." Cashman also went to Mammoth to party, soon emerging as one of the ringleaders of Thursday's costumed on-hill antics, which included at least four snowboarding superheroes taking turns hitting the park and pipe while attempting not to get tangled in a long velvet cape.

Others, like Bridger Bowl Snowboard School Supervisor "Steve-O" Craig, used the opportunity to get ready for the 2008-2012 AASI National Team tryouts, which were held at Mammoth the following week.

"Traditionally the Rider Rally is really open," explained Gandee, who wore a thigh-length, neon green "Adventure Snow Club" parka cinched at the waist on Thursday. "It's one of the things that sets it apart from very structured clinics and exams."

When asked what he thinks makes the Rider Rally stand out, Eastern Division examiner and Hunter Mountain Vice President John Ianelli said, "I think the success of this event [has a lot to do with] always going to a different resort. "It's a good opportunity to ride a resort I've never been to." 

Alison Ford, director of snowboard training at Whitetail Resort, Pennsylvania, suggested that event organizers give the East Coast a try. "It's a different kind of riding in the East," she said. Another logical choice would be Bridger Bowl, Montana, considering it is home to one-third of this past year's participants.

Although I didn't hear of anyone having their face "decorated"--as illustrated in the print advertisement for the 2008 Rider Rally--there was definitely some lively and risqué banter from the NRM crowd, with a four-square tournament for free swag, a pizza party, and a night on the town counting among the highlights of the après-ride scene.

The Rider Rally is without a doubt an AASI event worth experiencing, but be forewarned. As Jan Lee, a former snowboard school supervisor at Idaho's Schweitzer Mountain, said, "Once you've attended one, you come back every year."