The (Inaugural?) Bomb Hole Beatdown
Loon Mountain, Lincoln, NH
With my core temperature and brain function back on track, it’s pleasant to reflect on how the Bomb Hole and Loon Mountain united the snowboard community amidst one of the coldest days this season.
There’s something to be said about an old-fashioned East Coast rail jam, and how they’re destined to deliver. For a while it was commonplace, seeing childhood heroes and friends duel it out, competing not so much against each other, but for laughs and heroic glory. However, there’s been a bit of a lull over the last decade—it was time for a change. While chatting a few weeks back, I could sense Chris [Grenier] was looking to fuel the East Coast community, bringing a spark back to his cherished roots. Also, it’s not often you see the likes of Grenier, Big Mike, Ted Lavoie, Vedo, and Ryan Stephany—those who set the standard for my generation—all in one place.
Most folks might think that the canyon up to Brighton is the only place you’ll find the red snake, but they haven’t tried getting into Lincoln on the first day after the pass blackout. Bobby Orsini and I awoke to multiple accounts of disdain, but once he got a firm stretch in we linked with Ian Dreher and Tyler L’Heureux to hit the registration room. After rapping out regarding side bets, finding Tyler a pass, a few icy laps, and a beer run; we ventured towards the zone.
Grenier and Joey B got the crowd hyped, while Vans handed out waffles. For a rail jam, there was no shortage of inverted moves (1, 2, 3 ,4), with multiple folks taking it upside down on and off of the steel.
Notable highlights included, but were not limited to:
— Maggie Leon and Kiara Murphy putting a hurting on the set up, mixing both technical prowess and finesse while connecting the dots on transfers
— Mike Rav bobbed and weaved while sporting a surprisingly effective peacoat
— Parker Zoom’s precision
— Sam Klein cold-plunging his way, gloveless, into second place
— Jake Gaudette with what appeared to be a 1000% batting average on the field
— Me, narrowly escaping death when colliding with Rav mid-rail, (if someone has the clip please share)
— Zeb taking no prisoners with cross court gaps and heavy impact.
— All the flips people did because, well, who doesn’t like to see someone risk it all?
— Rob Breau, full Canadian tuxedo, ripping hard boots on a carveboard to gap the hubba
Now I won’t lie, because I have such a dogshit phone, and frozen fingers, I only grabbed some lifey’s of the characters in my midst. Still, there was no shortage of favorable folk and supreme boarding. With Portable Window—Mike Rav, Mikey LeBlanc and Harry Hagan’s band blowing out the Bunyan, it was an epic conclusion to the Bomb Hole Beatdown.
Major shoutout to Grenier, Loon, and everyone who came out of the woodwork for such a fun day. Maybe we can make it happen again next year?
A Closer Look Into The Event Through the Lens of Randy Spitzer and Cole St. Martin
