Gig Reviews

Snowsessions 05

Tue May 24 2005

Beachside city, Newcastle NSW had its first snowboarding experience when Snowsessions 05 was held just near Nobbys lighthouse throughout the afternoon of Saturday the 16th of April. Supported with a live music stage at the foot of the snowboarding action and attended by an all ages audience with free admission, this event is the catalyst for an Australasian railjam tour in the near future.

24 snowboarders from all across the state including two US riders convened upon Newcastle Harbour Foreshore to battle it out in two 12 rider heats with each group getting 20 minutes to impress Charles Beckinsale (out through injury) and Local rider Tomo who judged this jam format with the top 10 riders then to put the body on the line again, in a 20 Minute 10 rider final for the honours of being the 1st Newcastle Snowsessions winner.

The jam went down by riders dropping in from the back of a truck and sliding the Troy McNally designed 9m. long up/flat/up/flat box running down the hill. The metre drop from the 1st box sent riders into hyperspeed to hit the 3 sectioned flat box at the bottom of the hill before hiking it back to the top. Conditions for riding were tricky with some mid riding box maintenance slowly things down and snow that was melting fast. With support from a large local crowd who got very vocal with the prompts of Juice clothing giveaways and a solid music soundtrack the excited atmosphere helped riders put these difficulties aside.

Ryan Tiene kept up last seasons form and really looked unstoppable tweaking f/s boardslides on the upper rail and then really pressing the tail down hard on b/s lipslides on the lower box. Winning the 1st inaugural Snowsessions railjam title the 17 year old from Port Macquarie took home $400 cash from ESS boardstore after being a step above everyone all day. Former Coffs Harbour resident Mick Hay was looking like he had been playing mud footy but was stoked to be leaving with a 3CS wheelie board bag for 2nd place after putting his body on the line. Freddy Fawcetts comeback for 3rd place and Ryan Gardiners inventiveness filled the other two places. One of the highlights of the day was Laura Williams droping in from the top and stomping both top and bottom boxes in succession, a feat many of the boys struggled to do. Laura took home 1st for the Ladies with some Vinyl LPs from PDMS.com.au. Hounorable mentions also go to; Matt Clifford for his silky smooth f/s lipslides along the whole top rail, Tony Gambino USA for a front flip off the lower box, Jordan Burgess who was unlucky not to make the final after a cheeky method grab from the top rail and all the riders who travelled so far just on a roomer of a jam.


The music was part of the difference with Snowsessions 05, apart from the various amping tunes that pushed riders, a stage gazing upto the snowboarding went wild with performances that filled the 3 half hour intermission periods in the snowboarding format. Sydney hip hop team Bliss n Eso finished the afternoon well concluding earlier performances by local bands which included, rock trio Solver who show great promise and the hardcore/metal stylings of Coma Lies. It proved to be a great success by bringing free access not only to the snowboarding but to original and live Australian music.

Riders and organisers partied on later at the Queens Wharf Brewery to watch the premiere of the Shaun White DVD which blew minds like the bar tab blew bank accounts. With a successful 1st event under their belt organisers have begun preparations for next years event which is planned to be an evolution of what the strong crowd saw this year. Further corporate investment may see the dream eventuate of creating a Snowsessions railjam roadshow tour that would encompass a systemised event that can be recreated at capital city locations across Australasia to encourage the growth of the sport.

Many thank yous are in order to be given; Youthweek, Indent, Palais, ESS boardstore, Juice Clothing, PDMS record store, Hunter Ice Skating, Snowsessions Team, Coma Lies. Solver, Bliss n Eso. Troy Mc Nally(rails), YWAM crew, all the riders and the crowd.
Checkout www.snowsessions.cjb.net for more info, the future and pictures