Vans Rides Park City - Stop Nine Recap

The Vans Hi-Standard Series took over the world-class terrain park at Park City, Utah last Saturday, February 27^th, against incredible scenery and a local showing that brought out some of the most creative airs of the series so far. When style is everything and the only rule is that you can’t spin more than a 720, you have to go deep into your back of tricks or learn new ones fast. The VHSTD series is truly unlike any other contest in the world.

“It was a pleasure to watch—kids were getting way more creative,” says Vans Pro Griffin Siebert, who along with teammates Merrick Joyce and Parker Szumowski, were running laps and helping give out some of the $2,500 in cash up for grabs in mostly $5-bills for the day’s many jam formats. With two different jump takeoffs— a 25 and 45-footer—it opened the door for progression and style for almost everyone.

“Instead of trying to spin more, they were trying crazy grabs with 180s and 360s,” adds Siebert. “It was really refreshing to watch kids doing different stuff than your average chuck fest of a big air. The environment was way more fun and less serious than a normal competition.”

Clearly having a ton of fun Saturday, in the morning’s big air jam session, Alex Lockwood’s sheer creativity earned him the coveted title of MVP, and Jordan Rehre took home the title of MVP30+.

Right after lunch, the wind picked up making it much easier to come up short on the jumps, so the day’s plan changed to plan B—bring the jam to the rail section: a flat box, a down-flat-down rail, and a down rail—and give out more money to the kids for getting creative. Soon after with organizers holding on to $500 to give out in the Van Doren Rail Best Trick, the best of the day had really yet to be seen. Here 15-and-Under Josh Faletti threw down a 50-50 to BS 180 on the kink rail, which impressed the judges and his peers so much he grabbed $200, but it was Pat Fava in the 16-and-Over Division who stepped up with a killer Hardway 270-Boardlide-to-270 Out on the same kink rail for the big payday of the event: $300.

The Worst Bail of the Day went to Jordan Drumilar, and the Most Improved Rider award went to Jade Thurgood for consistently pushing herself throughout the day.

And always, one of the best parts of any Vans Hi-Standard event, is the free House of Vans Art Workshop, giving everyone a chance to design their own pair of Vans Classic Slip-Ons with the help of an awesome local artist, Hannah Cirillo. For this Park City stop of the series, she was painting a giant Vans SK8-Hi as she helped out the super-engaged amateur artists with their own incredible works of wearable art. Participants Columba Gonzalez, Elizabeth Swaney and Nikoloj Valentiner, took top honors for their amazing designs. Valentiner was also lucky enough to win the drawing for Hannah Cirillo’s giant Sk8-Hi.

Supported by Transworld Snowboarding and King Snow, the 2016 Vans Hi-Standard series features international stops in the US, Canada, China, Korea and France, and over its entire tour will award over $60,000 in cash prizes, pushing riders to get as creative as possible with their style, without going over a 720.

The next stop of the Vans Hi-Standard Series is at Mt. Seymour on Saturday, March 12, 2016.

All competitors are encouraged to pre-register for their local stop of the 2016 Vans Hi-Standard Series, and online registration closes the Thursday before each event. For more info, click here.