Monday, March 26

Solfest Big Air Demonstration Goes Off!

By Mike Jaquet
freezeonline.com

History has a funny way of repeating itself. Sun Valley and freestyle skiing were synonymous in the '70s and Exhibition was quite possibly the most famous ski run in the world, hosting on a daily basis some of the biggest names in the mogul skiing world. Under similar blue skies and less than 100 yards from Exhibition, Nick Mercon and C.R. Johnson put on a clinic like nobody here had seen since Wayne Wong was linking worm turns.

More than 2,000 people lined the slopes on Bald Mountain in Sun Valley, Idaho, yesterday for the Second Annual Solfest Big Air Demonstration. Like last year, this was the one opportunity that the Valley's local talent got to hit a jump this year as Sun Valley does not have a terrain park or halfpipe. But changing that situation was what the Demo was all about and C.R. and Nick made believers out of everybody. Throughout the day, both were stepping it up, with C.R. stomping a corked 1260 with a Lu Kang grab (first time anybody has seen that, including C.R.) and Nick going huge on his corked 900 and giant tweaked backflip mutes.

CR Johnson 900 Lu Kang

The local talent here is amazing and both the young jibbing skiers and local snowboarders blew everybody's minds. Local skiers Collin Collins and Brock Shue took advantage of their one chance to jump this season by stomping mute lincoln loops, lawn darts, and for Shue, a giant 1080. But the kid who blew everybody away was 12-year-old Ross Falcone, who must have hit the jump about 100 times, showing mad style every jump and stepping up from a mute 360 by adding new grabs and style each time. Considering all their ages and lack of jumps on the mountain, the potential for these kids to rock it in the future is limitless.

After the Demo, the party kicked off down at the bottom of the mountain with the band Sucker dominating the teen scene. Tons of free giveaways stoked the kids, who were instant believers at the end of the day. Later that night, the crew - which now consisted of Smith's Tag Kleiner, TGR's Steve Jones, locals Reggie, Zach, and Danielle Crist, The Jerk's brother and parents, and others - all threw down some serious grub at a local steakhouse. The party continued late in to the night and C.R., Nick, and The Jerk would like to thank the three southern ladies that hung out late for their time.

Nick Mercon D-Spin 1080

Smith Sport Optics flew Nick and C.R. into town from the Freeze Parkasaurus shoot that concluded Friday and everybody got their money's worth. While both could have easily let jet lag and no prize money get them down, both guys stepped up huge and put on a demo that was worthy of the heritage of this Valley and hopefully will be the main reason a park and pipe will be built next season. What happened at this Demo was amazing and a credit to the Ketchum/Sun Valley Chamber, Smith, Snowpark Technologies (who built the jump; Binnel you rule!), Freeze, and our hosts, The Sun Valley Company.

Personally witnessing history is rare (CNN doesn't count), but those who caught the Demo yesterday saw the most signifigant moment in skiing here since the '70s.

CR Johnson signs autographs for the kids.