Wednesday, April 4

C.R. Johnson Slides 70-Foot-Long Bridge

By The Jerk
freezeonline.com

A day after C.R. Johnson stuck his first ever corked 1260 at the Sun Valley Solfest, we rallied down a muddy road to a secret bridge slide north of Warm Springs. Local ripper Zach Crist had spotted the bridge months before while mountain biking and new that it was something he wanted to see someone try.

One of the really cool things about rail slides is the set up and anticipation of the first attempt. Normally, even if there is only one person willing to try the rail, everyone helps get things ready. Steve Jones and Greg Epstein of Teton Gravity Research went up with Zach's sister Danielle and started the process of building the runway and ramp up to the rail. When Tag Kleiner, Mike Jaquet, Nick Mercon, C.R. Johnson and I arrived at the scene, the road had already been filled in with snow and the runway was nearly packed.

C.R. grabbed his skis and went to check out the rail with one ski to make sure that there were no spots that would snag him and cause a ten-foot fall into the creek below. He found one spot that we filed down and then, after I packed the in-run and we waxed the rail, C.R. was ready to give it a try.

His first attempt was a quick one just to get the feel of the rail. Unfortunately, he got tangled up on the railing and banged himself up a bit. That certainly wasn't enough to stop him and he went right back up to try again, this time making it halfway across the bridge. His third attempt was the impressive one as he slid about 50 feet across the creek and onto the other side. As his confidence grew, he knew that he needed more speed to make it all the way across the bridge and on his final try he came into the hit with a lot of speed. About 45 feet into the rail, his arms began to wave, throwing him off balance and off the rail.

Luckily, he made it across the creek but crushed his knee on a large boulder on the other bank of the creek. That was enough to end C.R.'s day. He was a bit banged up with some bloody hands and a hurt knee but believe me, he left with some great footage and some impressed fans.