The 4th installment of the Icer Air went down in San Francisco, CA at McCovey Cove. The last 2 years the event has taken place in the AT&T ballpark where juiced up Barry Bonds has blasted out many home runs. The event seems to have been blasted out of the park as well, since this year the event was held in the parking lot adjacent to AT&T park. Are the effects of a lack luster economy rearing it's ugly head to action sports events? Or has the event been diminished by last years poor turnout? I'm sure there are many factors, but one thing is for sure, the event did not live up to its billing.
I drove into SF early Sat morning looking for the venue with grand expectations from the setup of two years previous. Unexpectedly, I was amazed to see that the venue shrunk considerably as I searched for the snow jump feature. After collecting my credentials & rounding up my camera gear, I proceeded into the event and saw a horrifying sight. This years feature was a hip with an aircraft carrier style catapult that would launch the riders into the SF skyline....that looked safe!
The scaffolding was built up with a ramp on the east end with a plywood landing to the north. One major component was missing upon my arrival....snow! Were event organizers serious?
Some athletes were walking around geared up ready to go, others still in street clothes wondering if this thing was even going to happen. There was no more than a racing stripe of a landing! I've seen porn stars with more pubic coverage than that!

There were lots of skeptics including PortersTahoe.com team riders Chas Guldemond & Brandon Cocard. Chas was looking a little confused with a "are you serious?" expression was plastered on his face. Brandon Cocard looked at me as well with a laugh and said "this is it dude!" Truly an amazing site to see.
None the less, event organizers and staff continued to press on and make the event happen. Staff started shoveling snow down from the top of the landing down into the landing where asphalt was present. They spread out the snow where they felt it was needed and once they got it to a point where they thought they had enough coverage, they sent a couple guinea pigs. Everyone was curious to see if this catapult was going to work and all watched in eager curiosity. Like a Top Gun fantasy, the catapult launched a skier into flight on the hip with no damage. Game on!
Snowboarders were still hesitant of the idea cause the skiers could straddle the catapult feature. Snowboarders had to enter from the side and just by the looks of it, would they be pulled into the pulley system? Tim Humphreys answered the question and made the jump unscathed. Everyone then suited up and proceeded to make the most of it and put on a good show for the people who made the pilgrimage.
Nothing mind blowing went down, but all the snowboarders & skiers made the most of the situation. I think after a while of practicing they all started to get a hang of the feature and started to push is just a bit. Most of these guys haven't ridden in a while and have been in summer mode. None of them wanted to blow their season so they kept it pretty much stock. Stock tricks are good especially when they are stylie. Charles Reid was throwing down poked out lein 5's & 7's. Chris Sorman was boosting alley oops. Wyatt Caldwell pulled in switch on the catapult. Ian Thorley threw the double back. Chas Guldemond was getting backside Rodeo 5's & 7's. Brandon Cocard was giving the Alley Oop 7's a shot for his first arena style contest. Taylor Carlton was soaring backside rodeos but met the deck a few times.
After an hour jam session Chris Sorman took home 5K for best trick and the rest of the guys split the remaining 25k. Not a bad day at the the office in the SF sunshine. The riders decided before the event that it would be best to have a jam session and split the money cause the feature didn't allow them to fully push their limits.
I truly hope that this event doesn't go away. It was a let down to see it's size diminished and the overall event energy to go down as well. Hopefully the Icer event can rebound from this and improve. With some help from outside consultants this can be a great event with it's location in SF. Icer should bring in the guys from the Nissan X Trial and Nokia Air & Style and ask them how they do it. Just a thought.

Comments:

 Anonymous
Could this have been the last year of icer? I hope so...

# : October 21, 2008 8:48 AM

 

 Anonymous
Glad I stayed home for this one!

# : October 21, 2008 8:48 AM

 

 Anonymous
Dude, Icer is done!

# : October 21, 2008 8:49 AM

 

 Hater!
Cocard still rules!!

# : October 21, 2008 8:49 AM

 

 REELcomp
http://reelcomp.com/videos/view/7243

Check out the video!

# : October 23, 2008 10:29 AM

 

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