smagical

Heres a clip from a recent show at the National Harescramble race at LTM in Casey, IL.  The smage bros get up close and personal with race announcer Jamie Deer!

Day two has come and gone here at TTC, just as the heavy rains did.  The morning started with strong thunderstorms and ended with thunderous clapping from an enthusiastic crowd as they cheered on the top five Pro Class riders during the Pro Shootout.  Once again Pat Smage came out victorious, with Cody Webb coming in hot on his heels in second.  The pro class had a two new faces today, as Will Ibsen and Phil Smage stepped up to the plate to challenge TTC and mother nature.  Will was on fire finishing 3rd, while Phil finished a few spots further back in 9th. 

 The big news of the day was that Pat Smage wrapped up his fourth national title with his win.  A huge congratulations out to the Smagical.com/RYP USA/Go Fast!/EVS/Heal Clothing/Polar Max/ Vision Airlines athlete!  Check back soon for a slideshow of the sights and sounds of the MotoTrials Nationals at the Trials Training Center.

The heat and humidity didnt take its toll on Sherco USA’s Pat Smage as he took home the win at Round 5 of the NATC/AMA Nationals.  Beta’s Cody Webb kept him honest, but Pat was on point all day, taking an 11 point lead into the “Pro Shootout” sections and adding to that gap by the days end.  With just two rounds to go, the confidence has to be in Smage’s corner. Webb, however, has been known to pull out the strong rides when he needs them, so nothings over until monday.  Tune in for a full report after! 

1. Pat Smage

2. Cody Webb

3. Keith Wineland

4. Bryan Roper

5. Karl Davis

I know summer just started, but that doesnt mean that you cant enjoy a kickflip or two. Head out to Mt. Hood and take your shot at the 1,000 $ cash purse and enjoy some summer snow!  

Now that the internet has returned to Smagical Acres, so have the “Smagical Shots of the Week.”  This week takes us to Arizona where Pat Smage transfers his snowskate skills to his RYP/GoFast!/Polar Max/ Vision Airlines Sherco.  Nollies are hard enough on a couple pound snowskate, i have a feeling they’d be harder on a 160 pound motorcycle.  Enjoy the pictoral stimulation.

With the ever-trusty Saturn “gas saver 3” (yes the same saturn we bought for $500 on a previous trip) packed to the brim and a few hours of daylight left there was one thing to do, Skate!  One final deck snowskate session was in order before hitting the road to Colorado.  And a great session it was, until we headed to the car to begin our journey.  Trick Karl and Burwill someone nudged their noses into the door cracks and munched all of our snacks…including an entire loaf of bread transformed into marvelous peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Unfortunately, the photo evidence was stolen, more on that later…

 So, with a severe lack of food for the trip, a quick burnt pizza would have to do. After that it was straight through and straight to SIA Snowsports Expo, the largest winter sports expo in existence.  Fully road-weary and malnourished Kwandy and Phil paraded around the expo on day 1 in full zombie mode, jaws dropped to the floor in awe at the sheer scale of the event. Unable to actually take in the sights and sounds of the event, it was decided that one more day was necessary.  So the crew headed to the home of Paul with Mantis Eyewear to get some much needed rest. After a good nights sleep the Novik guys joined us for some breakfast at a local hotspot known as Devils Food, quite tasty.  

Then it was back to SIA with a newfound motivation to really explore what the event has to offer.  The exploration was going great, with stops at all the brands to check out the stuff coming out next year in the snowboarding world.  It also happened to be Polar Max’s day at the show with a guest party with full drink and food offered.  While at the party Donny from PMX hooked Phil and Rex up to the max, and filled their bags to the top with swag.  After that the duo continued onward to explore some more.  

The next booth of choice was Grenade.  They talked goats with Danny Kass and the Dingo for a bit and found out that the Dingo is actually better at milking goats than Danny.  Directly following the goat convo it was off to join the ping pong festivities.  While in the midst of their first game, both Rex and Phil had to depart for a quick bathroom break. 

 Just a few short minutes afterwards they returned to find their Polar Max bags had gone missing.   They were clearly bummed on the loss of the excellent Polar Max products, but the bad news didn’t stop there.  Both Phil’s picture camera and the Saturn’s key were also now meandering through SIA in the hands of another.  (This is the reason why the photo quality of the pictures so closely resembles an ipod: They were shot with Kwando’s Ipod)  After checking with security, lost and found, and nearly every booth in the show, the conclusion was reached, the keys and camera were a lost cause.

       The next step, contacting a locksmith.  After pricing out all of the local locksmiths, it was apparent that all were in the same ballpark.  So they called the first ones on the list and asked them if they could create a key on the spot. The answer was yes so the hour and a half wait began.     

   Upon arrival the “professional” locksmith circled the car with a confused look on his face, then whipped out his clipboard and scribbled some numbers down.  He then looked up and muttered some broken english that sounded like he had said “$150 to get in car.”  Phil asked if he meant 150 to get in and create a new key?  The man replied, “no, 150 to get in, i can’t make a key without a spare.”  Phil and Rex both had a good laugh and told him they would break the window themselves if all they wanted was to get in.  He responded, “Ok, then $15 service charge, and i go.”  This once again brought a chuckle into their voices as the kindly told the gentleman that their money was in the car, and to get lost. 

Onto locksmith number two.  He also assured the ability to create a new key from scratch, and he also took an hour and a half to arrive.  He rolled up in a full size cargo van, instead of a minivan, however.  He had the door unlocked before Phil could even as him a price, and had 3 spare keys made within 30 minutes.  Four hours, and $150 dollars later and they duo came to a decision, drive through the night to Aspen and make it to Max Hilty’s, or search for a place to crash and hit SIA one more time in the AM.  The choice was the latter, and the place to crash was Premier Snowskate owner Andy Wolf’s hotel room. 

The next day consisted of a trip back to SIA for the daily Go Pro cam giveaway.  Unfortunately both Phil’s Smagical.com business card and Rex “Kwando Mcdougenbacher’s” card both were not of the lucky few drawn.  With that, the saturn set sail for sweet snowmass villiage.  Aspen, Harry, Aspen.  Four hours later and the car crept into the driveway of Max “3flip” Hilty.  A couple hours of rest and it was off to X Games to check out the park.  Unfortunately, again, the park wasn’t much to check out.  It consisted of 2 ride-on rails, with one closed for “maintenance.”  Things only went down-hill from there, as the contest was strictly a best trick contest.  Then further downward as you were forced to ride a plastic Premier Snowskate instead of your own board. 

 

 That was the decision maker for Phil, so he and Rex watched the snowcross event instead.  Local shredders Ross Martin and Justin Broberg had stellar showings at the event.  Ross led the race at first, then was black flagged and held back to 9th or so, only to catch back up for second place.  Broberg qualified for the main in his first attempt and ran inside the top ten the whole time.  

Smagical DVD regular Doug Henry was also out to race the Adaptive SnoX event.  He grabbed the start and looked to be checking out. That is, until he cased a jump and broke his seats suspension, which is necessary for him to ride the sled without the use of his legs acting as suspension.  After the races the decision was made to head into Snowmass to do some filming instead of stick around X.  The choice was a good one, as shots were stacked in and around Snowmass.

 

After a final night at the Hilty residence, it was back on the road towards denver, with a detour to Winter Park.  Monday was the first day of the SIA Snow Show on Snow Demo days.  The crew banked on the free tickets on the back of their SIA entry forms to get on the hill.  Unfortunately, the tickets ended up being 2 for 1 instead, leaving the now-broke-after-getting-the-keys-stolen-and-remade-and-still-need-money-for-gas Rex and Phil out of luck.  Or so they thought.  The phone rang and it was Erik from Novik Gloves. He informed the sad travelers about a snowskate park at the base of the mountain.  This brought the excitement back into the travelers weary eyes. 

The park had 4 ride one features, which Phil promptly made into ollie-one obstacles and got to it.  Being at the base of the hill the session turned into more of a demo with all of the pedestrian traffic.  The snowskates were well received by all who past, and some even came up to give it a shot.  Phil got some clean kickflip backlip shovit combos on the box and Kwando landed his first multi-trick snowskate line. Rex and Phil shredded until dark, then hit the road to their next destination. 

 

The destination of choice was Max’s 2nd residence, Boulder, CO.  Along the way, however, was Thunder Valley MX park, home of the most recent US MXdesNations.  It would be terrible to drive past and not stop by.  The track was in a rare state, covered in snow.  So Rex and Phil grabbed the skates and rode some “pow” lines for a few to break up the drive.

 Boulder is hit and miss with snow, and it just so happened that this time was a hit.  Boulder got a fresh 5 inches just prior to the Saturn’s arrival. This made for prime filming conditions, so it was decided to stay at Max’s for a few days and get some more filming done.  The first day was spent adventuring through campus looking for spots.  For a spot that seemed like a surefire bust, Max and Phil stacked on a flat-down-flat ledge for an hour without interruption, just viewers.  Spot number two was the Boulder Skatepark.  The conditions were a bit icy, but both Max and Phil left with at least a few shots each.

 

Day number two was set to be a travel day, so the spot list was cut down to one to save time.  A freeway-side dragon back ledge was the spot.  Unfortunately the temperatures were already on the rise back to regular boulder spring weather.  This caused for some slushy snow that made it hard to get speed to slide over more than one of the dragon bumps.  Some rad shots were still logged, and it was off to Cheeba Hut, the best sandwich place in the world, for one last meal.  It was the 5th time in two days visiting this fine establishment.   Unfortunately for this trip, it would be the last time Phil’s phone would be in working order.  It took a crash to the floor while Phil was eagerly awaiting his sandwich with some phone kickflips.  This set the perfect tone for the 13 hour drive to Bjorn R-Gormans place in Whitefish, MT. Two drivers, 0 cell phones, one 500 dollar automobile, 1 ipod touch with texting capabilities while in the confines of wireless interweb: A winning combination.

   

As to continue with the timeframe set by previous stops, the dangerous duo rolled into Bjorn’s just a few hours prior to sunrise.  A quick stop to check out the Yeti Park and it was off to bed.  The Yeti Snowskate Jam is the longest running single deck snowskate contest in existence. Saturday rolled around and it was contest time.  The weather was in complete cooperation with the event organizers and things got started up without a hitch. 

The beginners took to the course first.  Event announcer Rex Kwando was entering his first snowskate competition, so Phil took over announcing honors for the youth and beginner classes.  The class was so big that they had to be split into heats.  Kwandy put the hammer down for heat 1.  He threw down a front board shov off the up rail and attempted numerous high-speed shovits. It was the latter move that left him with the “Best Crash” award.

After some course maintenance and a mini-comp it was time for the experts to take to the course.  Just minutes into the event it was clear that it would be a battle between Ambition teammates Alan Gerlach and Phil Smage.  The two went trick for trick over the course of the 15 minute final.  A missed trick became a rarity as the two actually ran up the hill to get another hit in. 

 

Alan nailed some nollie lipslide variations on the down ledge while Phil took to whole park, getting tricks on every obstacle and finished it off with a kickflip 5050 first try on the down ledge. When the results were announced it was Canadian Cole Welter in 3rd, Minneapolis’s own Alan “G”erlach in 2nd, and Wilbur the Goat sponsored Phil Smage taking the win and the 5 pound Yeti Jam Gold Medal.

 

 The day after the contest the crew headed to Whitefish Mountain to do some filming.  Phil took main camera duties for the day while Alan, Bjorn, Josh Sequin, and even Kwandy stacked some shots.  The mountain was nice enough to let the guys shred till close.  Big props go out to Whitefish MTN for a great park and staff. After a quick drying session it was out to Bjorn’s backyard lumberjack snowskate park to do some more filming.  The gang skated a monstrous double sided hip that Bjorn had fashioned out of trees and plywood.   Cam Foster snapped some rad shots and the night was complete.

  The following day the plan of attack was fun.  The group headed out to the local waterpark to poach the slides.  Seguin bagged the most unique shot of the day with Phil follow filming him down and through a winding water slide with tunnels galore.  Alan manned up and stacked the gnarly shot of the day, dropping in on the near-vertical slide known as “Geranamo.”  Word from the locals was that the slide was recently shut down during the summer due to the danger factor being too high.  Fortunately Alan didnt get that memo.  Phil stuff countless backlips down the kiddie pool slides and Rex managed to get lost in the maze of winding slide madness.  The gale force winds and bitter temps forced the crew to call it a day early.  After that it was back to the familiar feeling of being crammed into a sardine can.  In other words, it was back on the road in the Saturn.

 

The next destination was photo ace Cam Fosters place in Bozeman, MT for a few hours rest.  The trip was not without excitement with Rex throwing down some “off road passing” on the highway and Seguin getting to experience his first flat tire.  The wild Canadian expected us to be stuck for the night, but Kwandy impressed the Canuk with his uncanny mechanical skills.  Six hours later, and the two cars rolled to a stop in front of Cams place, just before 2 AM. Everyone hustled into the house in order to grab couch space instead of getting stuck on the floor. As soon as their eyelids dropped it was time to open them and hit the road again.

 

The penultimate leg of the 4,000 mile journey was from Bozeman to Minneapolis to the home of Alan Gerlach.  A quick 17 hours after the drive began, the cars limped through the ghetto and up to Alans front doorstep.  Once again, it was straight to the sleeping quarters to try and catch up on some sleep before heading out to film later that day.  With just 30 minutes of daylight left after the crew got going it was rapid fire in an effort to get some shots.  Phil and Seguin nabbed a gap to down ledge just as the sun set behind the MLPS cityscape.  The gang left right from the spot, back to the highway.  The destination, HOME.  Elkhorn was a short 6 hour drive from Minny, and this fact alone was enough to plaster a smile on the face of every passenger in the car.  The ride went smoothly and the crew rolled into Smagical Acres just after midnight.  This left two days to prepare for the biggest cash purse snowskate contest in the world, the Midwest Open of Snowskating.   Check back shortly (or not so shortly with the excellent internetting connectione’ we have) for the Midwest Open/Quebec Stairmasters/Vermont/Icon Classic road trip story!  Hang loose!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Smagical trials guru Pat Smage took both wins at round three and four of the series in Valley View, Pennsylvania, this weekend. Friend of the Goat, Cody Webb, took second both days on his Factory Beta.  The two battled each day, with Pat grabbing the edge on day one and carrying that momentum all the way to his final One-point last loop score on Sunday.  

  Smage now leads the championship by 10 points over Webb and Keith Wineland on his Gas Gas 300. The last three rounds will take place at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee, on June 25-27.

Rounds 1 and 2 of the AMA/NATC MotoTrials Championship took place this past weekend in Texas.  It appears as though last years heated rivalry between Patrick Smage and Cody Webb will continue this season, as the riders traded wins over the weekend, coming out tied in series points.  Colorados Keith Wineland held a steady third over the course of the weekend.  The series takes a break for the month of may until action resumes in PA in mid june. 

If you have a spare minute and a half, enjoy this quality video created by Justin Myjetski @ Varient 3 of Smagical ripper Alan Gerlach riding his snowskate.  Actually, if you dont have a spare minute, create one because this video is really swell.  

Lars Gange/Shazamm/ESPN ImagesTanner Foust leading the pack in the Rally Car Racing event at X Games 16.

ESPN will kick off its 17th annual action sports competition in Los Angeles from July 28-31 and will debut the new discipline of Enduro X, as well as the first-ever rally street circuit running through the downtown area. In its ninth year in LA, X Games 17 will feature more than 200 athletes at competition venues and event spaces including STAPLES Center and Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in an effort to further consolidate events to one area and better enable fans to catch all the X Games action from downtown Los Angeles.

Enduro X will feature both men’s and women’s disciplines, showcasing riders’ talent on an all-terrain obstacle course. Riders will race through sand, mud, logs, rocks and other terrain features in a blend of motocross racing and traditional Enduro, battling not only each other but also the challenging course for their shot at X Games gold. The new addition will be one of eight Moto X competitions taking place inside STAPLES Center, while the downtown Los Angeles street circuit will offer a unique and exciting setting for the disciplines of Rally Car Racing on Saturday and RallyCross on Sunday.

“Having RallyCross at last year’s X Games was a huge step for the sport, but racing through city streets is how motorsport began,” said three-time X Games rally gold medalist Tanner Foust. “Being in the car, ripping through streets, cranking the handbrake through intersections while door-to-door and jumping next to buildings is going to be truly epic! I can’t wait!”

ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will combine to telecast 25 hours of live X Games 17 competition. In addition to the 25 original hours in high definition, the Worldwide Leader in Action Sports will also televise 18 hours of X Games action on ESPN 3D. More than 25 hours will also be distributed on ESPN3.com. Outside the United States, X Games 17 will be seen in more than 121 countries and territories to more than 106 million homes, including live telecasts in Africa, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Israel, Mexico, Middle East, New Zealand and South America.

Tickets for X Games 17 will be available for purchase June 23 at all Ticketmaster locations and the box office at STAPLES Center.