K-Jam rocks Kendal!

Published on: 28th May, 2009

With the sun blazing over the bank holiday weekend, the green snowflex of Kendal dryslope was the place to be, for not only a tan, but some pretty smokin’ shred. FoTP rider Doug Johnson is the silver tongue as Mark Harris got snappy with the polaroid.

We headed up for the K-Jam at Kendal dry slope, set amongst the Lake Districts hills with it’s quirky dark green Snowflex carpet. Kendal has a nice double kicker and quarter pipe combo in the top corner and with really sunny weather and a good turnout of spectators the atmosphere was pumped and the anticipation for a rad event lingered in the air.

The day shaped up with a warm up first, followed by the kicker jam, then the rail jam and the finals for dessert. Each final had a 2 run format with the best trick taking the winnings from categories of men’s, under 16’s and females.

The kicker jam whipped up a storm of flips and spins;  frontside and backside 7’s being thrown down to a very high standard. Riders that made the finals were cleanly stomping big tricks and riding out smooth.

The Big air finals saw riders pushing it that little bit bigger and the win was close to call. Neil Studley just missed out on a podium place as Rory Hewitt took third with a stomped, steezey back flip and a nice 360. James (didn’t get his surname) took second with a crazy switch back flip as first place went to Will O’Brian who threw a switch back 5 followed up with a massive back 7, riding away both super clean.

The Under 16’s big air saw the young groms killing it and I was so stoked to see the younger guys going as big as the adults. Andy Pickering the smallest and probably the youngest of the finalist owned the kickers all day, and would have won if he had stomped his final runs with a big backside 3 melon grabs, but just sketching out whilst riding away.  Second spot was claimed by David Lindsay who did a super smooth nose grab followed by a equally smooth and stylish front side 180 nose grab landing both runs dead over the bolts. 1st went to Ben Chetworn, who apart from being mistaken for an adult rider in the wrong category, rode consistently all day. His winning showpiece – a super smooth backside 360 tail grab.

The ladies also had a bit of a big air showdown, with the Indy grabs being the trick of choice. Great to watch the girls launching off the biggest hit,  Louise Briggs taking 3rd,  2nd Stacey Louis, and the win to a stylish Laura Fullwood.
The rail jam went down with some very progressive riding. 1 foot boardslides, plenty of danish, a few pretzels and some very technical taps, pivots and presses. The Scottish duo of David Lindsey and Connor Carey were both killing the box with props out to Jake Overton, young Andy Pickering and Rory Hewitt for throwing some stylish jibs.

With the hot sun was beating down, the slope was a little slow for the final, so it was run on just the box. I (Doug Johnson) was pretty stoked to make the finals as I didn’t feel that I was riding amazingly well. ( I think I was struggling a bit with the heat!) Simon Ward, Jake Overton, Connor Carey, Rory Hewitt, Dave Lindsey, Ben Cheterworth, Andy Pickering, Laura Fullwood and Claire Watson were all in there for the grand prize.

Andy Pickering rocked the final with his super low and tweaked out board slides, while Rory Hewitt dialled super clean front 270’s onto the box to earn him 3rd place for the over 16’s. Jake Overton took 2nd, nailing a back 270 on, switch up, 270 out as Conner Carey took the win with some crazy pivots and an awesome front tail 270 to 5-0 nose bonk out. Some tech riding for sure!

As for my exploits in the final,  I managed to bail my second run with a back 1 on cab 3 out, I was pretty gutted and pretty sore! David Lindsey took the win for the Under 16 with something crazy ending with a 360 out. Laura Fullwood took the win for the ladies with some solid boardslides.

The 09 K-Jam was a sick day, well organised with a cool vibe and some amazingly sunny weather. props go out to the organisers and it was great to get back on the board and hit up the Kendal greenery. Doug.

Readers Comments