Amateur Snowboarding in the Garden State at Burton Qualifiers Stop 3: New Jersey

January 15, 2017

The greater New Jersey snowboard scene gathered in force for an epic session at stop three of the Burton Qualifiers amateur snowboard contest series at Mountain Creek, New Jersey.

Photos: Dan Chrobak

Spend some time in Jersey and you can’t help but feel the local pride. From the shore to the sprawling suburbs, the culture is all about good food and great service. Want to pump your own gas? Fuggetaboutit! Bagels are the best you’ve ever had, and you’re never far from a classic American diner. Sandwiched between the Big Apple and Philadelphia, its forests, farmlands and unique sights make “The Garden State” nickname more fitting than you’d think. With our destination, Mountain Creek, nestled in the northeast corner, we looked forward to the trip.

As a long time vacation destination for the tri-state area, the northeast corner of New Jersey is full of interesting landmarks.

As the closest resort of its size to New York City, Mountain Creek boasts a healthy après culture, a wild parking lot scene, sprawling groomers, and a full array of well-crafted terrain park features. Which brings us to the third stop of the Burton Qualifiers tour.

The terrain park staff built a pristine course, offering everything from a rail plaza with all kinds of gap and closeout options to a rainbow box, topped off with a beautiful six-foot quarterpipe. The 15 & under division showed up ready to slay. Will Healy came out swinging with unmatched consistency, and took home 1st place and $300. Shane Weiss swooped in for second, and walked away with $200 and a broken wrist. Heal up, Shane! Third place and $100 went to Jack Mitchell. The vibe was high, and it set the tone for the rest of what would become a highly memorable contest.

Open Division 5th place winner, Matt De Vito sliding a backside tail slide across the hitching post.

Open Division 4th place winner, Alex Caccamo. Cab 360 over the high ollie bar.

The moment the announcer said “go” for the open division, three riders were already spinning 180s and 270s down the first set of rails. Snow started to fall, and the mayhem increased with each tick of the clock. With doom metal blasting over the speakers, the soundtrack was almost as heavy as the riding. The session couldn’t have been better. At its climax, the winner, Travis Henderson, jumped over the deck of the quarterpipe (along with the people standing on it) all the way to the back side – just an hour after dislocating his shoulder in practice. He took home a well earned $800. Zach Mathes came in for a highly contested second and $400. Tim Major made the drive all the way from Vermont to claim his position in 3rd and a check for $200.

Open division top six. See you at Seven Springs!
Open Division 1st place winner, Travis Henderson flying out over the deck (and the crowd.)
Open Division 4th place winner, Alex Caccamo layed down some of the day's most impressive hand plants on the corrugated tube.
Burton team rider, Zak Hale came out to share some laps with the contestants.
Alex Caccamo, all smiles on his way to a lipslide.
The hitching post stood 5 feet above the lip, and saw plenty of action.
15 & Under 1st place winner, Will Healy absolutely slayed the entire course.
Open Division 3rd place winner, Tim Major came all the way from Vermont to lay down this lipslide.

The top six riders in each division all earned entry into the finals event at Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. Mountain Creek was the third of six stops in the series. For full tour info, head to BurtonQualifiers.com. ∆