It's no coincidence that Greg Todds' initials and nicknames are synonymous with good times. GT's, G'eets, the GT Memorial NoBoard Classic: all labels for having one hell of a sweet time! Struck down in 2005 by an avalanche (doing what he loved: snowboarding without bindings) deep in the heart of the Kootenay Mountains, Greg Todds' passion for life, his family and NoBoarding all live on through this annual event. Spearheaded by the crew he discovered binding-less shredding with back in ‘99, all proceeds from entry fees, donations and an auction go to the Greg Todd's Foundation to benefit his family. Each year a huge crew of friends gather at an undisclosed location near Revelstoke, BC, on the weekend closest to the anniversary of Greg's passing, January 13th, to remember the life and times of Greg Todds, and to see who will retain bragging rights as the reigning NoBoarding champ for the next 12 months. This year it all went down on January 10th.
Cholo Burns, NoBoarding co-founder, and Jenna Low, NoBoard staff photographer, live at the base of the road leading to the infamous NoBoard cabin. Cholo was a little concerned before the event due to some foreboding road conditions, but remained upbeat while describing the basic principles of the weekend.
"We get everybody together in the backcountry and raise some money for Greg's kids and celebrate the life of GT," he explained. "This way we can get together, ride, party and get away from the computers for a few days!"
The crews began to arrive on Friday, at which point they registered for their heat and received a free GT Memorial Air Hole facemask from pro snowboarder Kale Stephens. Some of the notables wandering around included Eero Niemela, Mikey Rencz, Shin and Shandy Campos and, of course, me. Most people stayed at the local hotel, which is supposedly haunted, but others were able to couch surf amongst the solid NoBoard community that has banded together in this secret powder nirvana. These NoBoard disciples include Cholo and Jenna, plus Scott Penner, Skye Sheele, Greg "Tuttle" Hall and Allan Clark.
Saturday morning brought overcast conditions and an unstable snow pack, so the race course was shortened to ensure all competitors could be seen at any given time. Each heat consisted of four riders for the guys and two riders for the girls, and their individual times were recorded and ranked. Believe it or not, but even deep in the backwoods of this backwoods town, chivalry is not dead, and the women were sent to the top of the course to compete first. After some intense riding and jostling for position down the course, which was peppered with pillows and chutes, Jenna Low came out victorious.
"We were lucky because we got the fresh run... plus I definitely had an unfair advantage from getting to NoBoard all the time," she said. "It went really well. We were definitely worried because it has been just so dangerous this year. We checked out the conditions thoroughly before we went up, so we were just happy it was safe enough to run it." Coming in a close second was Anne Nixon with Christy Long rounding out the top three.
Next up were the men. Their course was modified slightly from the women's, and ended up being a little bit shorter. (This didn't stop Jenna from posting a time faster than many of the guys, however.) The men were split up into two divisions, advanced and first-timers. Mark Gallup, photographer extraordinaire, took top honors in the first-timers' category, although Cholo swears it most certainly wasn't his first time. I guess rules were meant to be broken, or at the very least bent, when it comes to NoBoarding. I mean seriously, just the premise of not using bindings is counterintuitive to the basics of snow sliding!
Finally it was time for the main event. The men's advanced category promised to be an exciting one and certainly did not disappoint. Heat after heat of fast times were posted, and when they were finally ranked, Gabe Langois came out victorious. Gabe, who's most recent professional accomplishments include being a cinematographer on the groundbreaking Travis Rice video production, That's It, That's All, was stoked yet modest about the win.
"I think I just got a good line," he laughed. "I was just trying to stay on my feet and everyone else fell! It was just survival of the fittest. It's like Cambodia out there! I didn't have a plan at all."
Hot on Gabe's heels was Bryn, descendent of an infamous Kootenay ski family (that no one seemed to know the name of), and in third place was local snowcat operator Greg "Tuttle" Hall.
The Men's Asian-Canadian Downhill
Some other honorable mentions were the Hard Charger award, which was given to Darren DTA (which I was told stands for "talks a lot"), due to his no-roping of the entire course and posting of a top-ten time (meaning that he did not use the rope attached to his NoBoard for added stability). In the Asian-Canadian Downhill, the easily confused Kale Stephens would have taken top honors but a small zig when he should have zagged left him behind the eventual winner, Young Dave. Although the final 200 meters where Young Dave (last names are almost as scarce as tourists in these parts) and Gabe Langois duked it out to see who would reign supreme is worth a second look. Some incidental bumping saw Gabe fall in the final seconds leaving, Young Dave to claim his spot at the top of the podium and keep Gabe from sweeping the entire weekend.
Cholo Burns and Young Dave celebrate Dave's win.
After a long but very entertaining day on the mountain, the posse retired to the town hall for the auction, followed closely by a barnburner of a party. In previous years, the gathering has gotten a little out of hand, so promises of a slightly less enthusiastic celebration were needed to secure the location again. Burton, Island Snow, DV8, DaKine, and Volcom all kicked down some great product, backcountry guide Scott Newsome provided an avalanche course, Retallack Catboarding donated a day of riding, photographers Jeff Patterson, Mark Gallup and Jenna Lowe all had printed photos up for grabs, artist Vanessa Stark provided some paintings, while her boyfriend Dave Basterachea threw in a bunch of board racks from his company, Cheetah Factory Racing. The one piece that really piqued my interest was the "secret box" from rider Rube Goldberg. Last year, Cholo dropped $160 on what ended up being numerous sample-sized packs of Axe cologne and Old Spice. This year's winner of the secret box, Gary Van Oss, was much happier with his $80 purchase, which ended up being two tickets to a Broken Social Scene concert. (Apparently Cholo is still waiting for the beer promised him by Rube to compensate for the disappointing contents of his "secret box" last year.)
Mikey Rencz takes home some art.
As Sunday's dawn grew brighter in the eastern sky, the GT Memorial party-goers slowly made their way to their respective beds. The 2009 GT Memorial Classic was again a success, raising $4,200 for his family. This event attracts NoBoarders, snowboarders and skiers, pros and ams, friends of Greg's and friend's of the community created in his wake. There are no pretenses and pretty much anything goes, not unlike the personality of our fallen friend Greg Todds. The event is open to anyone that wants to attend, just as long as you know where you're going. As I made my way to my car to start the voyage home, I ran into Gabe Langois who seemed to be trophy-less. When I inquired about what he did with the Cup, he answered, "It will be staying in the cabin where it belongs: The epicenter of NoBoarding, the home of GT."
Gabe and the Cup.
Cholo Burns talks abour Greg's legacy. [via Transworld Snow]:
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Related:
Check out a few more photos in out Noboard Gallery
Rube The Roadie
Mark Gallup: Life's Pursuit
NoBoarding (blog)