Erika always kills it at the Campus Rail Jam Tour, so the stop at the University of Utah played out per the usual. Check her out all steezed out with her Akinz t-shirt dress and chunk gator.
The Campus Rail Jam Tour is always one of my favorite contests to participate in. It’s always a fun crowd, there is good music, a great setup, and lots of familiar faces! I showed up on Thursday the 24th, to an unpleasantly gray day in Salt Lake City. I got there around 11am to register. Having done the contest almost every year they have put it on, I am pretty comfortable around the campus, and had no trouble getting myself all situated. I was greeted by some good friends who came out to support, along with my big brother, and some of the Niche crew. I spent most of my time hanging with my friend Cat and her roommate Maddee. We were having a blast watching everyone, and dancing our hearts out.
When it finally came time to compete I was more than ready, and the setup looked really fun. From lookers left to right the setup consisted of; a down-flat-down rail, a launch box with a gap on the end, and a down rail with little kink at the end for added technical difficulty. I climbed all the way to the top of the scaffolding, strapped in, and dropped into the launch box. Trying to set a high standard for the girls, I tried to do a smooth press and grab my board off the box, when I landed I sunk in about 6 inches into slush, and had to readjust my game plan.
Next up I tried my luck with the down rail. I got it first try, with a clean frontside 180 out, but that slush got me again, and I couldn’t stick the landing. After that, I decided I would not fall anymore. Nervously peering over the edge of the drop-in to get a look at the rail, I strapped in and went for it. Success! I was feeling very good about that rail, and spent most of my time on it. I did some pretty good tricks on there including a solid frontboard through the kink, which was a personal goal of mine. By the end of the 40 minute heat we were all down right exhausted.
I cheered on the rest of my friends who were competing including Cat who was up next. She killed it the whole time and WON! YAY CAT! In the meantime while Cat and I were competing, Madee was holding it down on the dancefloor for us. She even won the “Teach me how to dougie” contest! We all had a blast hanging out all day, but it was finally time for the results! With the suspense building up inside me, knowing there were some good girls there, I couldn’t barely even listen when they announced the 2nd and 1st places. Lejawn Allen ended up in 3rd. Alexa McCarty took 2nd, and I ended up in the top spot on the podium! After a quick interview with Fuel Tv I had to fly up the canyon to get to work! Needless to say, it was a long, busy, and super fun day! Thanks to CRJT for putting on yet another great event. Keep up the good work guys!
Having come down to California for a vacation, the last thing I thought I would be doing is snowboarding. However, when I found out about the Campus Rail Jam Tour San Diego stop, things changed. Just one problem…. I didn’t bring ANY of my snowboarding gear with me.
The competition started at 5p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Garrett and I arrived down there a little bit early after happily missing the heavy traffic. While standing in the registration line I was excited to see lots of the same guys putting on the event. Feeling pretty confident going into this competition, despite being on an old setup which I had never ridden before, it must have shown. Before the competition started I got interviewed by ABC 10 News, and Fuel Tv. . . they asked me the usual stuff about competing, and asked if I would be competing in my swimsuit. My immediate response “No i’m going to represent the ladies in a decent and respectful fashion.” And thats just what I did.
With the sun poking in and out of the dark ominous sky, we were due for a crazy weather day. Thursday, February 25th, The Campus Rail Jam Tour made its annual stop through the University of Utah. I got over there around 11 to register, and was happy to see some familiar faces around, everyone was stoked, and I was pumped up too.
The alarm went off at 5am and it was hard to get up. We piled our stuff into the car and left the house at 6am. After dropping Garrett off at work at 6:35, I drove over to the canyons, grabbed some coffee, and hung out in the Grand Summit Hotel in one of their big comfy chairs, in front of the fireplace. When it was time to get ready my boots were nice and warm, and I was ready for another day! I walked over to Smokies Bar and Grill for registration. Dave March greeted me at registration, and I was stoked to see my friend Wiki was there too! I waited for Wiki to register, then we took off up the gondola. She is so much fun to ride with, she shreds hard with a huge smile on her face, just my style:)
