REC GAB R IELLE C OU GHENOU R
STEPPING UP ON THE THIRD RAIL Hip-hop/graffiti/ snowboard party hits Bogus Basin ANDREW CRISP Timmy Grins is pretty sure he’ll find a wife at Bogus Basin. “Tell the single ladies out there in the 21 to 25 range I’ve been on Oprah. I’m a really, really good guy. I’m like [a] lottery ticket,” Grins says. About four years ago, Grins and his part“I’ll slip some of that Big Boi stuff in there, ner Pat Hession masterminded an amalgamatoo. For the punk stuff I’ll try to do more like tion of cool, blending hip-hop, MCs, street Bloodhound Gang, NOFX—keep it interestartists, fashion, culture and snowboarders. ing,” says Dolamarx. They called it the Under Armour 3rd Rail In addition to spinning tracks, eight MCs Jam—after the lethal, electrified rail of New who travel with the tournament will take the York subway system—and turned it into a stage to face off in the Battle Below Zero: a country-crossing party on wheels. Now that no-holds-barred exhibition of rapping and party is coming to Bogus Basin for the first flow skills. time on Saturday, Feb. 12. “They’ll be judged on crowd response, on “We’re very young, very aggressive, very grass-roots. [We] move in from one stop to the their beat, on their lyrical flow and their lyrinext—it’s all about that one stop,” says Grins. cal content,” says Dolamarx. The whole point of the MC battle is to With an army of MCs, DJs, boarders and graffiti artists, the rail jam travels from one ski hill pair original beats, created by the artists, to the next, taking over each resort with a rails with their own freestyle lyrics laid on top. Dolamarx emphasizes the importance of the course and up to 100 riders per stop competcontent being homemade. An artist could use, ing for cash, prizes and Sparta style glory. say, a Nicki Minaj track and rhyme over it, “It’s not the type of thing where we move but Dolamarx cautions: in and move out and have finals elsewhere,” “If they wanna do it, they can do it, but Grins says. they’re not going to win the competition, They started small in 2007, taking the you know what I mean?” party from their home base of Mountain On the sidelines of the event, a troop of Creek, N.J., to Lake Tahoe and then Beech graffiti artists will Mountain, N.C., spray up fresh street their second year. Saturday, Feb. 12, 2 p.m. art onto portable The 3rd Rail Jam has Registration is $25 and open to all riders. plywood installations, expanded its 2011 Early registration is available online bringing a visual eleschedule to include at 3rdrailjam.com. ment to the hip-hop eight ski hills—double BOGUS BASIN culture. the stops in 2010. 2600 N. Bogus Basin Road But the main event Grins singled out 208-429-6592 bogusbasin.org is the rail jam itself. A Boise for more than its rail jam puts a snowpretty ladies. boarder or skier on a “There’s defitrack toward rails set in the ground—think nitely quite a bit going on in that neck of the a skateboarding park. The competitor uses woods,” Grins says. the rails to perform tricks, grinds or spins, And with the party atmosphere the 3rd Rail Jam brings, for a couple of days there will striving for a fluid grouping of moves. The 3rd Rail Jam competition is broken into be even more. four separate divisions: an all-girls category, “I really try to keep [the music] underone for kids 15 years and younger, best of ground, old-school hip-hop—like A Tribe Called Quest,” says DJ Dolamarx. “Especially breed and a skiers’ division. Evan Williams of Boise’s The Board Room will be competfor a snowboarding, X Games style kind of ing in the event. competition.” “If it’s a rail jam you just kind of prepare Dolamarx and DJ Image spin tracks for for that, trying to get as much time ridthe competition, which has its own Slacker ing rails as you can before the event,” says Radio station.
34 | FEBRUARY 9–15, 2011 | BOISEweekly
Who needs a rail when you can jib a roof?
Williams, who rides for The Board Room’s snowboard team. “[You build] a repertoire of tricks that you’re comfortable with. You want to try to get as much time in whatever prospective event as you can, and get enough training—have some tricks that you feel comfortable doing.” It won’t be easy. Grins say the stops so far have drawn an average of 100 competitors—with 180 at their home mountain in New Jersey. “Some of the main criteria is definitely going to be style points, how stylish a rider is as he’s hitting rails, doing different tricks. Another criteria is definitely going to be difficulty as well,” says Matt Rigby of Newt and Harold’s. He’ll also serve as a local judge for the competition. “A big thing is uniqueness, too. New tricks, progressive linkage of tricks. Front, back-side lip slides are pretty basic trick maneuvers. Nose presses—balancing while touching the nose or tail down the whole rail consistently—spins onto rails, 280s, the occasional 450, but I don’t know if we’ll be seeing any of that specifically.” Rigby may not compete anymore, but he knows what skill looks like. “I don’t know if I can keep up anymore with the younger kids. I’ve definitely had my heyday,” he says. Taking the top spots in each division nets riders some cool prizes: swag from sponsors like Beats by Dr. Dre, 33Third, Grenade, Under Armour, Kangol, Bern, Launch Snowboards, Ninthward Skis and the United States Marine Corps. Winners also take home cold hard cash. In addition to the prizes, $5 of every boarder’s sign-up fees goes to Amped 4 a Cure, which seeks to generate money for cancer research. “I think Boise is going to be huge. The people out there are really ‘on board’ with the program,” Grins says, pun intended. Hopefully the Bogus Basin ladies like a corny joke. WWW. B O I S E WE E KLY. C O M