This channel gap was christened “The Money Transfer” because anyone who did it was seeking a lot of interest. You also really got paid if you came up short. Hunter Wood and Sam Elliot realize that “The Money Transfer” requires maintaining positive balance, but doesn’t include unlimited checking. Photo: Huggy
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A New Generation Takes Off
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Shooting snowboarding from the deck of a hip is pretty cool, but not nearly as exciting as shooting snowboarding from the deck of an aircraft carrier! Hunter Wood. Photo: rob matHis
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This chopper was chartered from Classic Aviation. Check out their website at classicaviation.net. They are available for weddings, birthday parties, bat mitzvahs, third world insurrections, and snowboarding photo shoots. Austen Sweetin. Photo: Huggy
Now in its fourth year, SNOWBOARDER Magazine’s The Launch has matured into more than simply a rookie park shoot. A month and a half prior to the commencement of the 2011 Launch, three riders, each under seventeen years old, climbed the slopestyle podium at the Winter X Games in Aspen. Yet before Sébastien Toutant, Mark McMorris, and Tyler Flanagan were seen with heads bent as they received their respective gold, silver, and bronze medals, they appeared alongside their prodigious peers at The Launch. To be certain, these up-and-comers had talent in spades before SNOWBOARDER even conceived of The Launch in 2007. In fact, these riders were showing so much promise that this magazine believed they deserved their own stage on which to shine. They warranted a
shoot where they wouldn’t have to trade tricks with established icons like Pat Moore and Travis Rice, and in turn, they could receive some much-coveted recognition. SNOWBOARDER moved forward with the concept under the working name “Superpark Jr.,” though it was widely referred to as “Kid’s Superpark.” Having already worked for several seasons on shoots with Zak Hale, Sage Kotsenburg, Tyler Flanagan, Austen Sweetin, Greg Bretz, Trevor Jacob, and other potential Superpark Jr. invites, it became apparent early on that this event shouldn’t be stereotyped by any reference to age. Instead, we opted for an event moniker that reflected our intention of providing a platform for these emerging riders to reach new heights. Hence the name: The Launch. S the launch 115
2011 Most of the success of The Launch that first year was that SNOWBOARDER had already worked with a majority of the attendees. This meant that we not only knew what they were capable of, but we already had a rapport, so the kids, coaches, team managers, and parents were more inclined to work with us to get The Launch off the ground. It really became a team effort between the athletes and the SNOWBOARDER staff—if we needed to rally a crew to a certain feature, we’d turn to Dylan Alito or Bryn Valaika and have them gather their comrades and make their way to the session. In turn, if they needed sleds or maintenance on a runway, they didn’t hesitate to ask because they knew we’d oblige. As this event approaches a half-decade of providing less-seasoned shreds with a platform for progression, the first generation of Launch standouts has graduated to the big leagues. Dylan Alito, Johnny Lazzareschi, Zak Hale, and Austen Sweetin are set to break out with gnarly parts in the ThirtyTwo, Rome, Burton, and Forum videos, respectively, and as mentioned above, Sébastien Toutant, Tyler Flanagan, and Mark McMorris are routinely finding themselves atop podiums at premier slopestyle showdowns around the world, alongside Sage Kotsenburg. Though many of these riders still attended the 2011 Launch at Park City, others had to skip it due to the growing commitments of stardom, which gave a new wave of wunderkinds a moment to shine.
Rumor has it that Kentucky Fried Chicken had to change their name to KFC, because their signature product no longer included enough chicken to qualify it as such. Well, that hasn’t stopped anyone from calling tricks like this a backside 720 chicken wing, even though Hans Mindnich is anything but a chicken. Photo: mike yosHida 116 S the launch
For The Launch attendees, the all-natural casings of Cobra Dogs were a welcome alternative to the manmade casings of the park jump landings. Photo: Huggy
Flipping over a tree branch is much better than flipping over Michelle Branch. She is the one-hit wonder who sang “Everywhere”. Caden Michnal. Photo: mike yosHida
Before Zander Blackmon could saddle up to this downbar, Utah law dictated that he had to become a member first. Photo: e-stone
We really should have cropped out the shadow so our readers couldn’t tell that Stefan Krumm wasn’t really hitting both his nose and tail on this tree at the same time. Photo: e-stone
In Red Gerard’s short tenure in snowboarding, he will see many trends come and go, but for how good he is at just 10 years old, the young tyke’s a trend in and of himself. In other words, Red is the new black. Photo: e-stone S the launch 117
Even some of the windows in the condos at The Launch are young. You can tell which ones are underage by the big “X� the bouncers mark them with. Hans Mindnich. Photo: mike yosHida
2011 There is nothing more annoying than photographers who leave the helicopter doors open. Did these people grow up vertically taking off and landing in a barn or something? Stale Sandbech. Photo: mike yosHida 118 S the launch
While his peers sit at home flipping through TV channels, Garrett Warnick spends his days flipping over jump channels. Photo: e-stone
Fishers, Indiana’s Hunter Wood has put his time at Stratton Mountain School to good use, and this husky and hungry goofy-footer feasted on every feature he could find at Park City, including mad tweaks on the massive hip and lofty rodeos over the channel gap. Mammoth Lakes’ Spencer Whiting took to the hip with an open throttle and sent some of the largest frontside airs of the whole week, while Jackson Hole’s Cameron Fitzpatrick threaded his way between the wish-boned tree-bonk branches with exaggerated one-footers. Also barking up the right tree was Utah local Caden Michnal with his wildcat backflips through the gap. Getting their jib on all week were Technine’s Zander Blackmon and Ben Bilodeau, alongside Redmond Gerard and Max Warbington. Though he works as a park ranger at The Summit-at-Snoqualmie, wildcard Stefan Krumm showed all that he can hold his own on the other side of the spork with both loose jibs at the top of King’s Crown and tight backside airs on the hip. In a week that saw many standouts, one rider displayed the most versatility and emerged from each session with some of the best shots. Garrett “Worm” Warnick has strapped in next to many household names, but it wasn’t until this past winter that he found himself as the one being talked about. From transfer-gap trickery to 1080s on the bottom booter to double-overhead frontside crails on the hip, Worm quietly and consistently made his mark on the 2011 Launch.
Only one-foot separated Cam Fitzpatrick from the rest of the riders in this tree jib session. Photo: Huggy S the launch 119
Apparently, Zak Hale wasn’t allowed to jib at the cool kids’ table so he had to frontside nuclear nose grab bluntslide his lunch alone at The Launch. Photo: estone Our Photo Editor must have had a snack attack while shooting this, because you can see a Krumm right in the middle of the frame. Stefan Krumm, that is. Photo: Huggy
Ben Rafferty, Gabe Westberg, Ryan Davidson, Evan Brown, Chris Ingham, Andrew Tassell, Jake Kiejko, Tyson Goodrich, Alex Murray, Charlie Conde, Benji Oppan, Jeremy Cooper. [Not pictured]: Jordan O’Brien. Photo: Huggy
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Just as riders like Sébastien Toutant, Tyler Flanagan, Sage Kotsenburg, and Mark McMorris are still adding to the postscript for Launch’s past, the new story begun by the likes of Garrett Warnick, Hunter Wood, Redmond Gerard, Stefan Krumm, and the rest of the up-and-comers who made their way to Park City’s King’s Crown Park this past Spring is most assuredly to be continued… SNOWBOARDER would like to thank everyone involved in making The Launch 2011 a success, including Park City Mountain Resort, Park City Peaks Hotel, Red Bull, Ryan Runke, Jeremy Cooper, Cobra Dogs, Cory Grove, Matty Mo, Meisha Lawson, Standard Films, Gary Tyler McLeod, Jake Zalutsky, Ethan Stone Fortier, Logan Knutzen, Brad Holmes, Chris Onderson, Ben Rafferty, Gabe Westberg, Ryan Davidson, Evan Brown, Chris Ingham, Andrew Tassell, Jake Kiejko, Tyson Goodrich, Alex Murray, Charlie Conde, Benji Oppan, Jordan O’Brien, and all of the riders, industry, and media who attended. n
2011 For more exclusive video and photo content from The Launch 2011, go to snowboardermag.com.