Stars n Moons 1/31/07

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

By PJH Staff

Star: Televised Mountain Crunk
While it could probably be solidly argued that the X-Games are in fact a big, fat corporate Moon (and I’m not usually one to player hate on corporations), I have to say that this year’s Winter X-Games, which went down in the Aspen area last weekend, was in fact a pretty dope happening.

True: skiing is still a tertiary happening behind not only snowboarding (“extreme” S.U.V. commercials always portray midwestern frat guys snowboarding, not skiing) but even, it seems snowmobiling.
Shaun who?

Clearly, Steve Fisher absolutely demolished it when he took gold in men’s snowboarding Superpipe, the weekend’s grand finale (did anyone else get upset when they thought ESPN might actually broadcast White in the pipe after the event was over?).  But, for my money, it was the men’s skiing Superpipe finals, way back on Friday, which was the most exciting to watch.

Tanner Hall has really come a long way from lil’ gangsta to a man keepin’-it-real.  Was there another athlete more electrifying? The network execs could not have asked for a better script: what with the athlete who went on to win a gold medal hitting the deck on his third and final go, his good friend Simon Dumont’s subsequent throwing down of a big, brilliant run that got him a silver, and – for good measure – a fun loving (and Aspen local) Peter Olenick getting pretty nasty on the pipe’s first (and usually biggest) hit with an inverted double flip he dubbed the “Whiskey Flip.” Yeehaw.

Also, props to Jackson snowboarder Travis Rice who made it to the semi-finals of the Best Trick event. The snowmobilers, you killed it too with backflips galore.

And to you, ESPN execs: why is it not a great idea to have skiers hit the Best Trick booter?
—Ben Cannon

Sick of Poo
When I hike up the Glory boot pack on Teton Pass, I just can’t take my eyes off the path. Not for beauty’s sake, but to avoid the heaps of dog feces. It has grown to revolting proportions. As if we couldn’t suffer any more from lack of snow, the amount of doggie doo is really adding insult to injury as one surveys the pathetic snow at the top of the Pass.

Since the majority of excrement is in the beginning of the hikes, one can only conclude that if dogs could run the equivalent of 200 yards before they got to the Pass, they might have crapped somewhere else besides the middle of the boot pack. If that is not an option, just pick up a pile – any pile will do – to contribute as a responsible pet owner.

This problem is getting a little old. Everyone talks about individual action and responsibility, making the world better… Well, let’s see it! And soon, please, before all the plants within 20 feet of the trails die and my ski boots corrode from poo attacks.
—Brigid Mander
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Stars n Moons 1/31/07 | Planet JH News Article: Stars & Moons

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