Whistler, BC (April 23, 2010) – Sometimes it can be hard to get up and go for a pipe contest when it looks like rain, but the Grenade Games just keep rolling and sheer momentum (and the promise of kokanee and tube steaks) pulled me from the comfortable confines of the Whistler-Blackcomb media house and onto the gondola to the top. On the way to the lift, some young folks asked me to get them a Monster–apparently you need parental consent to overly-caffeinate yourself on free energy drinks these days. That bit of strangeness out of the way (what happened to asking people to bootleg booze and smokes?), I arrived at the crack of noon ahead of the crowds, but soon the decks were lined with spectators, photogs and general riff raff as the jam session got underway in the 22-foot superpipe.

Module: gallery_album
Item: GrenadeGamesPipe2010
Displays the photo gallery for a selected Gallery Album.Justin Lamoureux and Kale Stephens hiked the pipe early and held it down for the local contingent, with Lamoureux boosting big spins first hit and Stephens showing that backcountry dudes can handle transitions as well. Danny Kass eventually caught a snow machine to the top and showed that he can still kill it, and a slew of relative unknowns stepped up and charged as the walls softened into the afternoon—even Todd Richards was seen bringing back the Wet Cat at one point.

And in true Grenade Games fashion, when the skies clouded over, the beers kept flowing and a giant grenade-shaped piñata came into play across from the strategically placed hitching post on the deck and exploded to t-shirts for all.

Indeed, as the afternoon wore on, the beer gardens filled up and drew most of the action to the bottom of the pipe, so I migrated down with the crowd to see the winner’s checks get handed out before moving on to a mini-pipe session as snow began falling from the skies. That’s right folks, winter’s still trying to hold on, and it looks like it might be a pow day tomorrow for the $10,000 grand finale…here’s to keeping that momentum up for one more day—and watch out because the party snake is biting tonight at Garf’s.

Results:

1^st: Jordan Phillips

2^nd: Kyle Thomas

3^rd: Justin Lamoureux

Best Handplant: Korath Wright

Highest Air: Jake Koia

And $500 to TJ Schneider for a 50-50 on the hitching post and Kael Hill for riding a 133 rental board and doing cab 10s out the bottom of the pipe.