Event
The Loon Project
Snowboy Productions’ Final Chapter of The Projects
It’s early January with temperatures teetering around 20 degrees Fahrenheit in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Despite these current below-freezing conditions, today has been dubbed a “beach day” by the lot of us here at Loon Mountain Resort for The Loon Project, Snowboy Productions’ final chapter of The Projects events series. Granted, relative to the past three days—each chock-full of piercing winds and ceaseless chills that made 0 degrees feel more like negative six—”beach day” feels fitting. The clouds cleared, sun popped, gusts mellowed, and riders are going off on their last afternoon sessioning this private, invite-only setup before it opens to the public starting tomorrow morning.
Brandon Reis, aka “The Backyard Boarder, taking a break from mini-shredding to hit a big ole bluntslide on the larger of two rainbow rails at Snowboy Productions’ The Loon Project at Loon Mountain Resort, NH. Photo: Stephan Jende
Most snowboarders had absolutely no idea that The Loon Project was going down at Loon Mountain Resort this week, but that’s sort of the point. That’s because The Projects events draw influence from flash mobs—yeah, like the surprising groups of dancers randomly getting down to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in mall food courts. You know the vibes. When it comes to The Projects, with little-to-no warning, an excited hoard of ripping snowboarders amasses at a mountain to ride a one-of-a-kind popup park constructed by some of the best shapers in the biz: Snowboy Productions. Originally The Projects was only supposed to be a three-year ordeal but instead carried on strong for nine. Now, after nearly a decade of annual Projects events at nine different resorts, it’s come full circle, wrapping up in classically cold East Coast fashion at the very same place it all started.
Cold temps can’t stop the fun. It also won’t stop a bunch of hearty east coasters from throwing down on icy, hard-packed conditions. Case in point: Jake Aaronson pressing through zero-degree temps and atop the wallride during day two at The Loon Project. Photo: Stephan Jende
“There are some feels in it,” says Krush Kulesza, Head Honcho of Snowboy Productions, as he surveys his and his crew’s latest build. “The very last chapter of a 10-year story that started, well, technically nine years ago. The Projects is one of the first events that kicked off after I left Mervin. By that point, Snowboy Productions had been around for 18 years, but it was kind of a side project to regular jobs. When I launched off and it was just Snowboy, this is what we started with. Loon was the first resort outside of the Northwest where we did a Snowboy event. This goes as deep as Holy Bowly and has had a lot of influence on everything else that we do. It’s been crazy to come back here and think about all that’s changed in a decade. We thought the first one was substantial, but this is three times the scale.”
Snowboy Productions Head Honcho, Krush Kulesza, is no stranger to the cold. Honestly, with a beard like that, the weather should be more worried of him than he is of it. Photo: Stephan Jende
Louie Arrigoni raking the landing on a feature towards the end of the setup at The Loon Project, the final iteration of Snowboy Productions’ The Projects event series. Photo: Stephan Jende
Laura Rogoski does it all. She digs as part of the Snowboy Productions’ crew, hosts the We’re All Mental support group sessions that are held during one evening of each Snowboy Productions event, and she makes a point to put a trick down on just about every feature in the parks she builds and rides. Here she goes bluntslide with a sameway 270 out on day four of The Loon Project. Photo: Stephan Jende
Nick Joy planting the wallride at Loon Mountain Resort during day four of Snowboy Productions’ The Loon Project. Photo: Pat Ryan
Grant Graves going up and over the bigger of two rainbow rails with a backside tailslide at The Loon Project. Photo: Pat Ryan
True to form, Snowboy Productions designed The Loon Project park in a way that offers limitless lines for those lucky enough to ride it. The top of the build features several features—short down bars, long down bar, an elbowed down-flat-down, poppy polejam, a down tube with a donkey and more—all of which sets snowboarders up to continue their lines into an alluring array of jumps, bonks and jibs, including but not limited to a trapezoid box, creeper rail, rainbows of varying sizes, multiple metal tubes and, of course, Loon’s iconic wooden wallride.
Ask Connor Gross to comply and his answer will most likely be “no.” Fortunately, that wasn’t the case when photographer Pat Ryan asked him to shoot this no-comply off the polejam at the top of The Loon Project setup at Loon Mountain Resort, NH. Photo: Pat Ryan
The setup has a little something-something for everyone, which shines through when watching snowboarders of all different backgrounds take to it. Maestro of mini-shred and New Hampshire local, Brandon Reis, is spinning 540s off a small jam towards the top of the park while misty Mike Rav lays back on the wallride further down the hill. Laura Rogoski is busy hitting blunts—only on her snowboard, obviously—on one of the rainbows in both her regular and switch stance, as Shaun Murphy eyes up a tube for another one of his twisted pretzel tricks. Sophie Bille stomps an authoritative 5050 to backside 360 off a jam near the bottom of the park while Nick Walker works tirelessly to perfect his handplant. Timmy Sullivan is flying around doing Timmy Sullivan type shit, and like that.
Callen Hwang–remember the name. If your riding can stand out at a Snowboy Productions event, you’re doing something right. At just 15-years-old, this East Coast-based young gun is showing some serious promise when it comes to freestyle snowboarding. Photo: Stephan Jende
If Timmy Sullivan shows up to a Snowboy Productions event, there is a 110 percent chance he will be dragging hand (or stomach) on features that most would opt to slide with their snowboards. Photo: Pat Ryan
“It’s been great,” Krush says. “In early January, it’s always tough to see what you’ll have for space and snow. The crew here at Loon, from the snowmaking department and everybody on down, has been fully committed to this, getting us as much snow as we can use. The hand crew and the groomers have been absolutely outstanding to team up with my crew.”
Connor Gross balancing a backside lipslide through the elbowed down-flat-down at The Loon Project. Photo: Stephan Jende
Up, down, up and down again with Sophie Bruck on a bitingly cold day one at Snowboy Productions’ The Loon Project. Photo: Stephan Jende
After the onslaught Shaun Murphy carried out on the upper rail section and wallride, he spent the rest of day two sessioning this smaller, less-consequential feature placed towards the end of the setup at Snowboy Productions’ The Loon Project. Photo: Pat Ryan
Throughout the course of our quick conversation at the top of the park, I sense that Krush’s tone is coming through bittersweetly. Looking down on Snowboy’s stunning setup—a flowing park teeming with smiling snowboarders; an interactive emblem of Krush and Snowboy Productions’ personal and professional progress, respectively—it’s easy to see why that would be.
“The Projects is still at the peak of what I wanted this event to be about,” Krush says. “But it feels like a good time to close the chapter, put it on the shelf, then see what comes next.”
Krush and his band of rocking diggers pose with their rakes on the fourth day of The Loon Project at Loon Mountain Resort, NH. Another job well done, Snowboy–we’d expect nothing less. Photo: Stephan Jende
Big ups to Krush Kulesza and Snowboy Productions for capping off The Projects event series with a smashingly successful session at The Loon Project. Shout outs to Loon Mountain Resort, Loon Parks, the riders, photographers, videographers and anybody else who had a hand in bringing to life this event in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
See more from Snowboy Productions events here.
Read about the history of Snowboy Productions in “Twenty Years of Snowboy Productions” here.