12 Days of travelling the west filming and enjoying the company of freinds, riders, and other film crews have come to an end. What a trip! It started with rides in Island Park and Lion’s Head with some of the best in the industry. Perfect sunshine days with stable snow pack put us into the steep chutes on Day 1! Doug, Wes, Travis and Turbo REV founder BRAD STORY had a ball tearing up every possible chute around West! The BURF (Mustang Johnny), Wade from FLY, Gerald, Tony, Trennis, Dan Richter and many other loaded down my cameras with awesome stuff. Watching Wes bust through a monster cornice at 40 mph only to do a flying barrel roll over the top was awesome. And Brad’s “switching chutes” climb is one for the record books (he starts up one chute, sees an opening and sidehills over to the next chute, then continues his climb!). Then came the finale. . . Doug, Travis and Brad decided to pull a 1-2-3 punch up the chutes on Jefferson. Not one right after the other, but all 3 at the same time!! It was awesome except for one small detail. Watch TSIII for the rest of the story! But alas. . . Friday night rolls around and we’re sitting in the lobby of the Stagecoach. Doug wants a re-run at the 1-2-3 punch. We all look at each other, smile and say what the heck! But WES wants in on this run! How about a 1-2-3-4 PUNCH?!?!? So Saturday finds us in heaven again with the sun shining and the turbos screaming. I watched with the cameras OFF as more than 12 riders conquered Mt. Jefferson that day. Then came the punch. . . Travis, Wes, Doug and Brad. . . The coolest thing I’ve ever seen happened next. . .
And did I forget to tell you about Friday??? The Team Thunderstruck cameras met 3 rockin’ women for the first section in TSIII dedicated to the love of snowmobiling LADY-STYLE! Cornice drops, big air, chute climbing and a couple great crashes rounded out an awesome day with the ladies of Team TS! And the attempt to conquer Jefferson on a STOCK 600cc Polaris? Wait and see the awesome show!
Sunday saw EXPO end and the travelling begin. We woke up Monday to sunny skies in ELKO, NV! Tim and Amanda from Thin-Air Powersports showed us through their beautiful mountains. Richter (FLEECE), Brad Story, Tony, Gerald, Jim Baird, Dan Gardiner and I followed Tim and Amanda around to some amazing country! But alas, Tony had a small accident. After having a corneal abrasion and vision problems all morning, an unseen windlip threw him into a pile of very sharp rocks, breaking his elbow and his heel. Tony, always an amazing rider, rode HIMSELF 12 miles back to the truck, climbing huge bowls along the trail out. Surgery that night on the arm and then transport back home to Mommy left Tony in great spirits to heal this spring. He will be very much missed as we travel this spring and you need to know, Tony, that we are thinking of you and wishing you a speedy recovery!
We spent part of the week riding No-Tellum-Creek and had awesome shows as Fleece and The Burf rocked the world of chute-climbing. Wade from FLY showed off his finalized mod and Kirk from HMK even broke out the SNOWHAWK for Trennis and Gerald to play on! What a ball!
Next came the Jackson Hole Hillclimbs. Great food and friends. . . Great to see everyone from SnoWest and from all over, especially our fans and sponsors! We’re already looking forward to next year!
Special thanks to all our awesome riders and their families. . . Without you, I am just a wannabe photographer. And thanks to the other cameramen working hard to make TSIII #1 next year!
– March 30, 2004