Pennsylvania - Land of 1000 Jibs

The girls came out to play, too.Words and Photos by Jason Wagner

Ski Roundtop's first annual fall rail jam was held this Saturday, Oct. 11. Ski Roundtop in Lewisberry, PA is growing rapidly as they continue to cater to freeskiers and riders around the region. Roundtop decided they wanted to thank the skiers and riders who supported them so strongly last season by giving them an opportunity to ski long before the first snow flakes drop this fall.

The long anticipated day finally arrived and skiers poured in from six surrounding states for their first chance to ski after the long summer months. The rail jam was scheduled for 2:00pm, and the park and pipe crew worked hard to get everything set up. The snow was trucked in from an ice rink about an hour away and around 100 bags of ice were used at the base of the landing. The featured rail was a flat-down box about 25’ long and 8 inches wide.

Everybody knew the turnout would be good, but no one expected 150 participants in the jam, and I was amazed to see how much the sport has grown when around 50 freeskiers showed up for the session. The competition was a two-hour rider-judged jam session. There would be two winners: one skier and one snowboarder. All of the entry fees went towards the prize money.

The winner of the skiers' jam, Tom (center), brought his khaki pants-and-helmet posse with him.The competitors wasted no time as riders attempted backside switch-ups over the kink on their first runs. As skiers got more comfortable with the box, many started to go switch on, and others threw down some 270s on. First place went to a kid named Tom who had a very nice 270 on to switch up over the kink, coming out switch. Tom took home $430 in cash! Second place went to Roundtop local Steve Stepp who had a very nice backside switch up and some clean 270s on.