As Marrisa and I reflected on how the Downtown Throwdown Rail Jam went, we found some good and some bad, but at the end of the day; we were extremely happy! We will be doing some things different next year to make it a more enjoyable experience for everyone, but I wouldn’t change this year’s event at all. We all learned a ton and overall it was a HUGE success!
If you made it to Traverse City, Mi on Feb 19, 2011 you know how extreme the event was. We did something that Traverse City has NEVER seen before. A near 40’ ramp was build in the urban setting of downtown Traverse City. It was located on corner of Union St and Grandview Parkway in, what many know as, the Farmers Market lot. Or many know it as where the National Cherry Festival holds the Carnival. There were two options for the competitors to chose to drop in at, one was at 25’ and on top of that was an 8’ box which the riders could choose to drop in from 32’.
It was the most aggressive event that EpicHappens has taken on; we learned a lot and will apply it to all future events. We need a little bit more time to build next year, just in case Mother Nature decides to throw 40-50 mph winds at us
After the rail jam got going, things started falling into place rather well. Fernando Lopez from Beautiful People Productions was the emcee for the event; he was killing it as usual! A good mic man can make your event go off! He did just that! The party really started when the Grenade Generals Danny Kass and The Dingo arrived! Fernando and The Dingo shared the mic for the finale. It was definitely an experience to be a part of. Danny and Dingo were so gracious when approached by their fans. They signed hundreds of autographs and posed for several pictures without hesitation. As you can see, there were a ton of fans! These guys were definitely class acts!
The riders really threw down too! We saw some nasty rail tricks and some front flips, back flips and rodeos. There are hundreds of pictures and several videos rolling around the web for your viewing enjoyment! Check out EpicHappens.com or facebook.com/epichappens to see many of them. Here is a link to a video from G6 Studios wrapping up the rail jam
We really want to thank the many vendor’s and sponsors of this event, without them none of this would have happened. So let me take a minute to list them and ask that you support their products!
Grenade Gloves, Cushe Footwear, Glik’s, Neff Headwear, Herlter Contruction, Nordica, Orage, Giro, Monster, Subaru, Real Rock Radio, Boyne Country Sports, Rossignol, DC, Epic Planks, AGA Nation, McDonalds, Morrow, K2 Ski, K2 Snowboard, Planet Earth, Betty Rides, Holiday Inn West Bay, Beautiful People Productions, Shanty Creek Resorts, Brown Lumber, Spence Brothers, 2nd Level Goods, Oneballjay, Bandits International, Lit Image and Sound Bytes Entertainment.
There are some sponsors that we would like to recognize for going above and beyond during the event. Cushe Footwear was a leader in promoting this event on their facebook page as well as twitter AND giving out several pairs of shoes the day of the event! Glik’s for being an advocate for the industry growing in Northern Michigan. Without Jim Glik on our side, I am not sure how we could have pulled of such an event. It was great having Jim Glik (Vice President of Glik’s) and his son Elliot in town all weekend. Glik’s was a major supporter of Danny and The Dingo being in town. He opened his Traverse City store to having Danny Kass sign autographs and take pictures with all his fans! Nordica and Giro stepped up when they didn’t have to. These brands came in and offered up more product than what they had to so that the 1st place advanced ski winner had a great prize pack!
A special thanks to Shawn McNamara for working tirelessly on the construction of the ramp for several weeks. If not for him, this would have never happened. I would also like to give a big, additional, thanks to Tim Hertler with Hertler Construction for allowing us to build the ramp panels in his heated facility and his time in putting up the scaffold and panels! If anyone needs any home improvement, remodel or new construction you should put Hertler Construction on the top of your list! Check them out at www.HertlerConstruction.com.
EpicHappens is working on the summer 2011 events in and around Traverse City so stay tuned for some epic adventures! We are currently working on a few Skate board events, Stand Up Paddle (SUP), Cycle cross and a Wakeboard event on Grand Traverse Bay! Stick with us on facebook to be the first to learn the latest on all the events we are involved with.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and we look forward to seeing you all at the next event!
Matt Hodges | Co-Founder
