The idea of Love Games and what snowboarding needed in Colorado started as a conversation on the lift at Eldora between myself and Scotty Goodale. We both thought Colorado was thought of in the wrong way and only known for the X Games, Dew Tour, and the premier events that come through Colorado every year. And while those events are great for Colorado and snowboarding, they are simply one side of snowboarding, and with all the huge parks and the major ski corporations’ acceptance of snowboarding over the last 20 years, we both felt like something was missing. Kids were missing out on all the spots that we used to ride or hear about. Some of these were the quarter pipe at Vail, the ironing board at Loveland pass, the stump of manhood at Copper.

These were the proving grounds back in the day and if you did something at one of those spots people talked about it. To add to the challenge of this you had to go out with your friends build these spots up, and in some cases these were full day builds, just manpower, shovels and creativity. This type of riding made some of those early pros better riders and well rounded riders, there were no pipe jocks or rail kids. It’s was all just snowboarding at its purest, and all just for the love of it.

That was the last time I rode the lift with Scotty Goodale and a few short weeks later it all came together. A session, funtest, shred get-together, whatever you want to call it, on the top of Loveland pass, where most of Colorado’s early progression had taken place on spots like the Bush Gap, the Quarter Pipe, and Pocahontas. “Love Games,” JG Mazzotta (co owner of satellite) said, “it’s perfect, that’s the name”. Now in its third year, the hype and excitement for the Love Games and the group of people involved, is about the love of snowboarding and Colorado. This is what Colorado was, is and should be: fun, kick-ass, no rules snowboarding with your friends.

Thanks,

Raul Pinto