Big Hill,New Tar, NO CARS

[Eric Brammer]

Hi ya'll. I've posted up on NCDSA's Bulletin Board a few times to let folk know that my fave skatespot is becoming a Public Highway on OCT 18. This an extension of VT route 7 towards Hoosick from N. Bennington,and it straddles the state line. It'll officially be called Rt 279 ('cause up hooks up rt 9 to rt 7,get it?). However,the heavily sessioned N.Y. side (some of you have seen video of this) has been complemented by a mile-long 4% gradient hill on the VT side that has Fresh Tar,and is three lanes wide. With Morro Bay right around the corner,I can't think of a better place (and I've a few to pick from up here) to get yourself up to speed for the upcoming Super-G. There's a variety of pitches to pick from,and Plenty of room in the road,although parking of off Orebed Rd. is snug. I'll be there two days this weekend (10 am to 3 pm),and a few late afternoons this coming week. If you're too lazy to email me for directions (remember,I don't carry a cell,don't work in amougnst the rocks here in VT),you can mapquest for NY state Route 9 + Orebed Rd. to Vt state Route 67A + Vt state Route 7,which'll pretty much define where this highway extension starts and ends. I've put up decent directions for the N.Y. side,put please come up over the ridge to VT,where my cones will be. Bring Fast boards,too. There's plenty of run-out room for most anything you want to point downhill,and the grip of the tar on both sides is excellent,and smooth,and fast. This is the absolute LAST CALL for running cones here,so come and get it!

[Eric Brammer]

I tried (twice!,rain took my pre-planned chalk marks and flushed them overnight) to set the Super-G that was listed for The Worlds. It was a fun course, though I suspect the tar I'm on is way more sticky than what'll be at Morro Bay.Double-Triple pumping at speed was the tactic for this. You simply don't let yourself Be long enough for the wobs to set in. Keep it turning, and you're fine. One heck of a leg-burner, though. Probably used 1/2 mile of the hill for this(with a 1/2 mile + still Uphill of that,just in case you weren't fast enough dropping in!). I did 6 laps there before switching to a shorter, less-walking-thank-you kinda course.
Shaggy brought more cones, so I left the S.G.S. standing and borrowed his cones for a tight-ish Hybrid over on the lower section of the Truck-Weigh-Station, and I kept that tidier at 32 cones with room to turn + burn off speed at the end. It was still plenty fast, and in true Gilmourian form, hard to get through without poppin' some corn. Adam did maybe one clean run all day, but was faster than me on most runs. I lost my title as Mr. Clean here, too, as I got 3 runs that glimmered, and had one that was [Gasp!] 7 or 8 cones flying off.
Anyway, this hill is just superb, and I'm hoping maybe a few of you in the 'local area' will come out and play next weekend. The leaves are just starting to turn, and the view is exquisite (and included Wild Turkeys,a Broadwing Hawk, and a Heron), as you can easliy see both Bennington's Battle Monument and the College from this highway, plus you're looking right up the western mountain corridor. Sunday is the best day, as the construction crews are not there at all then (they've been gone most Saturdays, too, but it's 'crunch time' now). I've not been hassled(this includes bringing 15+ teenage skaters up to intruduce them to longboarding) up here at all, so I'm thinking that a small group won't be bothered, either. So, e-mail me at ebrammer@adelphiaDOTnet, or call if you've got my number, If you think it's worth your while to spend a nice Sunday riding fresh tar with no cars, putting in some laps on an excellent Slalom course [or 3] and bombing a hill that's a mile long on either direction. Remember, Vermont literally means Green Mountains, and I think the name fits!

[Eric Brammer]

I just got off of the phone with Shaggy. We'll be looking to have everything in place by 11:00 am on Sunday. I'm aware that the 10-10:30 arrival time was the target, and please plan on that. It does take a bit to hike/skate in, and again, pack accordingly, bring water/munchies. I'll be there earlier than that, just to make sure the courses are marked and ready. Look for my beat-up old red Saab at the overpass.
The Super-G is what I hope to have set-up as a timed event, but I'll also put up a fluid Hybrid at the truck pulloff, and may mark out a TS uphill of that or a Cyber SL on the flats between the bridges. In any case, we'll have two places (at the least) along the same hillside to practice and race on.
Freecarving or Buttboarding I'll want pushed over to the NY side, just so we don't have unplanned intersections of bodies. Using both sides gives us over 3 miles of rideable roadway. I'm not driving up onto this roadway, so don't expect a ride. At least you'll get some fresh air and excersice out of it!
I'll gladly help anyone with coaching while there. I'll run a trial lap, and one 'timed' run, too. Consider me to be the Hare at a Greyhound race, but I'm taking myself out of contention for the purse. This hill has been very good to me, and I've gotten my while out of it, now it's your turn! I hope everyone has a safe trip up and back, and I think we'll have a very fine session outa this! Aloha...

[Eric Brammer]

Hey all, I just wanted to say "Thanks!" to those who came out a skated today! I had a great time, and it was fun figuring out what 'the fast line' might be on the monster Super-G! [Hey, Karl, I found my key, you're entirely forgiven, just don't ask to drive my car anywhere... :-P ] Trying to run it on my old crutchboard luge was hilarious, and faster than I expected,too! The dual T.S. was also much fun, although I gotta work on my two-step pushes. Having a four-cone limit was crucial as it kept the tidiness factor in the picture. That's something to remember when practicing. It's one thing to go fast, it's another to fast + clean!
Keep in mind that while this hill is a goner in two short weeks, I have other spots up this way that are as much or even more fun to romp on! I'll be scouting stuff out for next summer, and I'll keep y'all posted.
Thanks again for making the trip up my way. I hope the scenery was worth it! It was a glorious, bright, sunny day today, just about as perfect as it gets. Next time, I just gotta get the directions down better. :-o I hope each of you took something positive away with you from this little get-together. To those heading to the Worlds, Good Luck, I'll see you out there!

[Derek Smith]

Big thanks to you guys for a great day and letting us in on your spot. Too bad it won't be unoccupied long. Thanks for the Pizza too Shaggy. You boys should come on out to Gloucester sometime soon. Look forward to racing again with the Green Mountain skaters.

[Eric Brammer]

That hill is now a Highway, Officially as of today. I'm very bummed, but knew it was coming, and I got Plenty of use out of it. The good news is that the Truck Pulloff is still viable, but probably isn't something anyone can plan for, so it'll be a "hit + run" spot. However, in scouting for a feasible replacement, we found that there's a few nice swaths of new tar out by Haystack (which you'd pass by just south of Mt Snow) on some not-so-busy roads. We'll dig deeper into the hills there and see if some of the condominium access roads have fresh paving. Last year,I had talked with a few folk at Okemo on behalf of Gravity Sports. I haven't heard back from Gravity Sports on how that might have gone over, but Okemo itself seemed fairly receptive to Skateboard Competition. I put this out there because I'd love to see some smooth,fast hills being run,and VT is nicely located if you consider the Eastern Canadians as part of the 'non-Western' crowd. For now, I'll be happy if another Outlaw Conefest occurs up this way,and I'll keep spying for that 'excellent venue' spot to use. However, I heartily encourage anyone who's willing to Race up here to come look a few gems over that just might suffice for a "real Contest". The tar quality at The Worlds just was a bummer, and I know I've got better stuff in the backyard here.