The action has been non-stop after draggin my ass 6 hours to socal…. worth every ounce of gas to get here though. I was able to catch much of the FMX and rally events and the semifinals for the skate sessions and big air and have been absolutely blown away.

I mean it is one thing to sit from the comfort of my leather couch with a John Daly in one hand and a bucket of KFC in the other, but seeing these athletes defy the nature of gravity in person puts a new perspective on the dimension of lunacy that these folks live in. I am no stranger to catching 50′ airs, but usually have the comfort of 4+ feet of powder to cushion my fall if something goes wrong. These folks are huckin their meat over hard ground, and “without a net”!

Sooo many new faces this year, names I had never heard of and the old standards… Lasek, Burnquist, Twitch, Pastrana, Deegan and Foust were turning it out just the same. Although there were numerous upsets this year, there were some truly amazing moments as well. Despite coming up short, Travis Pastrana made my facial expression go from a jaw drop to a major wince during his FMX run when he threw his rodeo 720… yep! Couldn’t take my eyes off him while shaking my head in disbelief. Word has it, he had never even done this trick before…

And then there was the big air contest… where veteran skater Danny Way took a win with his switch 50/50 on the massive rail which had not been there during previous years… as if the ramp wasn’t big enough Danny won on a injured knee and rolled ankle which rumor has it is broken. The ramp itself simply made your throat swell and go gulp at the site of it, the only words that came out of my mouth when I saw this thing was, “are they seriously gonna jump that thing”? Amazingly nobody was seriously hurt or impaled on the enormous rainbow rail this year despite ridiculously absurd runs from the likes of Andy Macdonald and 21 year old Rob Lorifice who pulled of a 540 Rodeo which he landed, no doubt disappointing a few spectators after the excitement of numerous near death experiences from Jake Brown and Way the past few years. Did I mention this thing is frickin massive! Several skaters who were on the roster backed out at the last minute due to the shakey shakes… lol. I can’t say that I blame them one bit!

So much good stuff I wish it could never end…

Big Air Photos: Chris Tedesco