Castleford had an Xscapeology (now called SNO!storm) night last Friday and it was excellent. This was the second one of these that I’ve been to and I must say that the park setup has been great at both. You also get an extra hour of riding for the same price, making it a 5 hour session. Here’s what was on offer on Friday evening:
- Gap kicker. Good size and really well shaped
- 4m Down Rail (side kickers)
- Down-Flat-Down Kink (side kickers)
- Slide Box
- Raised Magic Rail
- 10m Rail
- SNO!storm Whale Tail Box
- Raised Transco Pipe
- Raised C-box
- C-Box
- Double Picnic Bench
- SNO!storm Wall Ride
- Rookie / Snowskate park with rookie rails, boxes and kickers
The rails were organised into 3 separate ‘lines’ and there was just loads to choose from.
I think I spent my time roughly 50-50 between the kicker and the rails, although maybe a little more time on the kicker. I was most determined to work on the frontside 3, but also worked on the fs 180 and a basic backside shifty. I was certainly glad of my impact shorts after a few nasty slams. Right at the end of the night I got a couple of short shots on the kicker, which I’ll post shortly…
The rails were a lot of fun! I tried the down-flat-down for the first time, although I’ve got to say that the kink was pretty mild compared to previous setups, so it made for a good introduction. I was using the short rail with side kickers to practice ollie’ing on from the side to a 50-50; beginner stuff, but it was the first time I’d gotten around to trying it. As you progress to different rails riding straight on is rarely going to be an option so it’s something that I need to be comfortable with. I also started to hit the slide box switch. I was certainly
The wall ride was another first. Nothing impressive to report unfortunately.
All in all this was probably the best session that I’ve had at Castleford (and that was without playing around on the snowskates!) The park was great. I just wish that they’d put these sessions on more often…