Early in the season I was shredding some Grouse cliffs with Graham Haywood when I noticed his pass said PRO RIDER. This was nice because it allowed us to cut to the front of some ridiculously long lift lines. Apparently it also gave him a few hundred dollars to spend at Grouse's famous Altitudes restaurant over the course of the year. Being the nice guy that he is (or maybe just because he was injured for most of the year) Graham saved up those dollars for a day in early April, gathering a group of friends to shred the mountain and have a few rounds courticy of his PRO RIDER bar tab.

When that Monday came around I was hoping Graham's invitational would be cancelled. I had unexpectedly had to do a story on the Showdown Over the City that weekend, then the night before had been up late after a Foo Fighters show at the Coliseum. Needless to say I was exhausted, but when I rolled out of bed at about 2pm I looked out my window and could see the sun shining up on Grouse. So I quickly gathered my stuff and after catching the tram perfectly, was up the mountain doing laps with the crew before 3.

The highlight of the day was supposed to be the reopening of the 70 foot Showdown jump, which was still in perfect shape from the weekend. I didn't think this would be an issue considering the level of talent we had in the group, which along with Graham included James Hillier and Whistlerites Marc Aboussouan and Josh Stack. After some consideration Grouse bigwigs shocked us by deciding the massive stepdown would remain closed. For me this was a bit of a relief, but for a guy like Josh Stack who has comfortably stepped to the insane features of the Candide Invitational, it was a pretty big letdown. Instead of getting to see Stack destroy the jump we had to witness him take out his frustrations on the chicken wings, nachos, and other appetizers we were treated to inside Altitudes. From what I remember the dude had one hand wrapped up in a cast and still managed to devour more wings than any of us...

Meanwhile Hillier was on a mission. He had recruited photographer Toshi Kawano to come out from Pemberton for the day and was getting more shots than a junkie at Hastings & Main. By the time the two finally came inside it was dark and the bar tab had run dry. Hillier downed the warm half pint of beer we had leftover and went right back outside. All season he had been talking about a 25 foot bomb drop right off of Altitudes' summer deck, and now seemed like the right time to get it done. After climbing to the ledge he waited patiently for the tram to launch, then jumped, grabbed japan, and stomped it. Perfect end to the session!

Hope they do this again next year! Big thanks to Graham and Grouse mountain for making it happen!

TAGS: Dan Petsnick, Graham Haywood, James Hillier, Josh Stack, Grouse Park, Showdown Over the City, Toshi Kawano