Darkside West Coast Tour
Story & Photos // Jake Sullivan
Video // Henry Viswat
“We should’ve never left Reno.”
It started as banter between Henry and me after a night at Circus Circus in the Biggest Little City In The World. Under the illusion that we may raise some funds for our trip, hanging late at night in the endless rows of penny slots rewarded nothing but a much-welcome break from the rest of the crew, aka the kids.
Ten days later, as I stared out the window of our Airbnb in Government Camp, Oregon, I started to believe the banter was true. Lane Knaack lived in Reno for years. GBP Gremlin Zach Duby lives there currently. Maybe they are on to something. I never imagined I’d say it for real, but by the fifth straight day of rain battering Mt Hood, maybe we should’ve never left Reno.
It felt as if the whole trip was falling off the hinges. There were only so many activities we could come up with to entertain a bunch of hyperactive twenty-something-year-olds who thought they were rolling into Mt Hood to ride warm sunny spring park laps all week. Five of us had been on the road for nearly a month, and a few others met us in Govy to join in on the last stop of the mission. I wondered if some of the guys would even see the peak of Hood on their first-ever trip to Oregon. But as Ride Snowboards’ Alex Hoyt reminded me, "Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, bitch”.
Three weeks earlier, Koa Gonet, Ben Gyulay, and I flew from the East Coast to LAX to link up with Sihler and Henry. We loaded Henry’s truck and immediately started the trek north towards Mammoth. Ben and Koa had never been to California, making everything in sight awe-inspiring or something out of GTA. After a brief interaction with CHP on 395 in the middle of nowhere, we rolled into Mammoth Lakes to post up for a week of warm, sunny boarding.
Since this was Ben and Koa’s first time traveling with us, we threw them right into the fire on day one - a lap off the peak straight to Main Park. There, they encountered packs of 14-year-old kids training to be the next slopestyle superheroes. The boys quickly realized that if they didn't have a Monster Army sticker on their helmet in the same spot as the boarder next to them, they would be fair game to be pelted with snowballs from the chairlift and called “weekend warrior” in the lift line. For some, that could get in your head and ruin your time, especially considering every one of those kids are doing dub 10s at breakfast. But riding in Vermont all winter thickens your skin like nothing else, and our crew had some good laughs at their expense.
We lined up our stay in Mammoth so we could cross paths with some more of the Darkside squad throughout the week. Sumner Orr was still in town following his heavy showing at Slush Magazine’s World Quarters the previous weekend. Connor Cav was getting some laps before working at Hood for the summer, blasting the hip and jump line all week with his timeless style.
After her first-ever winter on the East Coast, Girls of Darkside’s newest addition, Cali Carlson, hopped back to California for a quick minute and threw down on everything. She reminded us all that while she may have some gold duct tape at home from winning the Mt Baker Legendary Banked Slalom a few years back, she is a true ATV and rips everything.
Fresh off the plane from Holy Bowly up in Banff, Canada, Erin Alexander got a quick few days with the crew before returning to Vermont. It was a solid finish to her jam-packed season, balancing time between multiple high-profile events and putting in the work to help build the best park Pico has had in over a decade. But you know Barb couldn’t pass up the opportunity to slide some pink rails.
We also linked up with a longtime friend of the shop and all-around incredible dude, Tony Szeliga! He had been living on Donner Pass all winter, raking the park at Kingvale, and living in his box truck. He met us in Mammoth and decided to follow the whole route, which was a massive help, allowing us to spread out at times. Not to mention having another East Coaster in the mix is always a pleasure. It made the trip complete having him along, and we thank you, Squiggles!
One person no one knew would be there was Bryan Sihler. Ryan flew into LAX and hopped in the truck for the whole trip with us, but Bryan just appeared one day and took his spot. Bryan is a complex guy. He may sometimes forget that he started to cook food and leave the condo unannounced with said food in the oven. You might find him silently drawing in his sketchbook for hours, then out of nowhere answer the question you asked him yesterday as if you just asked it. There will probably be a few days in a row that Bryan has no clue where his glasses are, which renders him just about blind. But then, unable to see anything, he’ll back lip a massive kink rail (3 flat, dfdfdfd), do the biggest ollie or most tech switchup you’ve seen all week like it's nothing. He’ll hike a rail in the park for hours with the most genuine smile, but walking to the store two blocks away can’t be done unless you roll up. We love Ryan. We love Bryan. Sometimes you never know who you’ll get, but you can be sure they’ll get twice as many clips as anyone else on most days.
With such a cast of characters, the week in Mammoth flew by. Henry celebrated a birthday when we were there, which had us stumbling onto a Black Sabbath cover band show. Mid-show, a brawl broke out about 6 inches away from Henry, and he just cheered it on, not moving out of the way whatsoever. You can take the kid out of Jersey, they say. Everyone was riding hard, the crew was stoked, and despite the expected stress when trying to film a trick here and there, it was a perfect week. Mission complete.
As the squad was thinning out and people began leaving town, it was time for us to start the drive north. On the way up 395, we got word that the park at Palisades was really good, so we made the last-minute decision to post up in Truckee for a few nights. But not before a one-night stop in Reno. We should’ve never left Reno.
Everything in the park at Mammoth was big. Throw in a bunch of pros and training camps, and the whole scene was hectic. So when we got up to Palisades, everyone was excited for a change of pace. The park had it all: big and small, burly and tech, and everything in between. Add in a few unexpected links with friends from all over, and it turned out to be some of the best days of the whole trip.
Sometimes, it takes stepping out of your comfort zone to really come into your own. With Ben and Koa being the newest additions to the DS team, this trip was a test run to see how they would handle being on the road in unfamiliar territory.
I noticed Koa started figuring it all out those few days in Tahoe. He was getting more consistent, trying tricks outside his usual wheelhouse, and riding more confidently. Although it was his first time snowboarding outside New England, he stepped up to the challenge without hesitation. When we were at Logan Airport, about to start the trip, he told me he had never flown without his mom or grandma. My initial thought was, “Oh crap, I’m going to be babysitting this kid the whole time”. The first week had some moments, but by the time we hit Truckee, Koa had the program down. On our last day at Palisades, he landed his first double, a big moment for the flip guy.
Out of anyone on the trip, I’ve spent the least amount of time with Ben. We asked him to be on the DS team only about a week before we hit the road. He’s been holding down the local scene at Killington for a few years and supporting the shop since before he moved to town.
He worked as a groomer full-time last winter, most days going straight from the overnight shift to the hill. That dedication to doing whatever it takes to be able to go snowboarding all winter really shows how much this all means to him. It’s also enough to overlook how many times he set off the fire alarm and smoked out every one of our condos while trying to cook something. The kid’s got a mean front board through almost anything, but he still hasn’t figured out how to grease a frying pan and not turn the dial to ‘high’ when cooking a burger in your kitchen.
Ben can also swim. One afternoon after riding Palisades, we linked up with our friend from Vermont, Maddie, and some of her friends at Donner Lake. Koa and Ben had been pushing each other’s buttons nonstop. Eventually, Koa bet Ben he couldn’t swim across this section of the lake and back. Maddie was about to leave for a manicure, so Henry threw down, and the loser had to get a mani. While Maddie tried to figure out how to lose this bet somehow and get her nails done for free, Ben took off. He did surprisingly well and made the round-trip paddle in no time. Maddie picked the color for Koa, a nice light blue, reminiscent of the Ride Benchwarmer topsheet. The ladies at the nail salon got a kick out of the situation and reminded Koa not to underestimate Ben ever again.
It was our last night in Truckee, so after the manicure, it was a call for celebration. Maddie and our buddy Chase took us down to RMU. After a few rounds, some of the crew repeatedly let all the bartenders know we were friends of Cali, who worked there before moving to VT. They didn’t give a fuck. Koa, Sihler, and I went home early, while Henry and Ben went on an all-night Truckee adventure. In the morning, I was having one of my regular stress-induced meltdowns while packing the truck, and was convinced they wouldn’t make it back before we had to check out. Then, just in time, they walked through the door like nothing happened, ready to hit the road. Mission complete.
Everything after we arrived in Oregon is blurry. Between exhaustion from the road, stress from back home, and the Shining-esque claustrophobia that set in after being cooped up in that house for days waiting out the rain, I feared a final crash out was inevitable.
Thankfully, Gian “G” Turiello, Zev Wysocki, and Kaiden Paulson met us in Govy, bringing fresh energy and a well-timed morale boost. G stepped in like a boss, immediately entertaining the whole crew, lifting some weight off Henry and I. Kaiden fired the younger guys up on our first day on the hill together, stomping some insane tricks and hyping everyone up to try new stuff. Zev almost had to bail on the whole trip after rupturing his spleen a few weeks prior, but he decided to come out regardless and hang tough for moral support.
One morning, Henry, Kaiden, and I slipped out of the house early and drove down to Mt Bachelor. I spent a few months on the road with Kaiden this year filming for the new Goon Gear project and we quickly became close friends. After being in the streets with him all winter, watching him cruise Woodward Bachelor was a treat. Endless lines, proper tricks, and the sickest style. He completely killed the place.
Back up at Hood, we spent the rest of the week finding ways to avoid the rain. We tried it all: arcades, the bowling alley, an awkward curse-word-free drive to the coast, shooting lots of dice, Baker 3 on repeat, and time-traveling at Charlie's. After a sneaky powder day on May 20, the sun finally came out, and everyone was ready to stack some clips. Someone must have stolen Ben’s gluten-free bread while we waited out the weather, because he was hungry and came out swinging. He threw down for the next few days like we hadn’t seen him yet, reminding everyone why he deserved to be there.
While the boys were riding out the last few days of spring pass, it was time for me to fly home and face reality. As I sat in the airport waiting for my flight, hand shattered from sucker punching a fire extinguisher the night before, I came to a realization. We had all crashed out at some point on the trip, but the kids, Ben and Koa, rolled with the punches better than anyone. Maybe their lack of experience didn’t allow them to think of what could have been better. Or perhaps they were so excited to be on a trip that nothing could knock them down. Whatever it was, in the end, they had the most fun and got more out of the whole experience than any of us. Being along for the ride and witnessing it all was a privilege. But give it a few more years, and they’ll agree that we should’ve never left Reno.
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1,000 Miles, 730 hours on the road. The Darkside snowboards crew takes on the west coast during the month of May.
"Crash Out | A Darkside Snowboards West Coast Tour" now playing on YouTube
Filmed and edited by Henry Viswat
