Dozens of contestants gathered at the Madison Village area at Moonlight Basin on Saturday to participate in the Peanut Butter and Rail Jam presented by snowboard apparel company Volcom, risking health and happiness over an assortment of solid steel beams in hopes of impressing judges with agility and individual style.
While the jam session format of 20-minute heats for each age division might have resembled an amateur circus, the athletes calculated each and every move in order to advance to the next round. With three different features set up side by side, commonly referred to as rails or boxes, the riders pulled out their best tricks on each feature. While some features were easily conquered the first time around, the others gave riders all they could handle. By noon, the contest had its first casualty as a rider who took one of the rails head on and lost was carted away from the lodge on a backboard and into the back of an ambulance. But that didn’t stop the judges from Volcom from turning up the volume on the sound system and pushing the field to elevate their game.
At the end of the day, a handful of riders walked away with prizes while others were rewarded with a free T-shirt for their efforts. Even those who didn’t win still had a great time at this year’s Volcom Peanut Butter and Rail Jam. It’s hard not to when there are free peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone.