Shakedown Rail Jam goes to Jeremy Cloutier

Thanks to perfect weather, an awesome crowd and good riding, the RIDE Shakedown delivered again, for the 3rd time this year. On this season’s final Shakedown, it was local rider Jeremy Cloutier, who took his second Rail Jam title home, on the Saint-Sauveur last night.

On Friday morning, the 54 Ams were welcomed and looking forward to ride the Oakley amateur qualifications. Among these eager athletes were winners from this season’s RIDE Shakedown qualification events such as the Taxis Hold’em, Fokus Pokus, and many others. Being there so many big names, every single one of them just wanted to get noticed and earn his ticket to compete against the pros in today’s Semi-Finals.

Judge Alexandre Auchu was impressed, “the level of riding was significantly higher than amateur qualifications from previous years. Some tricks we saw today can very well be seen in the final”.

21-year old Francis Bourgeois (CAN) took the top stop, stomping a FS 900 and following it up on the kink rail with a gap to BS Lipslide. Joining him in tomorrow’s Semi-Final is 21-year old Antoine Truchon from Saint-Adèle and 16-year old Michel Grégoire from St-Augustin de Desmaures. Truchon did a FS 1080 on the jump and a gap to FS Lipslide on the kink rail, while Grégoire did a BS 1080 Double Cork on the jump before hitting the kink rail 50/50 FS 180-out.

Next on the agenda was the Coors Light Rail Jam qualification round where Vincent Grandmaison from Québec, Dylan Ojo from St-Hubert and Mason Hambly from Elora were victorious among 35 participants.

Coors Light Rail Jam King is none other than Jeremy Cloutier

Once this year’s rail features were unveiled, it was clear riders would have to step it up. With 32 athletes such as two-time RIDE Shakedown winner Sebastien Toutant, notorious Quebec jibber Alex Cantin, and RIDE Shakedown 2010 Rail Jam winner Forest Bailey (USA), fans were treated to quite the show. This year, the design offered three equally challenging options. The first was a down rail, accessible only after overcoming a fence. Option two was the traditional kink rail over 12 steps, and lastly, another fence to down rail with a gap spanning 15 feet.

The final took place on the kink rail, chosen at random. The remaining 8 athletes were each allotted three runs to prove themselves; the best two would count towards their final score. Jeremy Cloutier, winner of the RIDE Shakedown USA Rail Jam two short weeks earlier, stepped it up and performed a FS 180, Cab 360 out on his first run. The 22-year old from Blainville followed it up by stomping a FS 180 Switch BS 360 out, earning the top spot and 5’000 U$D. Coming off the podium, Cloutier was ecstatic:

“Two in a row, feels pretty good! It went well, I landed what I wanted to but it wasn’t easy. I love the format, it works well for me and I loved the setup, it was perfect!”

Phil Jacques, a 23-year old rider from Ancienne-Laurette, impressed the judges with a variation of tricks. He takes home second and 2’000 U$D. 24-year old Frank April stood out for his consistency and earned the third podium spot along with 1’000 U$D.

Once again, Ride Snowboards will be collecting donations to benefit the Red Cross Japan relief effort. The total sum collected this weekend will be matched up again by RIDE, so stop by their booth in the partner village!

Today, the final event day starts with a autograph session and is followed by the long awaited semi-final round at 14h (local time). Enjoy the many activities available in the partner village or watch the annual Push.ca halftime show, where invited skateboarders take to the same rail set-up used by snowboarders. As of 19h, we go live as Fuel.TV begins their live webcast of the 2011 RIDE Shakedown Finale!

\\ 2011 RIDE Shakedown | final day \\

| RIDE Shakedown | Fuel.TV |