Spring. That bitter sweet time of year when everyone is stoked to get back into skateboarding, but incredibly bummed that snowboarding season is over. Even with the sub-par snowfall this winter, it’s always sad to see the season go. Thankfully, to ease the pain, closing day just so happens to be the biggest party of the year. One key component to capitalize on closing day is to roll deep. Snowboarding is always better with homies, so naturally you need the whole squad to shut’er down right.
The crew and I started the day in the laziest way by getting up to Brighton at about 1pm. With the hot slush surfing in full force, we figured what’s the rush? It’s funny how riding almost becomes secondary on closing day. While everyone is celebrating snowboarding and the end of the season, the focus certainly seems to be on the celebrating much more than the snowboarding. Which is why as long as you are at the resort for Marcharita, you’re doing good.
Marcharita is the climax of the closing day party at Brighton and this year was one for the record books. I have to first admit that I have no clue where the name Marcharita comes from. Someone told me it’s because Brighton used to close in March so that’s always when the party was, but I assumed it was because of the “march” you have to do off Snake Creek lift to get to the party. If anyone knows for sure, feel free to leave a comment!
That tangent aside, Marcharita is the place to be. At around 3:30pm, after loading up backpacks of beer and fireworks, everyone mobs over to Snake before last chair. At the top, you head lookers left until the trail starts to turn uphill. That’s when you follow the hoard of people up a short hike to the party plateau.
However, the ultimate highlight of the day that we were all anxious for was King of the Mountain. It has been a personal dream of mine to participate in such an event ever since I popped my Out Cold cherry many moons ago. For those unfamiliar with what I’m talking about, let YouTube be your guide:
And let me tell you, we did it RIGHT. We even managed to find glass mugs that were exactly the same as in the movie:
After the final intense, high speed chase down the sun baked slopes of Brighton, we are proud to pronounce #SaltysTeam rider Tyler Hubbell as this years King of the Mountain! We didn’t exactly measure the actual amount of beer left in his mug, but he pulled the same sneaky move as Rick Rambis, so we had to give it to him.
If you don’t know what he’s doing here, go back up and watch the whole video!
It’s always hard to conclude posts like this since I wish the season wasn’t concluded, so I’ll wrap this up with some quick thank you’s. Big thanks to Jared Winkler at Brighton for continuing to make it the best place ever, thanks to our friend DJ Benway (@snowman802) for taking all these awesome photos, and a HUGE thanks to all of you for another incredible shred season! Enjoy a few more of DJ’s shots from the rambunctious rollers of Brighton Resort, and start counting the days til we ride again!