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"\"&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=\\\"\\/files\\/2009\\/03\\/23\\/opening.jpg\\\"&gt;&lt;img class=\\\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1000089962\\\" title=\\\"opening\\\" src=\\\"\\/files\\/2009\\/03\\/23\\/opening.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Photos by Russel Kaczmar &lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Words by Adam Kisiel&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;In weather that made me feel like I should have dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, short shorts, and mandals, I watched one hundred and two rippers make history.\\u00a0 These kids of various ages, sizes, and riding styles had no idea they were making history, but just like any other day they were riding their hearts out.\\u00a0 The incredible stage that was set by Clayton Shoemaker and the Bear Mountain Park Crew was something to behold and was a perfect catalyst for a break out performance in the TransWorld SNOWboarding TransAm.\\u00a0 The TransAm Park at Bear always just appears overnight and is one of the first things anyone sees as they come up the steps in awe Saturday morning at Bear.\\u00a0 It had everything and pushed each rider to step out of their normal riding and open up for creativity on a set up they could have never even imagined riding.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;It was already a pivotal moment in the tour as it was the last stop of a train that started down the tracks, on the East coast, in January and only picked up steam as it crossed the nation.\\u00a0 As the riders stood at the top of the park anxiously awaiting the introduction and start of the Traffic Jam, there was a strange feeling in the air.\\u00a0 Some guessed based on the park that this would be something that would be talked about for some time to come.\\u00a0 Others were wondering what these riders would do on such a different park set up. Any speculation was put to rest as all one hundred and two riders tore the park apart feature by feature.\\u00a0 The Traffic Jam, an hour long jam session, gives each rider so much riding time that they can\\u2019t help but progress their riding to new heights.\\u00a0 The Dakine Paper Shreds had front row seats to the action on the Dakine flat box to down rail set up.\\u00a0 I am actually surprised they were still standing after the amount of heat produced by the likes of Devin Allen who was as consistent as the sunshine and warm weather at Bear.\\u00a0 Ian Sams was also signing his name into the TransAm history book as he hit almost every feature in one trick and was just awesome over the Bear Mountain 4&amp;#215;4 Blazer buried in the ground.\\u00a0 This feature also showcased something that I have never witnessed before. As one rider was stalling on the top of the blazer from the side another rider aired over the vehicle from the top jibbing the rider that was in mid stall.\\u00a0 As both riders rode away unscathed they met at the bottom for a big hug and disbelief on what had actually transpired.\\u00a0 It was something you would see on a most shocking moments TV show, a moment I needed a change of underwear to experience.\\u00a0 The whole bottom of the course was a row of features set up in a skate park style line up with transition of both sides.\\u00a0 This gave riders the option to combine tricks on several features in a row.\\u00a0 Rainbow Woodall and Elin Bjorkum were combining one of the wall rides into the Oakley Shark lift pole set up that was forcing riders to hit the transition on the backside of the park or ollie to another wall ride at the end of the Oakley Shark pole.\\u00a0 It was a matter of timing and fast feet to survive, one man who didn\\u2019t quite survive the shark wrath was a rider named Donkey who was awarded best fall for a backside spine contortion.\\u00a0 Moving down the bottom row was the Zumiez Couch that had riders stalling and bonking into the transition on the other side.\\u00a0 The High Cascade Snowboard Camp Marshmallow also saw riders flying well overhead with 360\\u2019s, 540\\u2019s, and inverts galore.\\u00a0\\u00a0 The next feature down the line was a huge water tank that could be hit from the side or over top.\\u00a0 Alex Hulett quickly pioneered what most could only name as a stall trick for lack of a better name and the inexperience of ever seeing something like it before.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Forty riders were picked to ride in the Ultimate Final, which was set up to isolate riders to certain lines of the park for a ten minute jam in each section.\\u00a0 Melissa Spillman stepped ahead of the pack as a combo master and overall best female rider in each section.\\u00a0 Ryan Tarbell had his eye on each line of the park and was riding like the TransAm scene had been up all season long.\\u00a0 He was gaining speed from one side of the park and using the Ride Slime wall as skate transition to stall up top then drop back in to hit the Bear Water Tank from the side.\\u00a0 That innovative riding put him in the top spot to take home best overall male rider.\\u00a0 Riders who took home top honors received Custom TransAm Goggles from Oakley, Custom TransAm Backpacks from Dakine, My Little Pony and Nerf guns from High Cascade Snowboard Camp and Zumiez gift cards.\\u00a0 First place earned TransWorld SNOWboarding TransAm trophies, Dakine backpacks and board bags, Ride Snowboards, Oakley goggles, and Zumiez gift packs.\\u00a0 In the end it was a Ball Park Franks hot dog roast and a huge product toss that had everyone jumping for the sky.\\u00a0 It was a perfect award for the exclamation point on a history making tour unlike any other.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;The Transworld Snowboarding TransAm Tour has evolved and will continue to evolve because of everyone involved.\\u00a0 It is not a surprise that we end the tour at Bear where they consistently set the standard higher and higher and set the tone for what we can do on next year\\u2019s tour.\\u00a0 History was made this past weekend and your originators were everyone involved especially the riders. Get ready for January 2010 when we write the next chapter of fun.&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nMale Top Honors&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n1st: Ryan Tarbell&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n2nd: Devin Allen&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n3rd: Ian Sams&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=\\\"color: #888888;\\\"&gt;Female Top Honors&lt;\\/span&gt;&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n1st: Melissa Spillman&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n2nd: Elin Bjorkum&lt;br \\/&gt;\\n3rd: Rainbow Woodall&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Best Trick&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nIan Sams- Every feature in one trick plus a swivel.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Best Fall&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;br \\/&gt;\\nDonkey- Backside spine contortion on lift tower.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1000089958 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'&gt;&lt;figure class='gallery-item'&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t&lt;div class='gallery-icon landscape'&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t\\t&lt;a href='http:\\/\\/snowboarding.transworld.net\\/uncategorized\\/transam-finals\\/attachment\\/opening_words_photo\\/'&gt;&lt;img width=\\\"176\\\" height=\\\"117\\\" src=\\\"http:\\/\\/snowboarding.transworld.net\\/wp-content\\/blogs.dir\\/442\\/files\\/2009\\/03\\/23\\/opening_words_photo.jpg\\\" class=\\\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\\\" alt=\\\"opening_words_photo\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t&lt;\\/div&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;&lt;figure class='gallery-item'&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t&lt;div class='gallery-icon landscape'&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t\\t&lt;a href='http:\\/\\/snowboarding.transworld.net\\/uncategorized\\/transam-finals\\/attachment\\/opening_words_photo1\\/'&gt;&lt;img width=\\\"176\\\" height=\\\"117\\\" src=\\\"http:\\/\\/snowboarding.transworld.net\\/wp-content\\/blogs.dir\\/442\\/files\\/2009\\/03\\/23\\/opening_words_photo1.jpg\\\" class=\\\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\\\" alt=\\\"opening_words_photo1\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t&lt;\\/div&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;&lt;figure class='gallery-item'&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t&lt;div class='gallery-icon landscape'&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t\\t&lt;a href='http:\\/\\/snowboarding.transworld.net\\/uncategorized\\/transam-finals\\/attachment\\/opening\\/'&gt;&lt;img width=\\\"176\\\" height=\\\"117\\\" src=\\\"http:\\/\\/snowboarding.transworld.net\\/wp-content\\/blogs.dir\\/442\\/files\\/2009\\/03\\/23\\/opening.jpg\\\" class=\\\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\\\" alt=\\\"opening\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;\\n\\t\\t\\t&lt;\\/div&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;\\n\\t\\t&lt;\\/div&gt;\\n\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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