Going to the circus is something everyone should do at least once in their lifetime. My favorite part was seeing how big the elephant poop was and watching what seemed like a thousand midget clowns crawl out of a vw bug. I was consumed in this same feeling, while I stood at the bottom of the TransAM mini park at Hyland Minnesota. An event that I thought would never rival the raw in your face experience of seeing that same group of circus clowns pedaling around on one bike, all sitting on each others shoulders, while they juggled axes.
The event started in vicious fashion as all 130 riders disregarded any official start and started the traffic jam in an everyone for themselves riot. The Ride Snowboards feature was a gigantic mailbox where at any given time you could see upwards of four riders jibbing it at once. The Dakine feature was a plastic sewer pipe wide enough for Paul Bunyan's crapper. The park crew at Hyland set it up like an oversized pole jam or poop shooter, much to the delight of the Dakine twins. Half of the field gathered around the Oakley mini quarter to stage their own Artic Challenge session on the mini replica feature. The High Cascade volcano jump was spitting out riders at a rate that sent tremors across the twin cities area. Dan Liedahl and Tanya Zarling were seen on the Zumiez flat box and the Hyland rainbow, jibbing in search of the Transworld Snowboarding pot of gold, in the form of TransAm top honors.
One of the competitors must have noticed the look on my face as I watched in awe of the no holds barred action. He smiled and said, "this is just like any other Saturday at Hyland, don't fall or you will turn into the next jib." It was at that point I thought this wasn't just another TransAm stop, but a stage for only the most talented, raw, and untamed. I was sure that these kids would jib your face off if there was a take off up to it. Andy Barringer proved you didn't need to jib anything, you just needed to be upside down throughout most of the contest. He joined the list of 40 riders that made it to the Ultimate Jam finals. In the finals Josh Tranby MJ'd nearly every feature and the Hyland park crew added a hit to gap the backside of the quarter pipe. This was not the time in the circus where those little dancing ponies took center stage; it was time for the fire-eaters and lion tamers to be showcased. The winners from this intense showdown to throw down walked away with Ride Snowboards, Dakine custom backpacks stuffed with awesomeness from Oakley, Transworld Snowboarding, and Zumiez. High Cascade trophy babies were also awarded to the top three competitors. There is a small resort in the city of Minneapolis where the riders are under the close watchful eye of uniformed officer's with badges, as they contend to see who drops in next. It is only fitting since these rider's show no signs of backing down to anyone. Hyland MN is not for the soft.
TransAm Hyland Final Results:
Men:
1. Dan Liedahl
2. Todd Kirby
3. Jeff Gabrick
Women:
1. Tanya Zarling
2. Coco Cook
3. Monica Nhep
Found at http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/snow/features/article/0,26719,1709710,00.html
