Occupy Bone Zone at Brighton Resort - 1,000 people show up to shred
words: E-Stone
photos: E-Stone and Scotty Arnold
captions: T. Bird
The Bone Zone started as a private park in the woods of Big Cottonwood Canyon built by a group of tight homies and hidden to the public. This private park was the spot where the pros of SLC would hone their skills during the preseason. The rules were simple: bring a shovel to help maintain the features and most of all, bring a positive attitude. Follow those rules and you were most likely invited. Unfortunately, the word got out and all the traffic in the woods brought the attention of the local police and they shut it all down with threats of trespassing tickets. Ted Borland and Alex Andrews were not ready to let the idea of the Bone Zone die and after a couple meetings with Brighton, they got the green light to build a new Bone Zone at the resort where the cops could not shut thing down. The boys worked hard all summer, clearing out areas of the woods and building features from nearby fallen trees and a new Bone Zone was born. The rules are the same as ever: bring a shovel and be prepared to work on the park each day as you ride, and most of all, bring a positive attitude. The park is open to all this preseason and last weekend was the official kick off. Ted teamed up with Krush Kulesza at Snowboy Productions to create a kickoff event called, Occupy Bone Zone. The event started with a Friday night photo gallery at local shred eatery, Spedellis, featuring photos from the previous Snowboy event in the area, Holy Bowly and then on Saturday, a shred session was open to all at Brighton's new Bone Zone park.
The word is throughout the day on Saturday, there was a total of almost one thousand snowboarders and skiers up at the Bone Zone. From people riding the many features the park has to offer, to people chilling on the sidelines listening to beats by DJ Matty Mo and enjoying food from the many BBQs posted up along the trail, Occupy Bone Zone went off. The shredders all moved from feature to feature, riding in an open format where best tricks were called out and winners received swag from the many sponsors. It was insane to see so many people hyped up and excited to finally be shredding again after a long summer. I have a huge amount of respect for what Ted and Alex have done for the snowboard community of SLC by making the Bone Zone happen. I hope they pave the way for more communities to get something like this going; bringing all the snowboarders together to kick off the season at a free park open to snowboarders and skiers alike is just what we need right now. If you are in Utah and have not checked out the Bone Zone at Brighton, get up there ASAP. The resort opens officially on Wednesday, November 18th, thanks to all the new snow, so if you want to check out what Ted and Alex have built, remember to bring a shovel and just look for the wooden Bone Zone sign and a group of shredders chilling in the woods. Ride through and say what's up to Ted and the boys. Have fun and remember the Bone Zone is for everyone!
For all the videos and photos from Bone Zone, check out the Bone Zone website.
