[Ridemonkey.com]

Santa Cruz freerider Jamie Goldman recently placed fifth at WhiteStyle, the Austrian snow slopestyle event...snowpstyle. Here is his entertaining account of the proceedings, and a few pics of what went down.
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Words by Jamie Goldman

It was another cold winter in Leogang! Wow....really cold! Somehow, with sweat frozen to my face, I built up the courage to drop in on my Santa Cruz Blur for my first runs on the course. Making the choice to run my standard tires proved to be the wrong one. Last year I ran Maxxis Wet Screams and I felt I had much more control than this year because the snow conditions were now different. Regardless, my decision had been made and there was no way to go back to my house to swap them out!

Riding the roller coaster that is White Style can be very amusing. You never know if you are going to over-jump, case, or just land perfectly. I had been snowboarding quite a lot this year prior to the White Style and I thought that I would have a better chance to judge speed than I had in the past. Something about snowboarding and having your feet basically on the ground allows you to feel the speed though your board, but on a bike it seems like you are always going the same speed, whether you're going 7 miles an hour or 30! It makes for an interesting run for the rider every time.

I had lots of trouble in practice this year. Watching everyone else just kill it on the course I began to get more and more down on the contest and started to just sort of shut down. The last run before qualifying I decided I had better start to do some tricks otherwise my whole trip was going to be a waste. I felt out some flips and I started to feel a little better about myself. My first qualifier run ended horribly with a giant case on the last jump, almost getting tossed off my bike but somehow rolling away swapping side to side on the ice. For me this was probably something that truly needed to happen.

The thought of not even qualifying for the event went through my head and I got really mad at myself and started to get serious. I have a switch in my head for "go" time, and I think that case must have broken it loose from its seemingly stuck "off" position. I got right back up to the top and nailed my final quali run and was psyched! Off to dinner in 4th place felt much better than having an early end to the day.

After dinner, hearing lots of talk from some of the other riders about all the crazy plans they had, I felt ready to go out and send it as well. My first run was going to be slightly tamed down and my second run was gonna get stepped up just a hair, usually the standard for me at comps. My first run down the hill was going really well until I flipped off the Monster drop. I hadn’t realized in my first qualifier run that I had broken my seat when I had my massive case, and then it came off when I landed the drop and I tore my pants! Still in the moment, I had no idea the my pants were torn! Heading toward the last jump I was stoked because I knew I had a solid run and all I needed to do was a no foot can. As I went to release the trick, my pants got caught up on just about every piece of my bike and I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on! Getting at least one foot back on the pedals was my main goal and I thought I could ride it out and be just fine. Well, it turns out that when you land one-footed and sit down on your seat, that is really not a seat at all but rather two giant spears, it doesn't turn out so well for your legs and other body parts that we will leave unmentioned! Bloody boxers and a gangster walk lead me to skip my second run and be happy that I still had my manhood! Lucky for me my score held up for 5th place on the podium and I was ecstatic. All healed up now and riding confidently again I can laugh, but lemme tell ya, I'm never gonna run a bent seat again!!”

Cheers and thanks to all my sponsors.

-Jamie

White Style 2011 Results
Sam Pilgrim (GBR)
Sam Reynolds (GBR)
Yannick Granieri (FRA)
Graham Agazzis (CAN)
Jamie Goldman SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE (USA)
Szymon Godziek (POL)
Simon Kirchmann (GER)
Thomas Genon (BEL)
Martin Söderström (SWE)
Antoine Bizet (FRA)
Andreu Lacondeguy (ESP)
Jan Toth (CZE)​

SANTA CRUZ BICYCLES
SRAM, ROCKSHOX, AVID, TRUVATIV
ENVE COMPOSITES
MAXXIS
CLIF BAR
MUC-OFF
LIZARD SKINS
WTB
CHRIS KING
GORE
FOX
BIRZMAN TOOLS​

And Jamie's personal sponsors:

Monster Energy
Giro
Skullcandy
Globe shoes
Jett clothing
Trick x protection​