george crosland photo blog

I went up to Mammoth to shoot photos of Danny Thomas. His friend Josh came along and even though Josh has only been riding like 2 years. He can spin 9’s and 10’s. To me that is pretty crazy so I decided to interview him as well as Danny. Josh is an all around around that you can see in the Mammoth park or at the Looney Bean

back 7 in Mammoth’s main park, thanks to Andrew Miller for help with the sequence

Name: Josh R. Dibble (JDB)
Nick Names: Dibs, JDB, Legit
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Age: 21
Current Residence: Mammoth Lakes
Sponsors: Bern, Oneway Boardshop
Favorite snow brands: Nixon, Flux, Neff, Skull Candy, Oakley!, Omatic or Rome

SR: So Josh, you have only been riding for what 2 years? How the hell do you do like 900’s and stuff so soon?
JD: Well I knew how to carve and do 180’s when I first moved to mammoth.I teamed up with Danny Thomas and Mario Dragoi and some others and they helped me. Mario told me to widen my stance and then I just tagged along. It wasn’t long before I just went for new bigger stuff. I ask Hammer and Wynan and Nelson for advice as much as possible. I Just ride as much as I can. I knew I wanted to be shredder and so I went for it. I just am blessed. God hooked up the snowboarding abilities.

SR: What brought you from Michigan to Mammoth?
JD: I moved to Mammoth randomly. I didn’t even know there was snow in Cali, I was gonna move to Mt. Hood. Then my friend in So Cal was like you should check out Mammoth. So I looked at it, then decided I had to go there to get good at boarding.

SR: Where did you ride in Michigan?
JD: I rode at Cannonsburg, and Nubs nob. I mostly rode hills around my house and like back yards. I learned my first 180 on a sledding hill.

SR: Where is your favorite place to ride?
JD: Winter Park, Big Bear, Mammoth

SR: Does Motown still mean anything in Detroit?
JD: Motown smotown, Detroit is dirty. I cant stand being there, the only cool thing is 8 mile and I would never go there. I would rather just cross the boarder and spend the day in Canada!

SR: Please number in order, the best musicians from Michigan; MC5, Kiss, Madonna, Kid Rock, The Stooges (Iggy Pop), Ted Nugent, Srevie Wonder, Diana Ross, White Stripes and Aretha Franklin?
JD: Red Hot Chili Peppers!!!!!, the Verve, MC5, Iggy Pop, White Stripes, Ted Nugent, Kiss, Stevie Wonder, Kid Rock, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Madonna,

SR: When you first drove up and saw Mammoth, what were you thinking and feeling? Where you blown away by the mountain or was it what you expected?
JD: I didn’t know places like Mammoth were out there. I was used to a old landfill that had snow on it with a slow lift. Mammoth was super nutty. When I first moved here there wasn’t much snow, Last year, but this year blows my mind.

SR: What is good about living in Mammoth?
JD: I get to hang out with the cutest girl in North America! I have amazing friends. LOONEY BEAN. Every body is way chill, the riding level is so tough here. If you can really kill it in Mammoth then you can kill it anywhere. But here everyone rides at such a gnarly level.
Chair six is really fast and the jumps are mammoth! I love it. June Mtn is amazing!

SR: What is bad?
JD: Small town drama, it gets really windy sometimes and you can’t shred. The rails arn’t that sick. Gas costs 4 dollars a gallon no matter what. Vons is like a carnival on weekends.

SR: Do some of the girls take on multiple partners in Mammoth since there are so few girls there?
JD: Well since pretty much there is 1 girl to nine guys I would say Yeah.A lot of the girls I know here are really classy and well rounded so they stick to one man.

SR: What riders inspire you?
JD Scotty Witlake, Scott Vine, Mason Aguirre, Danny Davis, Lucas Magoon

SR: Best riders of all time?
JD: Jp Soleberg, David Benadick, Travis Parker, Scotty Witlake

SR: Top 5 songs and/or bands?

JD: Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Lecrae and Trip Lee, Hillsong United

SR: Who do you ride with?
SR: Danny Thomas, Nick roles, Kalyn Lepre, Brett Garnero, Mario Dragoi

SR: Do you parents support you or do they want you to get a “real job”?
JD: My Parents support me all the way. They were bummed at first because I gave up an opportunity to play college soccer because I knew I had to work and get out west to snowboard. I just wanted to so bad. They support my dreams and passions.

SR: What do your friends back in Michigan do?
JD: Wakeboard like crazy, play mad frisby golf, skim boarding on Lake Michigan. Hang out at Meijers, this 24 hour store like wal mart. Michigan is cool but its hard to do anything great with your life. There isn’t much there. Everyone I know who has mad something out of this life moved out of Michigan to follow there dreams!

SR: What does Snowboarding mean to you?
JD: Snowboarding is more than just riding a board to me. It represents my passions and dreams for life. It insprires me to take challenges head on. It requires me to believe in myself and to never give up. It represents taking leaps of faith and trying stuff you don’t know if you can land. But you don’t know until you try. It represents part of my core being, snowboarding is part of me. It is something that makes me happy and lets me be creative!

SR: Plans for snowboarding?
JD: I want to have fun and help the sport grow. Snowboarding is the most enjoyable activity on the earth to me. I just want others to expierience what I have.I want to give snowboarding a positive vibe. I just want to be able to have fun and through that win contests and inspire others to have more fun with it, instead of striving so hard. I want to leave a mark on the industry that makes people smile and say I Want to enjoy it like him. I also want to progress the sport. It is moving so fast its hard to keep up but I feel I have a lot to offer, I mean its really only my second season really snowboarding freestyle. I think I give snowboarding some new jib tricks and a new positive vibe.

SR: Do you owe snowboarding or does snowboarding owe you and why?
JD: I owe snowboarding so much. Snowboarding has given me so much freedom to express my creativity on rails and in the air. It is a release for me and a safe place to be at peace. It is a part of my heart and im passionate about it!

SR: Is this spring going to rule in Mammoth or are you heading back to MI?
JD: Im planning on shredding Mammy like no other this spring. Im finishing up some filming for a show on fox that will be airing sometime soon. Spring riding is way to fun to miss, then hopefully I will be going to high cascade or something to shred and contribute to the growth of
snowboarding. I love the opportunity to show kids who want to learn how to do there first 180 or front board! Hopefully this spring and summer are full of those times.

back 7 with a little poke for style

Nollie back lip to 270 out at June

Back Lip on the C-box at June

Rodeo at June

Back 180, again at June

Having fun with a fastplanr in the main park at Mammoth

Neil Blender in 1985 or Josh Dibble in 2008? Josh does a nose stall/tail grab on a big wall

Broken boards result from hard riding

900 off the big jump at Mammoth

The world’s gnarliest female pipe rider pretty much dominated, although Torah Bright put forth a good effort. Kjersti Buass Oestgaard rounded out the podium. Torah and Kelly are seperated by a mere 5 points after the pipe contest in the overall standings in the Ticket to Ride Tour. Kelly may have dominated the pipe but the weather really ruled the show. Wind and snow put off the qualifications that were scheduled for Friday. The result was that the qualifiers took place on Saturday and the winners were pulled from that. So with essentially a 30-40 person final. The action never heated up the same as if there was the normal 8-20 person final. It was fun to see all the girls ride though and see who may be a future ripper. Kelly did not even bust a 9; her winning runs consisted of big airs, a few 5 and a 7 or possibly 2 7’s. The pipe seemed a little slow and lumpy probably from the about a foot of snow blew in there overnight.

What the contest lacked in gnarlitude it made up for in casualness and fun factor. It kinda felt like a backyard bbq, except with a lot of the world’s best female snowboarders taking laps through the pipe. With lots of big money sponsors there were all the free goodies and food you could want, so that was cool. Lot’s of friends and family came out to support them too. Greg Bretz, Trevor Jacobs, Todd Richards and way more we seen watching the action. Lonnie Kauk was doing laps in the park all day and Todd (an announcer) kept saying “there goes Lonnie Kauk, one of the best riders out there in snowboarding today” too funny and true. Seriously, there were at least 50 girls from all over the world hanging and riding. The field for the pipe was maybe 50% from out of the USA; countries like Norway, Finland, Japan, Holland Canada, Japan and more were all well represented.

It should be said that the Roxy Chicken Jam is also the last stop for the female 07-08 Ticket to Ride tour. There are four females in contention for the top position. Off the top of my head Torah Bright, Kelly Clark, Jamie Anderson and maybe Cheryl Maas are up the top honors depending how things go this weekend. As of the time of writing this on 395 South in Big Pine on Sunday March 30th, the overall TTR winner had not been determined. Another storm rolled through for the Slope finals which were scheduled for today. So what you say, it’s snowboarding. Well, if you have been to Mammoth you know what can happen when it storms; strong winds, like 50 mph+ were gusting on Sunday. I have never seen a contest run in the near hurricane like winds they had on Sunday so it was not just cause they were chicks. The wind and snow meant EPIC riding though. Most of the tourist tools from LA left Sunday in the am with the wind and snow which the blowing snow filled in chutes all day – sick riding. Stay tuned for slopestyle….

Don’t let the pretty smile fool you, last years TTR champ, Torah Bright can rock a switch back 7 in the pipe that puts most people to shame

The pipe and you can see all the snow in bottom which usually equals lumps and less speed

At Mammoth windy conditions and snow equals fun for your hard working photographer/writer – secret spot on Saturday

Kelly Clark spins through a front 5. Kelly is a true role model. She is a big time Christian and whether you agree with that line of thinking or not (I don’t) you still have to appreciate someone who stands tall and is proud of her faith in today’s world of tight pants, looking cool, partying and so on

Liz Beerman

Uh, I don’t know who this is, sorry

Danny Kass or Torah Bright? Torah Bright with a nice stylee air to fakie

Just the scene at Mammoth, check the lift towers being used for two different lifts. At a ski area used by people from So Cal, you gotta get a lot of people up the hill fast for their $79 lift ticket

Torah Bright – front 5

Kelly Clark going mongo

Manuella Pesko rocks a proper method

Kendall Brown

Kelly Clark stoking people out with this front 7

Cheryl Mass is known for killing slopestyle contest, here is proof she can ride pipe too

Not the best photo of Kjersti Buass Oestgaard, this is basically a set up trick for her but heck, she got third so we gotta run something of her

Todd Richards taking like his “third run in the pipe all season” Todd announced, ran in the mascot contest, rode and oh yea, owns Omatic too. You think he gets to see his wife and kids as much he wants or works and travels a lot?

Oh yea, there was a mascot pipe contest too. Anyone could enter wearing a costume. It was super funny. Todd and Greg Bretz

Mammoth’s own wooly mammoth won the mascot contest. He (or she?) got $4,000

Two girls linked together to be a frog, looked super hard to go down the pipe that way

Clair Bidez and pipe champ Kelly Clark

Danny Thomas as the penguin and a Raccoon stoke out a kid. It looked really hard to ride with the heads on.

The Zumiez couch won best costume and with this non action shot, we end the Roxy Chicken Jam pipe contest story and photo

Roxy Chicken Jam Superpipe
1) Kelly Clark
2) Torah Bright
3) Kjersti Buass Oestgaard

Best Trick
Domenic Valle – switch Mikalchuk

Mascot Jam
Wooly Mammoth

Best costume
Zumiez couch