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Action hero: Erin Comstock |
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Written by Paul Raymore
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Tuesday, 20 March 2007 |
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 Action Hero
Name: Erin Comstock
Age: 29
Hometown: Grew up in Incline Village. Went to college at the University of Utah. Now lives in Salt Lake City.
She’s an action hero because: She won the women’s rail jam at the Vans Tahoe Cup at Northstar earlier this month. She also took fifth place in the slopestyle.
Other competitions she will be at: Future Vans Cups (used to do the Vans Triple Crown contests), the U.S. Open, the X Games, and the Roxy Chicken Jam.
Riding for how long: 16 years.
Sponsors: Roxy, Vans, Technine, Rockstar, Park City Mountain Resort, and Vestal.
Home mountain: She rides for Park City now, but she used to ride at Diamond Peak all the time, as well as at Boreal (because they had a terrain park back in the day).
The Tahoe World’s Paul Raymore caught up with Comstock by phone as she was driving back from Tahoe to her home in Salt Lake City, and then on to the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships, March 12-18 at Stratton Mountain, Vermont.
 Tahoe World: So tell me about this year’s Vans Cup and your win in the rail jam.
Comstock: OK. The Vans Cup this year was by far the best Vans Cup... The Northstar park crew has done a really good job improving each year. I want to say thanks to Gunny and Maya.
Every year, with the rail jam especially, it’s been getting better. This year, the speed was accurate to get to the rails, and the rails were super fun to ride. Some rail contests these days are just stupid and sketchy, but [Northstar] made a really fun course and it was easy for everybody to come and see the contest.
And I also want to add that the slopestyle course was by far the best slopestyle course that they’ve made and I’ve ridden. I’m really stoked on those guys trying to make it work out better each year.
TW: What makes for a good rail jam feature or slopestyle course, in your opinion?
Comstock: Having the jumps proportionate to the hill... The key to building a good slopestyle course is to be able to have enough speed to make it to every jump, and sometimes the courses are really tight and it’s hard to link up your tricks in your run.
This year was good. The only bummer was on Saturday, for the finals, there was some serious wind blowing. But that wasn’t their fault.
And then on Friday, the most important thing is being able to have the speed to get to the rails. And that’s the thing that they dialed the best this year.
 TW: How did you do in the slopestyle?
Comstock: I ended up fifth. And I swear if there wasn’t that wind I would have done better. But whatever... I’m stoked I got fifth.
TW: How was winning the rail jam?
Comstock: That was awesome. It’s cool because Vans, which is one of my main sponsors, sponsors it. So to be able to come out and do well for the team you’re representing felt really good. And it was kind of nice to be able to come back to my stomping grounds and represent.
TW: Do you still have a lot of friends and family in the area?
Comstock: I have a lot of friends still in the area. And my dad lives in Carson City; he came up and watched.
TW: Do you compete in halfpipe as well?
Comstock: No, I didn’t grow up with halfpipe. Tahoe was late in getting one.
TW: So you’re heading to the U.S. Open? What events will you compete in there?
Comstock: Slopestyle for sure. They have a big air competition as well, which is new, and I heard there are going to be girls in it, but I haven’t heard anything else about it.
 TW: Are you one of the older competitors amongst the women at most of these events?
Comstock: I guess I am on the older side at most of the competitions, but there are a handful of girls who are in my same age range... At the rail contest I probably was the oldest girl competing.
TW: It’s got to feel good to still be winning contests.
Comstock: Yeah, it’s awesome. And I look at some of the guys like Mark Frank Montoya who’s 34, and Todd Richards who’s 38, and those guys are still riding, so if they can do it, I can do it.
TW: Yeah, I didn’t mean to imply I thought you were old. Just older than many of the park kids coming up these days.
Comstock: It does cross your mind though because eventually you have to start doing something else. But it does feel good to know that you’re still in there and doing just as good as the younger ones are doing.
TW: So how did you win the Vans Cup rail jam?
Comstock: I hit every feature, and I also did a couple of tricks on every feature. There was only one other girl hitting the down-flat-down rail. And I think, just because I hit everything and did tricks on all of it...
TW: Any favorite tricks to throw?
Comstock: I have a safety trick — a frontside boardslide — that’s my warm-up safety trick, but it also gets you some good points with the judges. My new favorite trick is a backside noseslide to backside 270 out.
TW: Anything to say to the folks in Tahoe?
Comstock: I was just stoked on the support and everyone coming out. It was a good vibe and I’m stoked to come back next year. It was fun, super fun.
[Editor’s note: If you live anywhere near Park City, Utah, you can check out Erin’s style at the Roxy Chicken Jam at Park City Mountain Resort — an all-girl snowboard event — March 22-25. She is scheduled to compete in the slopestyle contest. For more information about the Chicken Jam, see http://www.roxy.com/events/chickenjam/2007.]
Photos (top to bottom):
• Courtesy of Roxy/Zacher
• Courtesy of Roxy/DaCosta
• Courtesy of Roxy/Rucker
• Courtesy of Roxy/Zacher
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 March 2007 )
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