Men's Journal

After the obligatory March Madness couch time, ski, scarf, and skate into this weekend’s adventure final four: Louisiana’s largest barbeque event of the year, the Extreme Thing Skate and BMX competition in Vegas, Showdown Mountain’s Winter Triathalon in Montana, and the Roxy Chicken Jam at Mammoth Mountain, California.

By Cannon Kinnard and Nate Storey

Extreme Thing Sports & Music Festival, March 28th
Las Vegas, Nevada

Skate competitions, wrestling, pro BMX, and a heavy dose of live music will hit the Desert Breeze Skatepark on Saturday at the Extreme Thing Sports and Music Festival. Start at the Am Jam Skate and BMX competition, where riders will compete on street courses and half-pipes. Afterward, pro skaters Jeremy Rodgers and Omar Hassan will sign autographs and engage in skate demos. Dew Tour Champion Cameron White and Ricardo Laguna will battle other pros for big air at The Ricardo Laguna Pro BMX Dirt Challenge at 4 pm. Stop by the Adrenaline Unleashed Wrestling Championship at 7:30 pm before ending the night with some old school punk and headliner Bad Religion (from $17; extremething.com).

Getting There and Accommodations:
Fly to Las Vegas and head to the Desert Breeze Skatepark on Spring Mountain Road. Main Street Station Casino, Brewery, and Hotel is featuring a $72 promotional rate for the festival (enter Z9FEXTS in the group code box).

2009 Smokin’ Blues and BBQ Challenge, March 27-28
Hammond, Louisiana
If you’ve been hankering for some quality outdoor-cooked meat, bring a your appetite to the Smokin’ Blues and BBQ challenge, Louisiana’s largest barbeque event. Watch as more than 50 Kansas City Barbeque Society teams compete against each other for more than $12,000 in cash and prizes. (Find KCBS rules and regulations here). If pork and beef aren’t your thing, visit the chicken competition where over 60 local teams will be pit against one another in the Backyard Boogey and Lamar Outdoor Advertising Chicken Little Contest. Regardless of your meat preferences, no proper Cajun barbeque celebration could fly in Louisiana without some live blues music. On Friday check out Todd O’Neill, Stephen Cochran and Friends. On Saturday give a listen to Destiny of Louisiana and the Blue Eyed Soul Revue. Judging for the contests will take place from 10:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. For promos, music and cook-off information visit HammondBluesandBBQ.com.

Getting There and Accommodations:
Hammond, a town of 20,000, is 35 miles from Baton Rouge. There are plenty of hotels and motels for staying in Hammond on the cheap for rates as low as $80 at the Best Western, Comfort Inn and Super 8 Hammond. To go lux, take a gander at the Historic Michabelle Inn and Restaurant, a Greek-Revival-style estate turned hotel (985.419.0550).

Winter Triathlon – Downhill Ski, XC Ski, Run, Bike, March 28
Showdown Mountain, Montana

Buckle your ski boots tight and get your sprint on at the exposed 8,200-foot mountaintop starting line of this unique winter triathlon race in the heart of the Lewis and Clark National Forest at Showdown Mountain in Montana. Race 30 yards to your skis, strap in and slalom three-quarters of a mile downhill before traversing an 8-mile cross country section on the O’Brian Creek Trail to the town of Neihart, Montana. Change into some pavement beaters for a 3.5-mile run up US 89 to the Many Pines Campground and then mount a bicycle at the campsite for brief relief through the aid of gears. Don’t breathe too easy: the final cycling stage of the race gains 1,300-feet in elevation over 5 miles to the summit of King’s Hill Pass. Registration for one person is $40, but you can save that extra dough for apres-race brews by grabbing some buddies for the $20/person relay team member registration. Registration takes place Saturday morning from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. All proceeds will go to the Barney Rice Memorial Foundation, a 501c3, dedicated to helping youth in need.

Getting There and Accommodations:
In the middle of a triangle between Bozeman, Billings, and Helena, the Snowdown Ski Area is serviceable from any of these bigger towns. For lodging, we recommend Bob’s Place (406-236-5955) in Neihart because they include a 20 percent discount with the Stay and Ski Package. Find other good deals here.

Roxy Chicken Jam 2009, March 27-29
Mammoth Mountain, California

The 5th Annual Roxy Chicken Jam at Mammoth Mountain is reason to head back to the slopes and take a few more runs. The TTR Women’s World Champion will be crowned here and the winners of the slope-style and super-pipe will take home $50,000. The slope-style qualifier gets things started at 3:30 pm on Friday, with the world’s second-ranked rider, Lisa Wiik from Norway, jockeying for the title. Saturday’s jam-packed action begins at 10 am with the super-pipe championships, followed later in the day with concerts by Santigold and Cold War Kids at Mammoth Village at 7 pm. On Sunday, get a few last runs in ($83 per day) before enjoying the Slope-style Super Finals at 2 pm (free; snow.roxy.com).

Getting There and Accommodations:
Fly into the Reno/Tahoe airport and make the 165-mile drive south on U.S. 395 to Mammoth Lakes. If you fly into LAX, Horizon Air has daily flight from $79 going to Mammoth Yosemite Airport. Mammoth Mountain Inn, the Village, and Juniper Springs Resort have special spring rates from $99.