Knew Management

I met Riley Nickerson three years ago, fourteen, tight pants hiked up around his Nike dunks, shoelace tied through his belt loops and toting a skateboard that looked like it had been shredded upon since the late nineteen-eighties. I was working at Darkside Snowboard shop in Stowe, Vermont and had Riley’s best friend Keenan working for the shop. Riley would come hang out at the shop for hours and hours each day until finally, we gave him a job. Now, instead of hanging out for free, Riley began getting paid to hang out, skateboard on the mini quarter pipe in the back room, and generally just kill it with his rural, punk, skater dude attitude.

When I started shredding with Riley it was almost too much to handle. Tall tees ranging from three to five different colors hanging out of his Rocca Wear coat, snowboard plastered in Darkside stickers, trash talking skiers and kooks as they rode under the lift and throwing huge switch sevens, and corked front nines. Riley has a style on snow that I can barely describe in words; it’s like punk, redneck, meets inner city gang member with a sense of humor. From this day forth I love the kid and admire his passion for snowboarding, switch front boarding double kinks on a pow day and shredding natural, tree jibs when the snow’s two inches deep in the woods. Vermont has transformed this young shred head into an up and coming ripper you just gotta keep your eyes open for. Riley has come a long way since those three years back, and since growing into his own, has taken his snowboarding to the next level. Good things are gonna happen for this guy and if you don’t believe me, I’ll be right there to say “I told you so” when they do.

Toohey