James throws down shred stick, shralps gnarr (39 photos)

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the big opening weekend at Searchmont Ski Resort, so SooToday.com sent our reporter Carol Martin to take some pictures and write us up a story.

Carol is a Warcraft-playing mother of two karate-trained daughters who attend local schools.

After we saw what Carol wrote, we're thinking maybe sending a mom to cover Searchmont wasn't such a great idea.

We're really sorry about that, okay?

Anyway, here's Carol's article:

************************* Up at the official opening of Searchmont Ski Resort today, we bumped into some very nice young men who were shralping the gnarr and getting down with their homies and stuff.

One such dude-bro, James Vernelli, was happy to demonstrate the many nuances of throwing his shred stick down the mountain with his tight group.

This picture shows Vernelli throwing it down at Searchmont today.

"About Grade 9, I realized I have a chance at making it on my shred stick," the mountain b0i told SooToday.com during a convo. "So then I started riding hard and throwing down with all my buddies."

Vernelli said he and his board-brothas enjoy challenging each other to do their best.

They often visit the mountain together and have formed close and lasting bonds as a result.

"We push each other super hard and rip it everyday," he said. "We're a tight li'l crew I must say."

Vernelli really got his chi flowing recently when he was discovered by the Monster Energy drink people, who decided to sponsor him.

"I ride as much as I can," he says. "Which is around 80 times a season, plus night skiing," the self-described trooper said. "I do it every day because I love pushing the limits and going as big as I can. Just floating through the air feels amazing."

Snowboarding is all Vernelli said he ever thinks about.

Okay, well sometimes he thinks about his friend's sister a little, too.

"I just love being the best I can possibly be. I just simply love the sport so much it's all I ever think about."

Vernelli hopes to find more sponsors so he can start making a living throwing his shred stick.

"I just want to ride as long as possible. Then, I want to try to qualify for major events like the Olympics, X-Games and so on."

To see more photos of Vernelli and his group shralping the gnarr and other interesting activities, click on the image gallery below.