Freeriding/Legends

It's not all bad.

Mark Matthews in B.C.






Speaking of B.C. I saw this picture and caption on pinkbike from Steve Smith's recent win at the Garbanzo DH:

"BC legend Steve Smith layin it down with some authority in the Garbo DH as he rolls a slab on "In Deep". A dry, fast course helped Smith came home with a time of 12:33.27." 

Obviously that's a pretty fast time. I heard the course is 12 kilometers long, which I think is, like 3 miles, so that's pretty long. Anyway, I'd never heard about the legend of Steve Smith. I know the native Americans of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest have a rich oral history, replete with legends that explain natural phenomena, retell significant events in tribal history, and give insight into the human condition. Fascinated, I started looking up British Columbia native American legends, but I couldn't find anything about this legendary about this Steve Smith character. Merriam Webster gives this definition of "legend:"

leg·end

 noun \ˈle-jənd\

a : a story coming down from the past; especially : one popularly regarded as historical although not verifiableb : a body of such stories legend
 of the frontier>c : a popular myth of recent origind : a person or thing that inspires legendse : the subject of a legend legend even in its own time — William Broyles Jr.>




Actual B.C. legends:

According to legend, many years ago a young Indian Chief found great difficulty in choosing a bride. There were three very talented and beautiful maidens to choose from. The older Chiefs asked the gods to aid them. The Indian gods considered indecision a grievous sin; therefore, the punishment dealt out was severe.
The young Chief was turned into a mountain where, each day, he could look at what he could never have. The maidens' grief was so great that all three maidens prayed that they might be turned into mountains also. Their prayers were answered. As we gaze at the Three Sisters and Proctor Mountain we are looking at the three maidens and the young Chief.

The Legend of The Balancing Rock

Located only 10 minutes from Kamloops is The Balancing Rock. The rock itself weighs many tons and is precariously positioned atop a clay hoodoo base overlooking beautiful Kamloops Lake. Many wonder how a rock of such size came to perch where it did. Some say it was left over from years of erosion. Others believe it may have fallen and came to rest, by chance, on the hoodoo base.

But legend has it, that the rock came to rest where it does today because of a long standing feud between the Okanagan and Secwepemc First Nations people. It's been told that the Secwepemc and Okanagan First Nations people were involved in a battle for many years. Neither was winning or losing so a competition to determine the winner of the land was held where the strongest man from each side would try and balance a large rock on top of a standing rock. Try as he might, the Okanagan man could not lift the rock. The Secwepemc man tried and did lift the rock, balancing it on top of the standing rock, and as a result, the Secwepemc won the rights to the land.

Pitt Lake's Lost Gold Mine is a legendary lost mine said to be near Pitt Lake, British Columbia, Canada, the supposed wealth of which has held the imagination of people worldwide for more than a century. Ever since the years of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush prospectors and adventurers have been looking for the mine and gold-rush rumors have evolved into legends repeated and enriched over time. The mysterious riches are known as Slumach’s Lost Mine, or Lost Creek.





Not an actual B.C. legend:

Steve Smith