RIVER GAPPED: How the Deschutes ate Tim Durtschi

On December 27th, the RAGE FILMS crew was deep in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest, using a handheld GPS and snowmobiles to reach their newest secret spot. After four hours of jump building and three speed checks, Tim Durtschi pushed down the in-run, across more than 100 feet of deceptive flats, and into the 50-foot river gap. No sooner had he hit the jump than he realized he was going to come up short. Durtschi turned slightly sideways in the air with that sinking, empty feeling that always precedes inevitable disaster.

Last year Durtschi blew minds at Superpark 6, held at his home mountain, Mt. Bachelor. His monstrous zero spin and technical rail antics earned him “Best Overall Performer” and an invitation to the 2005 X Games. This was to be his break out season, but when he arrived in Aspen in January for the X Games, he was on crutches.

When Durtschi impacted on the far bank of the river gap and bounced into the shallow, he did a quick body inventory. He yelled to the Rage Film crew that he had managed to escape disaster; he was ok. However, the moment he stood up he felt a gut wrenching pop and crumbled into a broken pile in the freezing Deschutes river water. Durtschi clawed and crawled his way to dry land. Two days later, in the hospital, he was informed that he had torn his meniscus and seriously damaged cartilage—a season ending injury.

For the next six weeks his patient and understanding girlfriend Anna chauffeured him to and from physical therapy, while Durtschi camped out on a downstairs futon (to avoid the stairs) and daydreamed about being back on snow. When recently asked what he had been doing for the last 10 weeks, he replied, “well, I beat Tony Hawk Underground”—an admirable feat but a modest understatement. Durtschi has been rowing 6000 meters every day, in addition to his scheduled physical therapy that includes swimming and biking.

While many injured athletes try to mentally escape from their loss, Durtschi has been staying as involved as possible. Most days, you’ll find Durtschi parked at the bottom of the half pipe, watching all the action from his favorite lawn chair. He has also commentated at several small competitions and watches ski and snowboard films regularly for inspiration.

As for the next step, Durtschi has been walking without crutches for two weeks and has already saddled up and skied some easy groomers. This month, he’s headed to Mammoth for some sun, relaxation and hopes to be sliding rails again.

His jib plans for the summer are super secret, but he has already set a quota of rocking at least 10 urban spots.

“I can’t really say what we’re doing,” says Durtschi. “ Let’s just say that it’s top secret and involves ice rink snow and some weird features.”

With Durtschi’s smooth creative style, as seen in the BOOTER CRUNK TEASER, whatever he puts together this summer will undoubtedly be fun to watch. Sky Pinnick, owner of Rage Films, insists that Durtschi still has one of the strongest segments of any of his riders this year.