The Snowboarder's Journal - The Snowboarder's Journal 20.2
ROSEN'S GAP: Outer Space in Hollywood
Words: Ben Shanks Kindlon 2022-11-01 10:05:17
Matt Wainhouse going frontside 360 over Rosen’s Gap at Stevens Pass, WA. Photo: Brian Schaefer
Sometime during the 2011-12 season, on a day primed for jumping in the backcountry surrounding Stevens Pass, WA, Josh Rosen and Monty Hayes hiked to Hollywood Bowl. They ran into then-25-year-old Matt Wainhouse, who upon being introduced to Rosen, couldn’t believe he was in the presence of such a legend. Rosen couldn’t understand why Wainhouse would think of him in that way. Rosen had a short, modest snowboard career, and had spent the past decade working on a fashion label in New York City. But nonetheless, “You’re Rosen!” Wainhouse exclaimed. “From Rosen’s Gap!”
Out in Hollywood Bowl, a popular zone for building and boosting kickers, lie many possibilities, but only a few go-to builds. Rosen’s is one of them. It’s a picturesque stepdown road gap that Rosen became the first to send sometime around 2001. Soon after his stomp—a backside 180 captured by photographer Jimmy Clarke—an injury prompted Rosen to make a long-desired move to New York City. Yet, while Rosen was away, the lore around his gap grew.
“It’s kind of weird referring to it as ‘Rosen’s Gap,’” Rosen, now 44, says with a laugh. “I didn’t even realize it had continued on in any capacity.”
Like any good gap, Rosen’s garnered attention, especially in the eyes of local up-and-comers. “As time went on these guys have built it bigger and further back,” Rosen says. “It’s really cool to hear Waino talk about the guys who put down on it. Andy Bergen-Sperry did a cab double underflip, Manny [Manuel Diaz] did a switch back seven that got published. It shoots well from any angle because when you hit it, you’re up there in outer space.”
Since that first launch, many have hit Rosen’s Gap, but it wasn’t until two decades later that the man himself returned for a second serving. Rosen’s 20th anniversary send was a standout shot in his part for Sound Strait’s WASHDUP, a full-length film starring a cast of Washington-based snowboarders in their 30s and 40s. “It was all set up and perfect,” he says. “The boys [Justin Norman and Matt Wainhouse] did back ones for me, which was very sweet, then I did my back three.
“Now I’m totally solid, because it’s fucking terrifying,” he says with another laugh. “Just had to hold on for dear life and get it done. [Photographer Brian] Schaefer went out and measured it, and it’s something like 87 feet. But if you keep your composure, it sets you into the pocket like, pop—so perfect.”
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