Halfpipe, snowboard park tribute to Kaelan Paton

CORNWALL — Snowboarders and skiers demonstrated impressive skills on a local hillside Saturday, braving the cold and wind under a bright sun as they flew from a ramp at the top to a quarter pipe at the bottom, or flipped and rolled high in the air. They sped downhill to ramps that propelled them onto narrow railings, where they balanced precariously before vaulting off into the air once more.

At this new private terrain park, the day would have been perfectly joyful but for the memory of one person who would have loved it but will never get a chance to use it.

Back when they were still in middle school, Brian Hurlburt and Kaelan Paton met at the regional school dances and quickly became best friends. They spent a lot of time hanging out at Brian’s Cornwall home and his family’s Hautboy Hill farm.

Among their common interests was snowboarding. A perfectly sloped hillside pasture across the road from the dairy barn provided a perfect and convenient spot. Early last year, the teens decided to bump it up with ramps and rails to make it a real winter terrain park.

“We wanted to do something really big. My dad had a lot of wood laying around that he let us use,� Brian said. “Kaelan did all the design work. He put so much effort and planning into it.�

As the weather warmed and the school year wound down, they began building. Other friends pitched in. Before they got far, 16-year-old Kaelan took a celebratory last-day-of-school swim in the Housatonic River, below the Great Falls. It had been raining heavily all month, and the water was deep and moving fast. One of the boys dove in and got caught by the current. Kaelan drowned after diving in and pushing the other boy out of the swollen river to safety.

For Brian, a day doesn’t go by that he doesn’t think of Kaelan.

“He’s just always there,� he said.

Grieving was helped by a summer spent hard at work on the park. Two other friends, Phillip Geyselaers and John Hare, were there every day. Other friends came by when they could. It became a monument to their lost friend.

It was almost finished when school started again. The project lagged. As winter approached, the teens made a final push.

“We finished one day in December. The next day, we got the first big snow of the winter,� Brian said.

They decided to make Jan. 6 the official opening, inviting friends and having a picnic at the bottom of the hill, despite the frigid cold. Being boys, they didn’t realize at the time that they had picked the date of Paton’s birthday.

The facility has been officially dubbed BibSentral Terrain Park. For some reason he doesn’t know, friends gave Brian the nickname Bibs. The park will available to those in whose ability Brian has confidence. The last thing he wants is for someone to get hurt, and he warns that since it is a cow pasture in the warmer months, it is protected by an electric fence.

He invites enthusiasts to find BibSentral on Facebook, where videos and photos will be posted, along with upcoming events.