Viewfinder: Snowboarding Off the Roof

The Blizzard of 2011 left people buried under 20 or more inches of snow. For two days, schools and several businesses were closed. While some people hunkered down and stayed inside under a blanket, a few teenagers took advantage of the significant snowfall.  

They used their snowblower to stack the piles of snow high enough to reach the roof of their Grayslake home. They put a flexible board from the roof over to a trellis, and blew more snow on top of it. And voila! A homemade snowboarding hill off the roof, landing in a pile of snow in the backyard.

Dylan Hay and Colton Brunk, both 16, worked with their friend Vince Smith, 15, to make the snowboarding ramp off the roof of Hay's house, as well as a huge igloo underneath.

While many parents might have said "No!" to the request to board off the roof, fearing broken bones or worse, Hay's mother Debbie said she was glad the teens used their days off of school productively.

"I am worried about safety," she said, "but they are careful and they are good snowboarders. I was glad they were busy."