Screenshot: Jon Ray
This has not been a typical summer at Mt. Hood. The snow was dirty and brown from the start and now, towards the end of the season, a less experienced eye might not recognize the surface as even a distant relative of fluffy white stuff that typically falls from the sky in winter. The Mt. Hood snowpack is at historically low levels; the annual third-quarter measurement came in at 11% of average in April thanks to warm the temperatures that characterized the winter in the Pacific Northwest last season.
With no park available for the public, the camps were left to scrape together what little snow they could find. While at first glance one might see this as a major setback for the riders, camps, and campers that make the annual migration to the steaming, snow-rich volcano every summer, we have instead witnessed a very high level of non-linear progression. Rather than letting the lack of snow force the riding to succumb to its paltry offerings, the camps and riders were forced out of their comfort zones and away from the standard down bar and perfectly manicured jumps and hips.
Screenshot: Jon Ray
Proof that necessity truly is the mother of invention — and lacking the snow to maintain a proper two walled u-ditch — this summer has brought about the revival of the quarter pipe, a former staple of the summers at Mt. Hood. The quarter pipe has, in recent years, been traded in for manmade features of plexiglass and metal coping, a result of the jib heavy generations that have been dominating the Hood lanes in recent summers.
Most artists know: to have every color in the palate and every tool at your disposal often proves to be more of hindrance to creativity than an aid. Thankfully, even with the snow being what it was and is, the summer show must go on. If we are lucky, this may be a taste of things to come, a continuation of the trend in snowboarding that is emphasizing not just board control but proper turning and popping of the board. This forces riders to ride small, less uniform transitions, allowing them to realize that even in the summer, there’s much more to snowboarding that just going straight.
With the season of creativity in mind, here is a look Mt. Hood snowfields that best characterize the summer so far.
MT HOOD THE UNDRESSING
Jon Ray
If you only watch one edit form Mt. Hood, this summer this should be it. Not just for the riding — though it is certainly high level — but more for the crafting of the short film that separates it from the rest of the pack.
While most edits hitting the small screens tend to be filmed almost entirely from behind a fish eye lens and features a barrage of tricks and riders without ever really letting us settle into the production, “The Undressing” it a different beast, more reminiscent of films from the Robot Food era when production value was, well…valued. And it wasn’t all about the craziest tricks being done.
HCSC 2015: MMPI
High Cascade Snowboard Camp
HCSC 2015: Session 4 Recap
High Cascade Snowboard Camp
Here is a one-two punch from High Cascade. Both edits showcase footage from the Bode Merrill Medium Quarter Pipe Invitational which, among the many dropped hammers, features a NBD with the title rider Bode Merrill putting down a one-footed crippler to fast-plant back into the quarter, proving that when energies are all focused on a singular feature — even one that would be consider sub-par in many mid winter parks — ground-breaking antics abound.
YAWGOONS: MT. HOOD
Dr.B
Who better to show you how much can be done with so little than the crew that in recent seasons has refined what it means to be creative in snowboarding? The Ywagoons crew escaped the sea level heat and humidity at their Rhode Island stomping grounds to show the snowboarding world how to make the most of not-so-much. The ender shot alone makes this edit mediatory viewing for a proper sense of summer shredding in the Cascades.
Snowboard Session 3, 2015
Windells
The Windells Session 3 edit showcases some of the best jumping of the season combined with some off the wall jib set-ups. There is seemingly endless creativity to be had despite the obvious dearth of snow. Again, the ender makes this one well worth the watch.
