Westbound Boarder

Halloween always symbolizes one thing for most people… costume’s, candy, and an excuse to get your drink on. Although for snowboarders in the great northwest, it means that the upcoming shred season is almost here. For me, that is all that it symbolizes. I know that once Halloween is here, I will be playing in powder in a couple of weeks or less…

On this glorious Halloween of 2009, the third annual Backyard Bang Rail Jam took place in front of the Art Institute of Portland in Portland’s premier Pearl District. The rosters were predominantly made up of high school kids as well as a few older contestants who were competing at the AM level. Being one of the first rail jams of the season for us Oregonians, there’s really no better way to get stoked on the best sport than enjoying this “jam style” competition complete with quarter pipes and a sizable down box being ripped by plenty of young shredding hopefuls. In a  rail jam style contest riders are given as many runs as they can fit into their 15 minute heat, which takes the pressure off a bit and made it easier for the riders to land their tricks.

Among the thirty plus amateur competitors there were only five women competing. Although the ladies had the skills and costumes to keep the crowd entertained - these girls were complete with costumes such as a lion, cat, a baby backpack ensemble and then there was tall Sarah. She wasn’t robed like the other girls, but she didn’t really need it. Sarah was sticking 50/50’s and getting more air than the other girls, but didn’t make the final cut. The robed lion, Celeste Rhoads had a great arsenal of tricks, including (but of course not limited too) a cab to 50/50, 180 to 50/50, and the front board slide nose grab  were what really stood out to the crowd and resulted in the comp. win for Ms. Rhoads. Megan Middleton (a.ka. the kitten) took second place throwing a nice 360 over the smaller jump and some solid 50/50’s on the rail. Third place went to Kumara Kelly, who had a plastic baby doll strapped to her like a back pack. Kelley was the least consistent, but probably had the best hustle and the most runs out there.

During the entire three hour event, it only rained for 15 minutes. What? on Halloween in P-town? No rain? Yes ma’am. This made the snow more than cooperative and when you add some Liquid Aloha to the equation…this event was four sure a win for everyone.

As we here at Westbound have been promoting the heck out of the Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour, we hope that you were able to witness the insanity that was the finale this past Saturday. The event could not have been more perfect - with the sun blazing, temperatures in the near 90’s and the Wests best riders boasting their skillz - perfection is an understatement.

The competition began with round one where the male snowboarders set the bar quite high, then moved into the women’s snowboarders, followed directly by the co-ed ski session. The jam style enables all riders to take as many runs as physically possible during their heat. Each heat lasted about 30-45 minutes and was action pact. These guys and gals were sweating bullets and their runs only improved as the heat and pressure rose to unprecedented levels. Grady Skelton, one of the founders of Civil Brand Clothing, was on the mike during round one and increased the pressure further by sounding the 5 minute and 1 minute warnings and ended the heats by finally calling the dreaded last run.

The judges handpicked the best of each heat to advance to the Cricket Campus Rail Jam Finals. At about 3:30pm the finals commenced and the bars rose, yet again, to extraordinary levels of intensity. These guys and gals were throwing nutter butters and back fives out like there was no tomorrow. As the snow began melting away and the rail ruts grew, things got pretty sloppy - although this was not about to stop any one of the competitors from pushing through in order to stomp that one last trick - in hopes to be the recipient of that grand ca$h prize. The results are finally live so check out the official Rail Jam Finals here.

On top of the sick snowboarders and skiers we had entertainment from Fuel TV, Todd Richards, Grady Skelton of Civil Brand Apparel and all of the sponsors of the event, including (but not limited to) Cricket Wireless, Spyder, Hillcrest Sports, Atmosphere Clothing, Zagg - the list goes on. In between heats, Todd and Grady had a hell of a time taunting the audience and offering prizes in exchange for their pride. Whether they were asking to see the worst tattoo in the house (note picture above, view discretion is advised), the largest beer belly in attendance, or for your first born, everyone was willing to embarrass themselves for a chance to meet Todd Richards and get laughed at by him all at the same time.

We hope you were able to witness this event in person. If ya didn’t, check out our photo gallery at the westboundboarder flickr page. Interested in competing or attending next year? Let us know, we can send you in the right direction.

I know ya’llready heard the skinny on the Cricket Campus Rail Jam tomorrow, but here is a more than friendly reminder for those of you who need it…

The Jam is Mañana, beer garden opens at 12pm, the comp begins at 1pm and the finals are at 3:30pm. We’re going to be there with some sweet swag to give you and so will a million bada$s sponsors. For a full understanding of the magnatidue of this event check out the deets here; otherwise we’ll see you shred heads Downtown Portland Pioneer Square tomorrow!

Exit this epic snow season with a bang and getchya self to Timberline Lodge this Saturday May 24th. Atmosphere and Masa are bringin’ you the first annual Hips and Lips Contest where you get to, “come snowboarding with your friends, eat some chicken and get radical.”

You know you want to, so just do it. Bring $10 bones, buy a lift ticket (unless you are a spring passer) and the wiener will take it all home baby. What does that mean exactly? We’re not completely sure. What we are sure of, is that it will be a good time, hopefully a spring day and there will be prizes and goodies galore.

Check out the deets by clickin here, or just listen up. Registration from 9-11am. Jam Format from 11:30am-2pm. $10 entry. Wiener takes it all. See ya at the Hips and Lips Jam!