So Far So Hood

Words by Andrew Napier

This year was certainly a year to remember. Unlike last season, the snow came late. Prior to Christmas, a small group of kids remained in Salt Lake City, while AJ Dakoulas and Hennie Van Jaarsveld traveled coast-to-coast.

KZA Staying in SLC, slaying the handrails. Photo Sean Kerrick Sullivan

The purpose of the trip was to document a handrail mission with Tyler Barnes, Tim Maney, Andrew Holson, and Steve Stepp. Christmas break included handrail trips to Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

Some screenshots from the Christmas trip to New England

After a quick stop with Tom Wallisch and Henrik Harlaut at Mount Snow, Vermont (The Dew Tour), we packed our bags and headed westward again. The next few months were certainly the most memorable ones. The snow was often sparse and inconsistent, but whenever it dumped we turned up the stove, scrambled the goods, and got eggnant.

Screenshots from handrails in SLC

AJ and I spent all of January filming handrails in Salt Lake City, accompanied the whole time by Henrik Harlaut. His brother, Oscar Harlaut, also flew in for several weeks to accompany us on our handrail extravaganza. At the beginning of February, Tom Wallisch, Rich Fahey, LJ Strenio, Henrik Harlaut, and Phil Casabon headed to Aspen Snowmass to drink fine wine and film the “4Bi9 gets Aspen” edit.

Screenshots from the Aspen Open

Henrik Harlaut and LJ Strenio ended up taking 1st and 3rd place respectively, leading to a near 4BI9 podium sweep. During this period, AJ stayed behind in Utah, venturing into the backcountry and collecting bangers with Witt Foster, Collin Collins and Tim Maney.

Witt Foster Double Back. Sequence: Paul Braunstein

After Aspen Open, we drove back to Salt Lake City going 100 miles and hour and listening to the dumb and dumber soundtrack the entire time. It was nice. I then flew out to British Columbia and began filming at Whistler and Baker while AJ headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with Dave Euler, Tim Maney, Andrew Holson and Witt Foster.

Witt Foster Shreds a line in Jackson Hole. Sequence: Paul Braunstein

Like last year, the trip was once again a great success. Everyone then came back to SLC and we all met up.

Collin Collins 180 into Utah Pow. Photo: Paul Braunstein

After several solid weeks of filming powder, cliffs and booters, we turned our attention to Park City and logged some park shots.

Steve Stepp and John Kutcher Shredding PC. Photo: Rocky Maloney

Henrik and Tom then left for JOSS, AJ and the crew stayed in Utah, and Ryan Wyble, Kyle Lukacs, and I headed back to BC for a week of shredding powder and park.

Ryan Wyble tapping some stumps in Whistler, BC.

After this, it was back to SLC again for some late season handrails and park skiing.

Wyble doing some action sports skiing at Brighton Mountain Resort. Photo Collin Collins

Then we hit up West Coast Sessions...

Tom Wallisch bs 3 swap prtzl 270. Sequence Rocky Maloney

Jeff Kiesel on a sunset jump shoot. Photo Rocky Maloney

Steve Stepp finishing off the session. Photo Paul Braunstein

Then some more park and late season slush booters...

Tyler Barnes sw 5 tail at a PC photoshoot. Photo: Paul Braunstein

Witt Foster enjoying some sunshine. Photo Collin Collins

This brings us to the point we are now, beginning the editing and production process, while still filming at Mt Hood Oregon and soon in New Zealand.

Despite the hectic and fun-filled season, there were downfalls as well. Brady Perron suffered a knee injury early in the year, and was unable to spend much time filming. Andrew Holson and Jeff Keisel also suffered injuries that shortened their seasons, despite the fact that they still killed it hard. A month old hard drive also broke, causing 2 1/2 straight weeks of filming at Park City to be completely lost. The hardrive was an Iomega. Strength, endurance, dependability…Iomega.

This year also saw the fall of Green Goblin. Why you ask? Nobody knows, but this horrific loss was fully compensated for by the rise of Dumpster Mummy. Look out and get scared, apparently he is hiding somewhere in the woods of Oregon as we speak. This season also marked the inception of Tyler Barnes and Collin Collins into the crew. Look for full-length segments from both of them in the new film!

AJ and Crew. Photo: Paul Braunstein

And after all this action, drama, and splendor, the 4BI9 crew sits back and reflects on the lengths we have traveled since our inception. Therefore, it is at this time that we proudly present our 3rd feature length film, SO FAR SO HOOD.