Words by David Lesh
Photos by David Lesh, Rom Marcucci and the wonderful Anna Borgman
 
The fifth session of Windells started like most others, with coaches arriving back from a weekend of partying, and hundreds of campers being picked up at the airport in 15-person vans. Although it began like most sessions, the fifth was unique if for no other reason than being Traveling Circus week…but more about Will and Andy later.
 
Portland awaits another batch of campers.

I headed up the mountain for the first day of camp. With “Da Hood House” being right on the way to Timberline, it’s hard not to stop by.

Hornbeck grabbed his eager campers and hit the slopes. Skiing starts late the first day, at noon, leaving the campers a little too ready to start hucking within the first few runs. Regardless of cautionary words from all coaches, there were kids who hadn’t skied in months throwing 10’s on a 15-foot jump on their second run. I even witnessed a few half backflip straight air attempts to face. Yuck.

A camper tries his luck on the 100-footer. You really are cooking (and so are your edges) by the end of this thing.

Flips off of boxes by campers? This IS a new day.

Time for a little lunch. 100 degrees in the park, hope you brought your sunscreen and water bottle!

Before leaving for Whistler (and then New Zealand), Dane Tudor got upside down and grabbed some box. Mt Jefferson and The Three Sisters behind.

Spriggs proclaimed this to be a “played out feature” (he’s right) so he entertained himself in other ways.

Charlie Owens must have thought otherwise.

For those who haven’t met Windells coach Corbin, he is one of the cooler people to grace a snowboard.

With temperatures rising, Will and Andy showed up in full form to heat things up a little more. First order of business for Andy was a sword fight with Ian Compton, mid-rail.

Hiking some rails with a few campers.

Will putting on a circus.

Break time.

Homewrecker five tail. Spriggs, Moxy, and campers deck-side.

The bag jump has played a strong role in the progression (and injury) of many campers and pros alike. Line's Jason Levinthal and camper demonstrate.

The big step-over was quickly melting but the groomers spared no effort to keep it standing.

The end of the pipe is where most coaches bring their campers to learn inverted tricks like rodeos, lincolns, fronts, and as Tyler Barnes shows, backflips.

With the snow in the lower parts of the lane quickly melting, Windells moved the smaller jump set and cable tow over and up a bit. Although you couldn’t lap any rails with the tow, there were a few smaller jumps to hit that were perfect for dialing in most tricks.

The Stept kids were throwing down, wrapping up the last few shots for their new movie. Martini threw down more doubles than I can name. Check out their teaser dropping next week.

The lucky few hop onto the sled for quick laps on the step-over.

After a long, hot day of skiing, I headed down the mountain to Windells to check out what the Traveling Circus had going on. I made a quick stop at The Ark, a run-down motel owned by Windells used to house most of their staff for the summer. As bad as Da Hood House and Condo are, this is worse. Trust me.

Plenty of active, fun things to do around the Windells grounds.

The indoor skate park, BOB, was humming with word that some of the Line boys were giving out some product. I guess most of the commotion was Andy taking his shirt off for the ladies.

Tramp action is always fun.

Pollard joined Will and Andy at the top of the mini ramp to huck some gear to the kids.

Leaving that circus, rumors reached me about a circus of another kind. I give you “Da Hood Condo.” When I arrived Jon Brogan was doing his all to persuade his crew to head down to the lake. He figured that by wearing an inner tube around his waist for a few hours, the others couldn’t resist. I missed the connection.

They were quick to show off their luxurious sleeping arrangements, including this small closet that housed two, with a third at its base. They only put ONE person in each closet at Da Hood House!

Shorter Brogan was kind enough to put up fellow Electric rider big Spriggs for a week or two.

The kitchen overflowed with trash and dishes. Yep, that’s milk in a wine glass.

As we kicked it in the living room, they put on an incriminating home video from the night before and showed me various parts of the house damaged as a result including this door. Yeah boys, I would start collecting money from everyone now since you won’t be getting any of that security deposit back.

Wandering out onto the balcony, I quickly held my breath as the smell of rotting trash, beer, and ski gear filled my nostrils.

Why bother taking the trash out when you can make an impressive pile on the balcony?

It was around then that K-day and I decided to head down to Trillium Lake to check out one of the most played-out spots to shoot a Hood intro. Most of these people wouldn’t believe that while they were basking in 100 plus degree sun, there were hundreds of people skiing in the background.

A closer view of what little snow is left on the mountain. The large square is the Palmer snowfield, the glacier being up and to the right. The three narrow strings of snow below it are (from left to right) the public park, Mt. Hood Summer Ski and Snowboard Camp (MHSSC), and Windells. As you can see the snow has melted out enough to make lapping the Mile (the lower lift) or any of the lanes impossible.

With the fifth session wrapping up, most campers flew back home. The few fortunate ones threw down the big bucks to stick around for the sixth session. With temperatures still rising, most headed to the coast including Ahmet, his new dog, and a few friends for some surfing. Will Wesson being an in-between session counselor at Windells loaded up a van of kids for the ocean, and Andy Parry grabbed a few friends and did the same. Uncle Delorme made the eight-hour drive back to Kalispell, Montana to see his newborn niece while Wallisch and Hornbeck got stoked on some gear from their new sponsors.
 
With my time in Portland coming to a close, I leave you with a few images of the city…