Bonfire's 15th Annual Pipe to Pipe Photos and Recap

Words: T-Bird Photos: Oli Gagnon/ Mike Yoshida It’s no secret that Mt. Hood is the place to be in the summer if you’re a snowboarding fanatic. It’s the only spot in the United States with not only the snowpack but also the resources to provide you with everything you need for three months of world-class park riding. Likewise, there’s no place on earth–let alone the US–like Windells. On Saturday, Bonfire Snowboarding continued a storied summer tradition with the annual Pipe to Pipe. The Pipe to Pipe is the longest-running summer snowboard contest in history and every year it gets exponentially better, and the 15th was no exception. Around 100 competitors lined the Windells lane, staring down on an insane setup built by the diligent diggers at “The Best Place on Earth.” A giant bowl running parallel with the strip of snow sat before them, littered with bonks, pole jams, hips, and one gigantic spine with a hitching post-style rail atop it that ran the length of the bowl. Needless to say, with a jam style format, it provided all onlookers with plenty of near-miss crashes and an inordinate of insane snowboard trickery. Throughout the day, the pro, am, and industry division dropped in rapid-fire order; first a qualifier round and then the final. There was some crazy shit that went down as everyone who entered was vying for the $1,500 first place prize. Front sevens, fives, and threes over the entire spine, plenty of handplants, bonks, inverts, taps, and a plethora of pros lapping the feature, most notably, Jaeger Bailey, Justin Fronius, Kohei Kudo, Teddy Koo, Erik Leon, and Mike Ravelson just to name a few. After the finals, everyone on-hill headed down to the Windells campus for the skate jam portion of the event. To be totally honest, I am wholly unqualified to talk about the skating that went down because, well, I’m a snowboard writer. However, I am qualified to tell you that it was some of the most unbelievable skateboarding I have ever seen in person. This has got to be the biggest skate event on the west coast, and it’s so very evident in the crowd turnout, the immaculate concrete park at Windells, and, of course, the talent that turns out to put on a show. When the skate jam was all over, the winners were announced and the crowd piled out, but the resonance left with the crowd could be heard by all the “Did you sees” and “What the fucks” from everyone who watched both the on-and-off snow segments of the Bonfire Pipe to Pipe. I already can’t wait for next year. See you then, and thanks to the good people at both Windells and Bonfire Snowboarding for a great show. Results (Snow): Men: 1.Erik Leon 2.Sawyer Dean 3.Jesse Paul Women: 1.Jessika Jensen 2.Mary Rand 3.Sarah Gale Industry: 1.Bobby Meeks 2.Ami Voutilainen 3.Preston Strout