Holy Oly Revival
Yesterday Mitch and I headed up to the Summit at Hyak for our first ever Holy Oly. It was the Summit’s seventh time and they promised Cobra Dogs and the biggest anti-contest in North America.
Hyak had been taken out by a mudslide, so lifts were closed, and hiking to the quarter pipe was in order. Snow has also been sparse this year so Summit pulled its snow from all over the mountain to make the QP.
(Almost to the top.)
The hike up wasn’t so bad, it was blue sky in the Cascades and a good competition was going down. No complaints here.
A decent number of riders got pretty familiar with the backside of the quarter pipe after launching themselves over it during the competition. That was always exciting–one minute they were in the air, the next they were gone from view.
But there was lots of big airs and methods to be had.
A few skiers showed up.
Riders hiked the hill to hit the pipe for four hours. By the end, everyone seemed kind of tired and there were some breath-catching falls. Fortunately everyone walked away.
There were a few females that were competing, which was awesome. I had no clue who any of them were (since they weren’t announced). But, I did hear about Jess Kimura. She won best crash and was seriously hitting the features hard–literally and figuratively. It was pretty impressive.
I also got to meet Shay of Shayboarder.com.
The winners:
- PNW shred Austin Hironaka walked away as winner and with a half-pallet of Olympia.
- Danny Garrity Northwest Method
- Nate Farrell Berserker
- Bryce Neibuhr won best facial expression and highest air
- Sean Tedore won Hardest Charging Industry Dude
- Russell Winfield won the Russell Winfield award (the award formerly known as the Jeff Brushie)
- Jess Kimura won Best Crash/Y Chromosome
- Forest Bailey won Official Mayor of Tube City
- Jake Tomlinsin won We don’t need no stinkin’ binders
- Blair Habenicht won most creative line (Billy Goats Gruff).
Thanks Shay and Rumorator for convincing me to go. Can’t wait for next year! Be sure to head on up if you’re in the PNW.
I was there. Got to meet Shay (and am now and forever on her blog
). I went last year but I sat down and watched it for a bit this year.
That pipe was… incredible and all the riders threw down.
Jess Kimura is a tank. That girl is amazing. She rides better than a lot of guys, takes hard spills and goes back at it. That’s inspiration to any snowboarder worth his or her salt for sure.
Now, I need to get myself back to the park at Stevens so I am comfortable enough to hit the pipe next year.
Looks like you a great time and that’s what it’s all about.
Fes
21 Feb 10 at 7:44 PM
Awesome you were there. It was a lot of fun and a gorgeous day! The riding was sweet and fun to watch everyone.
I had never heard of Jess before but was super impressed. She is pretty much amazing. And I think tank is a perfect description.
Bekah
22 Feb 10 at 8:05 PM
Oh you need to see these:
Jess ‘s section from Sixes and Sevens
http://vimeo.com/8869612
Peep Show Parts 1 and 2
http://vimeo.com/7427717
http://vimeo.com/7559928
Peep Show is just plain awesome. These girls are amazing.
Heck, these videos give me motivation. I need to go get my shred on this weekened at Stevens.
Fes
22 Feb 10 at 8:41 PM
Thanks for the links Fes! I saw Peep Show at Evo last fall, I guess I completely missed that Jess was in the flick. I’ll check them out!
Bekah
24 Feb 10 at 8:12 PM