Hundreds of top-level snowboarders, park builders, videographers and photographers will be descending on Mt. Hood Meadows over the next week for the 18th iteration of Snowboarder Magazine’s Superpark freestyle session.
This will be the first time the five-day Superpark photo and video shoot is held at Meadows, and the resort will be hopping with activity as riders sample extreme features and huge jumps up on Shooting Star Ridge. Crews have already started moving around snow in preparation.
Meadows’ Executive Director of Marketing and Communication Dave Tragethon said the healthy spring snow base on Mount Hood and the proximity to the upcoming Cutter’s Camp for terrain park builders at Timberline both helped convince organizers to consider Meadows for this year’s Superpark. “A lot of things came together to allow us to host Superpark for the first time,” said Tragethon.
Frank April, Scott Stevens, Jessica Kimura, Sebastién Toutant, Jamie Lynn, Chris Roach, Dan Brisse, Louif Paradis and Danny Kass are just some of the big-name snowboarders who will be appearing. Snowboarder Magazine’s Creative Director Pat Bridges said that Superpark can compete with any freestyle gathering anywhere: “The terrain is more challenging, tricks more innovative, and depth of talent significantly deeper than you will see at any other contest or photo shoot in the world of snowboarding.”
Tom Scully, Director of Mountain Operations for Meadows, said, “This event will showcase some of the nation’s top terrain park builders and riders on our unique and beautiful terrain.”
Along with top riders, the event will also draw top terrain park builders from Colorado, Vermont, California and Utah. Woodward Camps, which is owned by the snowsports industry behemoth Powdr Corp, is collaborating with Snowboarder Magazine on the event and providing park designs. The snowcat builder PistenBully is also a co-sponsor and is providing the horsepower for the park builds.
The Superpark will be a private photo and video shoot accessible by invitation only, but there also will be a collection of urban-style rails set up near the Meadows base lodge for public viewing. A rail jam exhibition with pro competitors and music from DJ Matty Mo is scheduled at the base area for 1-3 pm Saturday, May 10.
There will also be two webcasts featuring footage from the Superpark with play-by-play from Preston Strout and color commentary from Snowboarder Magazine’s Tom “T. Bird” Monterosso. The webcasts are scheduled for 1-3 pm on Friday, May 9th and Saturday May 10th and will appear on www.snowboardermag.com.
Last modified: May 1, 2014
