10th Annual Bonfire Pipe to Pipe

The date was June 30th, 2007. 70 + Riders from all over the country gathered at Windell's snowboard camp for one reason and one reason only, the 10th Annual Bonfire Pipe-To-Pipe. The sun was shining bright and the skies were extremely blue, only to give hint to some of the most extreme rail riding Mt. Hood has ever seen. This event is different then most events because it gives the amateurs the chance to ride along side their favorite pros. Two heats were thrown down the gauntlet of rails, first the amateurs, followed by the pros. The two massive fields were then narrowed to 5 Am men, 5 Am women, 5 Pro women, and 5 Pro men to all compete against each other in a 20 person final, where the judges then picked the top three riders for each division. As Bonfire pro rider Leanne Pelosi said, “It's pretty friggen awesome seeing campers compete against all the up and coming riding, these kids are the future.”

The event got underway at 11 am, leading with the amateurs. Riders the like of Nikki Dale, Sean Kelly, and Libby Redepening threw down tricks that were fierce and agro. The notorious Kyle Fisher was quoted saying, “I wonder if it makes me a pro hoe or an am fan, since I made out with Libby twice this winter.”

There were many a clean frontside boardslides, and 270’s were being tossed about left and right. For the ladies the victor was Ariel Freedman, throwing down some amazingly clean MAN-uvers. For the men the victor was as easy to point out as a roided up body builder at a Bright Eyes concert. Sawyer Deen tore up the course harder then O.J Simpson tore up Nicole. With his front board 180 backboards, and front board 450’s he was pretty much untouchable the entire day. With a style very much like Lucas Magoon it will only be time before his name is a household moniker.

Right after the amateur division the hard working diggers of Windells performed their magic and transformed the formally rutted out mine field into a thing of pure beauty. The pro group was stacked to brim with riders such as Scotty Stevens, Ben Bogart, Jonas Michilot, and Zack Marben so it really was anyone’s game.

Right away it was Harrison Gordon who came out swinging with a hardway frontside 180 to switch 5050, 180 out on the down rail, right into a gap to tail slide on the flat down box. Some other notable moves were Scotty Stevens doing his signature Michael Jackson slides down the down box, and Jonas Michilot doing some amazing half cab tail presses on the round down bar. After the dust settled and heat was over, 6 riders ended up coming through for the men, and 4 for the women. For the women the riders were Ally Caroll, Jessie Sutton, Desiree Melancon, and Kristen Seits. For the men the riders in the final were Zack Marben, Lucas Wilson, Nick Dirks, Harrison Gordon, Jonas Michilot, and Pat Campanaro. The Am winner Sawyer Deen also rode in the finals and definately proved that he belonged in there.

In the finals I truly think that every single rail trick possible was thrown down. Have it be Nick Dirks signature backside 180 switch 5050 cab 360 out, or Zack Marbens’ hardway backside 270’s to 270 out, what ever you wanted to see, you got it. In the end the top three who ended up victorious were Lucas Wilson in 3rd, Zack Marben in 2nd, and Nick Dirks in 1st. For the Ladies Desiree Melancon ended up in 2nd with her clean front boards that looked like a guy, and Kristen Seits took the victory with her awesome tricks.

After the snowboard portion of the event we all headed down to Windells for the skateboard portion. Tony Hawk totally swept the floor with Shawn White's flying tomato mop, but in the end it was Micah Hollinger who truly got robbed. He got robbed harder then the Great Train Robbery of 1869. With his frontside 270 lips on the flat bar and his pop shovits that were easily the height of gingerbread houses, it was only a sure thing that he would win. But the powers that be did not see that fitting. So the final results of the skateboard contest were: for the amateur men s Colton Trayhorn in 3ed, Rhun Rich in 2nd, and Kyle Valero with mean nollie bigspin heelflips and 50-50 grinds, got first. For the Men’s pro division the top three places were awarded to Phil Hanson in 3rd, Zack Matsen in 2nd, and the winner with his switch 180 nose grinds down the hubba, Eden Powers.

All and all this contest was a great day for all who were involved. A big thanks goes out to Bonfire and Windells camp for making this happen year after year. Hopefully we can have another 10 years of this contest.