WINDELLS: A Mohawk-less Glen Plake stops by
Another week on Hood, a whole new story. There’s always something at Windells keeping it fresh, whether it’s the new features thanks to the creativity of the park crew, the campers that give coaches a run for their money, or surprise guests.
The latest feature for Session 4 was the change in the 65-foot jump at the bottom of the park. Upon arriving in the park for the session, skiers and campers alike were stoked to see the jump turned into a step-up. Coaches like Tim Durtschi , Tommy Ellingson and Josh Larkin played on that for a couple of days, then returned to see it had been changed into a channel gap. The gap was enough to bring Sammy Carlson and coaches Steven Becker and Scott Rowley down for a late afternoon session.
Tommy Ellingson’s group was on fire during Session 4, which included two members of his family. Younger brother Charlie and cousin Lars convinced their parents to send them to camp for a session, and boy, was it worth it. Lars was throwing down all over the park, from his cork 9s, corky 1080s, and switch 7s and 9s over the 65-foot jump to his 270 to pretzel switch-up to 270 out on the rails. Charlie got a cork 7 over the 65-foot jump, which went from a step-up at the beginning of the week to a channel gap partway through the session. Nick Keefer from Park City was also in Tommy’s group with a rodeo 9 over the big jump. Tommy improved his rail skills himself this session, with a 450 on to a 270 out, working his way up to 630 out.
Steven Becker got lucky with the ladies, having the four skier girls at camp in his group. He asked that I throw his number in this update for all the ladies out there, but I’ll make you girls do a little work and find him on Myspace. Scott Rowley had the baller of the week in his group—7-year-old Birk from Colorado. The kid was fearless, sliding every rail in the park. On the last day he even asked to try the up to gap to down rail. Fortunately he was only going fast enough to make the up part; the gap was longer than his skis and it probably wouldn’t have been pretty.
Campers got a surprise visit this session from skiing legend Glen Plake. It took younger campers a minute to recognize him without the traditional Mohawk, but they sure took notice once the cameraman for Plake’s TV show, Reel Thrills, started filming. Plake joined in like a kid, sliding the roller coaster box and cheering on all the kids who attempted to follow. They filmed a train over one of the jumps, with newbie coach Witt Foster leading the way. Some campers throwing their best trick and other’s just plain hucking themselves trying to go big. Coach Tommy brought up the rear with a front flip—his signature move, just for Glen. Look for your friends who were at camp on the RSN television network in resort towns this winter.
CLICK HERE FORWINDELLS SESSION 4 PHOTO GALLERY
