It’s extremely likely that snowboarders start looking forward to Hot Dawgs and Handrails from the second that it concludes each September at Bear Mountain, California. This event (commonly referred to as HDHR) is going down this year on Saturday and is known throughout the industry as the official winter kick-off party. Each year, it ramps up with even more movie premieres, more DJs, and more insane, innovative park features.

Along with a handful of pro riders, brands, groupies, avid snowboarders, and teenage girls with trucker hats will be in attendance on Saturday, creating the chaos that is HDHR. The main event is, of course, the rail jam, featuring Bear team riders Joe Sexton, Dylan Alito, Brandon Hobush, Zak Hale, Desiree Melancon, and Scotty Vine. It’s set to start at 2 p.m. Bear and its park designer, Clayton Shoemaker, will bring in 130 tons of snow to set the stage for the brand new massive features they’ve been crafting for the past few weeks. “With 10 to 11 line options, this is definitely the biggest and most fun course we’ve ever set up for HDHR,” Shoemaker said.

The view from the VIP Red Bull tent at last year’s HDHR. Photo: Lindsay Fraka

Hot Dawgs and Handrails also includes live music, excessive drinking of adult beverages, product giveaways, a hot dog eating contest, and a rowdy after-party at AV Nightclub in the Village, where Bear Mountain’s full-length film “Feature Factory” and film company Videograss’ movies “The Darkside” and “Enlighten” will premiere. On top of all this madness, people in attendance will have their last chance to buy a Bear/Snow Summit season pass at the Screamin’ Deal discounted rates (featured on www.bearmountain.com). It’s a mess of greatness and everyone should experience this event at one point in their lives.

For those who can’t make the trek up Highway 330 this Saturday, Snowboarder magazine will host their usual live webcast of the event with senior editor Tom “T-Bird” Monterosso leading the commentary. He will be joined by various legends in the snowboard scene. The webcast is set to go live at 1:30 p.m. PST on www.snowboardermag.com.