As if you needed any more reasons to get your buns up to shred camp at Mt. Hood this summer, Windells just released videos from Session 4 to tempt you even more.

The weather on the glacier has been as good as it gets which enticed tons of pros to get out there and shred under the sunny blue skies.

From Louie Vito and JJ Thomas on the snowboard side of things, to Tanner Hall and Keri Herman on the ski side- Session 4 was all time and filled with mega-bangers.

There's still plenty of fun to be had at Hood, so why don't you pull the trigger and rally up there for Session 5 or 6.

Do it.

Words: Windells

Throughout the ages, there have been many foursomes that have defined sensibilities, innovated trends, and affected generations. In the sixties, The Beatles revolutionized rock music. In the eighties, Dr. Peter Venkham and the other Ghostbusters saved a legion of citizens from getting slimed. Flash forward to 2011, and it's a fair comparison to say that Nick Visconti, Curtis Woodman, Jason Robinson, and Stevie Bell combined their collective radness and gave campers at Windells the best summer snowboard experience they could ever want.

The group may seem, at first, to be an unexpected foursome, but during Session 4, their unique personalities and boarding styles combined seamlessly, creating a powerhouse of fun. From morning to night, the guys were all over the place, harnessing the same energy of a whole cabin of campers. Tons of park laps, hours and hours spent in the Concrete Jungle and BOB, backflip clinics on hill, powerslide contests off hill, Bonfire Pipe 2 Pipe, and the biggest, most intense, game of knock out you have ever seen (Stevie could probably play defense in the NBA). But don't take it from us, here's what the crew had to say.

"Our session involved snowboarders from all types of backgrounds and different styles. No matter what you're into in snowboarding: taipans, tight pants, baggy pants, rails, jumps, backcountry, there's people that are experts are in all of those fields. There really wasn't anything you couldn't learn or get involved with. It made me feel like a kid again." - JRob

"Session 4 was so fun because everybody was friendly, super stoked to be at camp, and had a good time, whether it was on hill or on campus: product tosses, the sickest skate competition I have ever seen in my life, and wonderful dance parties. I had an amazing time hanging out here. I'm exhausted from all the skating, snowboarding and activities. I'm gonna go take a nap for a couple days. - Stevie

"We had a really good group of people. Everyone was down to have a really good time on and off hill and there's always activities to do, rain or shine, whether it is basketball, tetherball, playing pool, or skateboarding. You're moving and doing fun things the whole session. Sleepy Bear needs a nap." - Curtis

"Windells helps me keep my girlish figure and fit into my skinny pants. I can't even eat enough good food fast enough, because I burn off so many calories skating and snowboarding all day. Screw Jenny Craig, I need Windells." - Nick

Session 5 is next and will be filled with even more shredding, skating, and fun!

Snowboard Session 4



Ski Session 4

GrindTV Newswire: Killington, Vt. - January 22, 2011 - Louie Vito, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, won his second straight snowboard superpipe Winter Dew Tour final, further securing his lead in overall rankings heading into the final stop of the 2010-11 season and putting him as one of the leading contenders for Toyota Athlete of the Year. On the women's side, Vermont's own Kelly Clark of West Dover secured her first snowboard superpipe win of the 2010-11 season in her hometown state. The best snowboarders in the world battled it out on Killington Resort's brand-new 22-foot superpipe, which debuted at the Winter Dew Tour event.

Vito, age 22, was at the top of the leader board heading into his second run, but that didn't stop him from going all out. After throwing out tricks that included back to back double corks, a frontside 10 and a frontside tailgrab, Vito earned the top score of 93.00 on his victory lap. Breckenridge, Colorado's JJ Thomas, 29, placed second with an 88.00 and 23-year-old Mason Aguirre of Duluth, Minn. finished third with an 86.50.

"I feel great about landing a solid run out here. The pipe was good and everyone rode really well overall," said Vito. "I feel good heading into Snowbasin next month, and hopefully I can just stay on my feet."

Clark, 27, earned the highest women's snowboard superpipe score in Winter Dew Tour history with a 95.75. Showing huge amplitude throughout, Clark's run included a front 9, back 5, front 7, cab 7 and front 5. Following behind in second place was Aspen, Colorado's Gretchen Bleiler, 27, who earned a score of 92.25. Span's Queralt Castellet, 21, rounded out the podium in third with an 86.00. Castellet's finish is still enough to keep her in the lead in overall Winter Dew Tour rankings heading into the Championship event.

"It was a great event today, and I'm glad to be back home in Vermont and to do so well," said Clark. "I was really happy with my riding and to get the highest score in women's halfpipe in Winter Dew Tour history is amazing."

The four-day competition is the second of three stops on the 2010-11 Winter Dew Tour featuring men and women's snowboarding and freeskiing disciplines. The Winter Dew Tour will continue tonight with the men's freeski superpipe final under the lights and conclude tomorrow with the snowboard and freeski slopestyle finals.

Winter Dew Tour at Killington
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Killington, Vt. - Killington Resort

Men's Snowboard Superpipe - Finals
1. Louie Vito, Bellefontaine, Ohio, 93.00. 2. JJ Thomas, Breckenridge, Colo., 88.00., 3. Mason Aguirre, Duluth, Minn., 86.50. 4. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, Colo., 83.50. 5. Spencer Shaw, Stratton, Vt., 83.00. 6. Matt Ladley, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 82.00. 7. Ben Watts, Bend, Ore., 75.25. 8. Trevor Jacob, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 71.50. 9. Zach Black, Breckenridge, Colo., 58.00. 10. Jack Mitrani, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 55.50. 11. Brennen Swanson, Stillwater, Minn., 26.00. 12, Greg Bretz, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., DNS.

Men's Snowboard Superpipe - Tour Rankings
1. Louie Vito, 200. 2. JJ Thomas, 174. 3. Matt Ladley, 166. 4. Mason Aguirre, 166. 5. Steve Fisher, 152. 6. Trevor Jacob, 140. 7. Greg Bretz, 136. 8. Spencer Shaw, 123. 9. Luke Mitrani, 107. 10. Jake Mitrani, 99.

Women's Snowboard Superpipe - Finals
1. Kelly Clark, West Dover, Vt., 95.75. 2. Gretchen Bleiler, Aspen, Colo., 92.25. 3. Queralt Castellet, Spain, 86.00. 4. Elena Hight, South Lake Tahoe, Calif., 81.50. 5. Soko Yamaoka, Japan, 80.25., 6. Kelly Marren, Hillsborough, Calif., 46.25.

GrindTV Newswire, Via YEAH. NICE: (Boulder, CO, October 2, 2010) YEA.NICE, a new clothing brand, will be launching its first line on October 2nd, 2010.

The brand is the brainchild of snowboarders J.J. Thomas and Josh Sherman. The clothing line fuses art, custom fits, and function which includes flannels, wovens, t-shirts, beanies, and hats. There is unique detailing on all the pieces and a few limited edition, one-time release items. Besides putting their efforts into the clothes, they also support artists, musicians, and athletes from across the nation.

Visit www.yeanice.com to view the complete line and check out the launch events being held in Madison, WI and Denver, CO.

Welcome to YEA.NICE...It's a brand.

The company is based in Boulder, CO and can be contacted at: info@yeanice.com

Words and Photos: Ned Cremin

The inaugural Monster Mash Invitational Pipe Jam closed out the USASA Nationals at Copper last week, the biggest amateur snowboarding event in the states.

JJ Thomas was getting "MileHi" at Copper

Spectators packed up the pipe to get a view of the likes of JJ Thomas, Danny Kass, Brennen Swanson, Dylan Bidez, Zack Black and others going big and twisting it out.


The crew hanging out, getting ready to drop. Photo: Ned Cremin

Music pumped during the open jam format whilethe "Captain Caveman" of board sports-the Dingo, hyped up the crowd on the hot mic announcing the show's maneuvers.


Danny was signing autographs and stoking out everyone in attendance. Photo: Ned Cremin


Matt Ladley and Danny Kass wait to drop.

The jam format allowed everyone to get as many runs in as they liked. Banger after Banger were thrown, and this event was a great way to get all the pros out for some end of season fun.

Thanks to everyone for coming out!

The whirlwind of the 2009-2010 Winter Dew Tour has come to a close after the final event this past weekend at Mount Snow. With a different overall atmosphere and vibe resulting from the timing of the Winter Olympics and the shocking monumental injuries, this competition was an emotional roller coaster surrounded by drama and what seemed to be lack of interest. Many big names were missing from the last stop of the Dew Tour because of a little thing called being on the US Olympic team, so this provided a huge window of opportunity for the rookies to get in the spotlight. Regardless of speculation and which prime time events were being aired simultaneously, the riders didn't let it affect their riding or their attitudes. Who knows if they even noticed? They were there to thrown down, and throw down they did. Here are the final winners in each event:

Men's Freeski Slopestyle - Andreas Hatveit

Men's Freeski Superpipe - Jossi Wells

Men's Snowboard Superpipe - JJ Thomas

Men's Snowboard Slopestyle - Sage Kotsenburg

Women's Snowboard Superpipe - Kaitlyn Farrington

Women's Snowboard Slopestyle - Jamie Anderson

In the men's freeski events, Andreas Hatveit's performance at each stop was mind blowingly consistent and flawless. He was at the top of the podium in Breckenridge and then had a 2nd place finish at Snowbasin and came into the last stop of the Dew Tour tied with Tom Wallisch. This Norwegian Dew Tour newbie took home first place in Vermont along with the title of freeski's Dew Tour champ in slopestyle.

The race for first place in men's freeski superpipe was filled with top dogs like Simon Dumont, Jossi Wells, Xavier Bertoni, and Peter Olenick. After a final balls out, crowd pleasing run from Simon Dumont that landed him in first place at Mount Snow, it was Jossi Wells who ended up with the overall Dew Tour win. This kiwi had nothing to complain about after a stand out season so far that rightfully earned him the championship.

Now for the drama that is men's snowboard superpipe. After the crash of Kevin Pearce that hushed crowds across the nation, Danny Davis' almost perfect journey to the Olympics followed by a spinal injury that took him out for the rest of the reason, and many other top riders missing due to Team USA rules and regulations that restricts them from competing in any event before the Olympics, we begin to wonder, was this year's Dew Tour doomed from the start? In a difficult time, it's hard to focus on an event like the Winter Dew Tour when it seems like there are so many bigger and more crucial things to be worrying about. This year's Dew Tour was fighting for appreciation against the looming shadow of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics along with the fact that the last stop was being aired the same weekend of the NFL Superbowl. Well, I hate to disappoint but the athletes still left in the fight for the championship could care less about Peyton Manning or the Saints, and I believe the energy of the upcoming Olympics and their fallen friends only inspired their riding.


JJ Thomas was the epitome of inspired. Coming out of hibernation in the contest scene, JJ let everyone know he hadn't lost his edge. With his top performances in superpipe alongside stiff competition, Thomas seemed very relaxed and just stoked to be riding. Although he was not selected for the U.S.Olympic Snowboard Team, his riding this season has been impressive and fluid. JJ Thomas took home the Toyota Championship title and the Dew Tour Cup followed by Steve Fisher and the injured Danny Davis.

Keeping up with the big dogs, at 16, Sage Kotsenburg became the youngest athlete ever to be named the Winter Dew Tour Cup Champ in men's snowboard slopestyle. Torstein Horgmo, Tyler Flanagan, and Eric Willet all had their own bag of tricks at each stop but Kotsenburg was hungry for the win and stomped his way to the top.

Women's superpipe also had a lot of familiar names missing after the announcement of who will be heading to Vancouver on Team USA. Again, this allowed for some young guns to duke it out for top honors. Kaitlyn Farrington and Kelly Marren seemed to be the top two contenders for the Dew Cup. At the last stop of the tour, 15-year-old Maddy Shaffrick threw down a solid run that ultimately gave her a second place finish at Mount Snow. Rookie Kaitlyn Farrington was ready to bring it on her second run through the pipe. With a clean inverted 720 (the only chick to do so), a huge 540, and consistency and style throughout, Kaitlyn earned her spot on top of the podium and the Dew Tour Cup in her hands.

One event that did not follow the trend of surprising or unexpected was women's snowboard slopestyle. Jamie Anderson seems to be competing with herself these days and continues to come out on top after winning in Vermont and the Dew Tour Champ title. However, all these ladies were ready to lay it all out on the course. Coming into the last stop, Spencer O'Brien, Jenny Jones, and Anderson all had equal chances to take home the Cup. The girls were going huge with massive spins and throwing down presses that put most guys to shame. Ultimately, it was Jamie's last run that was deemed one of the best female slopestyle runs in Dew Tour history (scoring a record 96.25) that clinched the win. It was complete with text book tailpresses, perfect boardslides and frontboards, an insane switch backside 540, frontside 720, and was rounded out with a floater of a backside 180. The rest of the gals just couldn't hang after that.

Congrats to all the competitors and winners of the Winter Dew Tour. You can all breathe now. Sit back, relax, and get ready to see what our U.S. Olympic Snowboard Team has in store for us.