West Coast Session has always been one of my favorite events in skiing. For years I have been reading articles, looking at pictures, and watching the glorious edits of WCS. This year I got the opportunity to spend the first part of May living in the woods surrounding Mt Hood. I knew I wasn’t going to party and ski with all of the pros, but I was still beyond stoked to be out in Oregon for my first West Coast Sessions.

I arrived on the 2nd, the day before WCS official began. After about three runs, I knew it was going to be a good week. The skies were blue and the vibes in the park was awesome. Despite the lack of snow, Timberline had a pretty solid setup and the big jump look amazing.

The first day of WCS is also gaper day. EVO was cooking hot dogs and a lot of people were dressed up. It was another day of amazing weather and everywhere I seemed to look, there was another well-known skier. Most of these guys were throwing down and ready for the week’s party. Most notable was the notorious Scrappy Joe. Scrappy was by far more intoxicated than any other skier I had seen skiing before. He was all over the place, from yelling at the guys from EVO from being from Seattle and not having a Portland shop there, to losing his phone, almost fighting Will Berman, and guinea-pigging the big jump. At the end of day everyone was all smiles.

Skiers: Derek Roy & Abe Barnett Photo: Emily Tidwell

Day 2 was just as beautiful. This was the first day that everyone sessioned the big jump. After shredding for most of the day, I decided to go up to Palmer and check out the session. I was unsure if I would be able to watch, but I just ducked the rope and joined the larger crowd of people watching. Watching people hit the feature was amazing. Doubles were being thrown on the big jump, while others were getting jibby in the Guac Bowls. After watching for a while I made my way to the bottom and prepared for another night in the woods.

Skiers: Jonah Williams & Dylan Manley Photo: Pablo Varela

Days 3 and 4 were not as awesome as the previous days. The rain and fog had come and no one was too stoked to go shred. I went up both days and took some causal laps. Most people were hiking features including the s-rail and the flat-down-flat-up. It was certainly fun, but everyone was ready for it to be sunny again.

Skier: Khai Krepela Photo: Emily Tidwell

The fifth and final day of WCS was great. The sun had broken from the clouds and the majority of the WCS riders were hitting the big feature. After I while, I made my way up to the feature and joined the endless rotation of doobs that were being passed on the rocks. Everyone was stoked and throwing down. Plenty of crazy tricks were being thrown; including Zak Mousseau’s zero spin. This was the night of the sunset shot, unfortunately I was not able to attend, but I am sure that it was great time.

Skier: Reed Lewis Photo: Matt Sklar

All in all WCS is not something to miss. It is a great way to meet people and always a good time.