Mt. Hood is ready to welcome West Coast Session for another gathering of the most talented freestyle skiers in the game. 2012 marks the sixth West Coast Session. The most elite athletes were invited to ski with Windells, Amplid, Auviq, Buff and Vital Films at Timberline Lodge for the private photo and video session May 7th-10th. Hillcrest Sports is holding an on-hill barbecue on Sunday, May 6th for the public jam; a full day of contests and giveaways for all participants.

West Coast Session is exactly what the name implies; a session. “It’s different than a company shoot or a film session with lots of pressure. It’s a session and it’s fun,” said Windells Academy Head Ski Coach Jeff Curry. Last year, Curry worked on getting new sponsors for West Coast Session and this year he’s added Camtrol to the list. Curry skis for LINE, Full Tilt, Electric and Orage.

“Over the years, West Coast Session has gotten bigger; both the set up and the turn out. The past couple years, the jumps have gone from 70ft to 80ft to 100ft last year, but this year they’re planning for a more creative set up rather than just huge. Last year the big jump was the signature feature and this year there are going to be two or three signature features,” Curry explained.

Windells is housing the athletes again this year. The invited athletes and media teams eat, stay and hang out on campus for the week. It’s a comfortable home base for the athletes traveling to Mt. Hood from around the country and some from overseas. “Windells is a huge component of the bonding process for the athletes,” Curry shared. “It’s casual. Everyone feeds off each other and it’s fun for spectators, too.”

West Coast Session 2012 Invited Athletes

Noah Albaladejo

Jason Arens

Jack Borland

Phil Casabon

Joss Christensen

Collin Collins

Ian Compton

Karl Fostvedt

Tim Gage

Maks Gorham

Keri Herman

Logan Imlach

Sean Jordan

Nicky Keefer

Jeff Kiesel

Sean Logan

Bene Mayr

Tim McChesney

Luka Melloni

Nick Miles

Ben Moxham

Brady Perron

Max Peters

Aidan Sheehan

Steve Stepp

Dale Talkington

Matt Walker

McRae Williams

Torin Yater-Wallace

John Kutcher

West Coast Session 2012 Invited Photographers

Darcy Bacha

Jordan Harper

Rocky Maloney

Drew Smalley

West Coast Session 2012 Invited Videographers

Vital Films (Matt Hobbs & Cael Jones)

Evan Heath

Shane McFalls

Andrew Napier