My season has officially come to an end. It’s a little strange knowing I just spent my last day on snow until next winter, but it’s good to have a break every once in a while. I feel like the last day of a season should always involve some form of celebration and lots of beer drinking, but this one didn’t. It was kind of like being at a rock show where you expect the band to come back out for a 20-minute jam session encore, but they just turn on the house lights and tell everyone to go home.

While there are still a few more weeks of riding to be had down at Mt. Hood, I know when to quit and so do the summer camps that operate on the glacier all summer. As I write this, both High Cascade and  Windells are wrapping up their final sessions. The glacier will remain open to the public for a few more weeks, but things are melting out pretty fast. If you’re still trying to get in one more sesh, there’s still a pipe, some jumps, jibs and plenty of rocks to get crazy on, but I’ve had enough. I’m ready for a couple months off to let my batteries recharge and my goggle tan fade.

My last day started off like any good summer day at Hood – crawling out of a sleeping bag and looking at the sky to figure out what the weather is doing. This particular morning, I found myself in a tent about 15 miles east of Government Camp and shit was pretty gray and foggy. Trying to stay optimistic, I headed straight for town to grab a coffee and figure out what was happening on the mountain, but the closer I got, the worse things looked. I was just about to give up on the day when I heard a rumor that the glacier was above the clouds. Game on! I jumped in my truck and headed up.

Living in style

Right before hitting the glacier, the clouds broke and the sun came out. Blue skies means it’s time to break out the camera, so I met up with Raelynd Tarnove, a local Washington shred, and Chuck Evans, up from Mammoth, to find something to shoot. We decided to look outside the park – which is a bit tough in the summer since park is really all there is – but we were determined. With the snow melting faster than, well, snow in August, it didn’t take long to find a good pile of exposed rocks, build a small takeoff and hammer out a few rock gap shots. Then it was off to the Windells park to see what was up.

Barely above the clouds.  Snow is melting fast.

Raelynd Tarnove jumping over some rocks

The vibe in the park was definitely more mellow than usual. A lot of the familiar faces have migrated down to New Zealand for the Burton NZ Open. New Zealand and South America are the spots to be right now if you really want to ride all year. Also, there were no contests going on – no groups of spectators watching people spin on rails while someone yells out tricks through a PA system – which left things pretty quiet. I did have a chance to meet up with Pat Milbery and shoot a few photos before calling it a day and hopping on the lift to download.

Chuck Evans getting his shred on over some campers’ heads

Pat Milbery tossing a lofty method on one of the Windells jumps

I had two stops to make on my trip back to Seattle: the first was in Govy to slap a few high fives over at Exit Real World, eat one last Cobra Dog and watch the High Cascade campers arriving for their last session. The second stop was at Windells to meet up with Shay, who is writing a review of the camp for www.shayboarder.com. While I was there, I ran into Molly Aguirre who is a counselor for the last session. Windells is one huge skate park and I told Molly I wanted to shoot a couple of the campers skating, so she introduced me to Alex Midler. This kid just turned 11 but he beat out everyone in the Windells stop of the Gatorade Free Flow Tour, earning himself a spot in the Salt Lake Dew Tour. Alex was nice enough to skate for a few minutes while I shot a couple photos, and somehow we ended up with a crowd of spectators. This kid better get used to it; there are going to be lots of crowds in his future.

Alex Midler feeble to fakie on the Windells QP

BOB, the indoor skate park at Windells .

A camper learning backflips on the Windells trampoline.

So that’s it – my last day riding for a couple months. Time to lay low for a bit. If you’re still fiending for some shred, I suggest you get down to Hood in the next couple weeks or buy yourself a plane ticket to the Southern Hemisphere. See you next winter.

UFO in Windells

Photos & Words by Greg Miller

Check out Greg's blog and his website.