WINDELLS: Groms, Fog, and Pretzels Steal Show at Session 3

Taylor Felton

Another session at Windells has come to an end and it’s starting to feel like summer skiing at Timberline Ski Area. Gone are the June days of unpredictable Mount Hood weather. We’ve finally moved into the heat of July. Session Three brought us a trace of fresh snow at the top of the mountain one day and another day we had fog so thick you couldn’t see the end of your ski pole. And if you have poles as short as Sammy Carlson, that’s some thick fog.

Taylor Felton

Windells Ski Director Travis Erdmann maxed out the coaching lineup for the session to meet the needs of 61 ski campers—the largest ski session ever. The list of talented coaches included Brandon Becker, Tim Durtschi, Tommy Ellingson, Wiley Miller, Steven Becker, Rory Silva, Dylan Hood, Kirk Maguire, and Scott Rowley. Rage Films’ Taylor Felton and Ian Cosco, Salomon’s Mike Clarke, and, of course, Sammy Carlson were also hanging out in the park.

Camper, Bobby Brown

With so many skiers on the hill it was hard to keep track of them all, but returning camper Bobby Brown and his red pants stood out all over the park. From his 450 on to 270 out on the flat down box to switch 1080s over the 65-foot jump at the bottom of the park, Bobby was throwing down on everything. He even landed a first attempt double back flip. Another notable skier of the week was Salomon’s Jason Arens. He was up for a quick visit from Tahoe, but he had a solid few days and killed it on the big jump with his switch 10s.

Wiley Miller

Part of the crew from Wright Brothers Productions was also in attendance during Session Three. Nick Wright, Peter Belmonte, and Skyler and Aaron Swedderg were at camp for their seventh summer in a row. They are about to come out with their seventh ski film titled “Overflow,” which will premiere at a movie theater in upstate New York this fall. The gang also rounded up 13-year-olds Mike Galdi and Jake McGuffog while at camp to include in the filming. A lot of Windells features will be in the movie, like the S-rail with a blindside 270s out and Nick’s switch misty 9 mute over the 65-foot jump.

All in all it was another successful week at Windells and a showcase of the young talent that’s coming up quickly on the older guys. According to Tim Durtschi, this was the saltiest session of the summer—full of pretzels. We’ll see what next week has in store.

Tommy Ellingson

Tommy Ellingson

Tim Durtschi

Jason Arends

Camper, Bobby Brown

Tommy Ellingson