Posted by orage on April 21st 2009

Matt Philippi looking down at the judges

It’s mid April, a ¼ million people will be rolling through Whistler for the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival and that can only mean one thing. The Orage Masters has taken center stage on the event circuit. And if ever the Masters was to be tested, this was the year. The Whistler park crew battled below average snowpack but magically found a way to push up what was by far the largest Masters course to date, and the weather we woke up to on game day was to put it lightly… horrendous. To say the least, we were nervous… 8 teams of today’s top ski athletes dressed in costumes that are by no means waterproof and high expectations of a killer event had us back on our heels.

Left to right: Line, Surafce, Dynastar, Armada, CoreUPT, K2, 4FRNT, Volkl, Judges Tower

But let’s not fool ourselves, this is the Orage Masters, skiing’s notorious Anti Comp, its spring time in Whistler and nothing; I repeat, nothing can hold this event down. Simply put, the weather was terrible, visibility was close to zero, the rain was pouring down and the athletes were less than comfortable with the elements.

Dan O'Callahan makes an entrance

So what did we do, we sent them to the start gate, told the judges to score only what they could physically see and then passed out enough cold Kokanee to keep the party rolling ‘till the wee hours of the afternoon. Hearing our prayers, mother nature blessed us with short breaks in what was a blindingly thick layer of fog and rain allowing teams K2, Surface, Line, Coreupt, 4FRNT, Dynastar, Volkl and Armada to put forth valiant efforts in search of the coveted White Masters Jackets, the Bling and the right to call themselves the best of the best.


In the first round it was Surface vs. Dynastar, Line vs. Armada, 4FRNT vs. Volkl and Coreupt vs. K2. Kicking it off, Masters 2 victor, the Dynastar Globetrotters gave the treatment to the Surface Ghost Buster squad in a hard fought battle.


Heat two of round one pitted first time Masters competitors Line Skis vs. three time top three finisher, Armada… how fitting, the two most well know rider driven ski companies were set to do battle.


In the end it was team Armada who narrowly squeaked into the semi finals sending the Line body builders back to the workout bench.

The Armada Trailer Park Boys rehydrating between runs

The next heat saw 4FRNT and ex champions, team Volkl aka the boy scout of pack 1923 battling it out in what has become a heartbreaking first round tradition that unfortunately ends with team 4FRNT falling victim to their unofficial “Masters curse” of not


Being able to find a way out of the first round. With high flying, front flipping action from veteran team rider and masters crown bearer Tim “the love muscle” Russell and silent but deadly dark horse, Matt Philippi who consistently threw down the trick of the day as he hurled himself vertically 20’ straight up to the tippy top of the log of love Volkl quite handedly advanced to the semis.

L to R: Dan O'Callahan, Kendo Yamamoto, Harkin Banks, and Sylvia Fonda

Rounding out the first heat was an odd pairing; defending champions, the K2 Hotdoggers took on newcomer’s team Coreupt who seemed to for some reason think it was possible to win the anti comp with an anti team. With TJ Schiller and Colby West on hand, they realized they were short two riders… so what did they do. They did what any wise pair of ski gods would do, they looked down upon the crowd below and handpicked some of the best most underrated riders they could find. In a last minute addition Coreupt pulled from the party below Jeff Schmuck and Doug Bishop of NS.com and local hero and bar back bottle slinger Myles Rickets to hold it down as best they could. K2 was guaranteed the first round victory but TJ rallied his recruits and demanded they throw it down. So hard in fact that Jeff Schmuck put his life on the line and was ultimately sidelined with a partially blown knee. Talk about going for it. Big props to the schmuck man.

Harkin Banks throwing down like Sean Pettit

With round one behind us it was time for lunch, a refill of brew-skis and the ceremonial Kokanee shotgun contest before we could allow the semis to begin. With three out of four teams in the finals looking for the first ever repeat Masters victory we were on the verge of history. To be specific, there was a 75% chance we were about to witness the first two time victor and let it be known, the excitement was in the air.


The semi final heats packed a serious punch with Kokanee’s flowing like water, shredders flying, flipping, spinning and jibbing the course and a block party boasting team theatrics, mascot fights, split lips and as all ski contests should have, roman candles and sparklers. Yes you heard it right; the Orage Masters has now stepped up to the level of pyrotechnics.

Casabon leading the Trailer Park Boys into the finish

With some of the details a bit cloudy due to Mother Nature’s fog and the endless supply of cold cans of Kokanee we’ll forego the specifics of round two and move straight into the final round where Team Armada and the scouts of Volkl pack 1932 were set and eagerly awaiting a showdown to the death. Armada took to the course first with a 20 minute jam session all to themselves. With impeccable timing the clouds parted allowing the crowd and team judges a long awaited, unobstructed view of the entire course above. Armada dropped in to the massive course consisting of a poppy 50’ table flanked by two rail features, into a second 60’ table bookmarked with two cannon boxes that lead straight into the third and final jump before the jib garden that capped off the course. For the first time, top to bottom runs were visible and Armada gave the Volkl scouts a run for the money.


But when the smoke had cleared it was the little scouts that could, who did. Making history as the only team to ever repeat a victory on the famed Orage Masters course Tim Russell, Matt Philippi, Ahmet Dedhali and Anna Borgman battled through three rounds of intense action and partying to ultimately do what every team had come to do… GET DOWN WITH THE CROWN.


It was a Masters to remember, antics were abundant, challenges of all kinds were overcome and good times were had by all. So for now we bid you farewell as we let the pictures tell the tale and we say thank you to all 8 teams, Whistler Resort and the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival for what we may consider the best Masters of all time.