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Orage Masters

- Seventh Edition, 2010 -

Orage Masters

- Sixth Edition, 2009 -

Orage Masters

- Fifth Edition, 2008 -

From the weeks leading up to the event, to the hype surrounding the 5th anniversary of the Orage Masters and its move to Whistler; there remains only one thing left to say... Congratulations to the K2 Spread Eagles... They came, they saw, they kicked some ass... and broke beer mugs over their heads along the way.

Not only did K2 come equipped with props, they were by far the most theatrical team in the event. Which, combined with their course dominance and inspiration from fearless team captain Mike Powell, the Spread Eagles were lead to victory and have officially given the hells angels something to fear. The 5th installment of the Orage Masters not only lived up to its namesake, the Anti Comp found a way to surpass our wildest expectations providing rare springtime sun and warm conditions at the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.

For the hundreds of fans who peppered the tree line boundary of the course, the 8 competing teams better known as the one and only K2 Spread Eagles, 4 Frnt Tibetan Monks, Armada Star Wars crew, Salomon Super Heroes, Volkl David Hasslehoff look-alikes, Surface Outsiders, Dynastar Vikings and the Rossi Pirates all came dressed to impress and were ready tear a strip off the custom built Masters course.

With the traditional sound of the blow horn teams Salomon and Dynastar kicked off the event with high flying choreographed acrobatics in hopes of impressing their fellow competitors and guest judges, JF Cusson, Myles Ricketts, Mike Atkinson and Joe Schuster enough to be granted permission to move onto the next round. With only 15 minutes between each set of two teams, 4 preliminary round robin heats were packed with action on the course built by none other than TJ Schiller himself. When the smoke had cleared it was K2, 4 Frnt, Dynastar and Armada who would move into the semi final round. From there Dynastar and K2 rose above the rest and would ultimately set the stage for a battle between the biker gang and the weapon clad viking village pillagers. But in the end, no team could top the antics of the K2 Spread Eagles who not only dominated the event but somehow found time to slam beers, break mugs over their helmets and scream death metal lyrics during their runs. When it was all said and done the Orage Masters provided debauchery, reckless acts of costume clad skiing, a fantastic free lunch, countless beers from Kokanee, a live web cast on ns.com and 8 hours of on hill partying... just the way we like it... just the way every event should be.

Volkl Takes Orage Masters

- Fourth Edition, 2006 -

Story by Powdermag.com
After 5 heats of head to head competition, and five 10 minute jam sessions, the 2006 Orage Masters came down to this: one three minute head-to-head battle, Mona a Mona, Volkl's Sarah Burke vs. Armada's Grete Eliassen.

When the final horn rang, it was Sarah Burke who came out victorious in the latest round of this budding rivalry, snaring the 2006 Orage Masters for Team Volkl. Burke exhibited her aerial prowess, nailing a 3, 5, and Switch 9 in her three runs. She also benefited from a crash by Eliassen, who took a more technical approach by utilizing the courses rail sections.

"It's a three minute session, so you gotta go fast," said Burke. "It was the most tiring thing I've ever done. Grete was throwing down. She was 270ing onto that down rail. I think she's the only girl I saw do that."

In the spirit of The Master's "Anti-comp" tag line, the contest was secondary to the spectacle. Costumes this year were more elaborate than ever. Highlights include the 4FRNT pirates, who converted their scaffolding into the bow of a ship; Salomon's The Wizard of Oz theme; and the Volkl Ninja's. The Rossignol team looked particularly dapper in full suits.

Mammoth, May, and the Orage Masters

- Third Edition, 2005 -

Story by Kamikazee / Newschoolers.com
The 2005 Orage Masters, Mammoth Mountain, California. Team Volkl and Team Dynastar have just been mobilized from their company cribs, two of eight scaffoldings forming a half-moon above nine features crafted by two of the world's best terrain park designers. From these scaffoldings, skiers from across the globe will watch and judge their peers in one of skiing's most unconventional competitions, one which labels itself skiing's anti-comp. The set-up is immaculate, adding two hips to the Masters' usual menagerie of rails, boxes, and other jibs. Even the weather has complied, with bluebird skies overhead after a solid week of blowing snow.

The Volkl riders know they have to pull out all the stops, because Dynastar's team is stacked with three of skiing's best young park riders--Dan Marion, Tanner Rainville and Corey Vanular--as well as the French jib queen Marie Martinod. Still, if Volkl's going to be the first team to be eliminated, they're determined to go out in style. Nick Mercon goes gonzo style on the first hip, hucking switch misty 9s, while Sarah Burke's 450 attempts on the first box result in some gnarly beatdowns. And then there's Hibbert, who in usual fashion finds the trick most likely to end in total disaster, in this case a switch flare onto the down rail. A young kid from Europe (whose name I forget) has replaced Nico Zacek, and he lays down the most solid runs for the team, killing the right C-box with a switch-up to 270 out. But even so they're no match for Dynastar. Rainville and Vanular are totally out of control, treating this park like a playground. They lap the park in tandem, victimizing the high box with ridiculous spins on and off and hitting the hips switch with smooth cork 5s. Marion and Marie are both tech and clean, rounding out a tight team full of talent and determination. At the end of fifteen minutes Dynastar is a shoo-in for the finals.

In the next heat, skiing's original core company, Line, is pitted against skiing's Goliath, Salomon. Sammy Carlson and Peter Olenick are both on their game, laying down runs with textbook style that would win any ordinary competition. But here at the Masters the team impression is more important than the individual, and Line's riders are obviously organized and interdependent. Each skier takes different lines with different style, but everyone is riding for fun. Bibby's antics are the highlight, with screamin' seamen airs and pole flips mixed in to otherwise relaxed, effortless runs like jokes in an obituary, while Tim Russell seems almost bored spinning casual 270s onto the step-up box. In a much-debated decision, Line advances to the finals with a score of 52, with Salomon a close second at 49.

The third heat is the battle of the core, with Armada lining up against 4FRNT. Both teams are in full get-up, with 4FRNT all in white jumpsuits, skis, even painted boots, while the Armada riders are rocking suits stencilled with the company logo and 80's hair band blonde wigs. Armada seems to secure a clear lead, with team riders TJ Schiller, Zach Davison, Phil Casabon and Grete Eliasson all on their game. While TJ displays what has become his apparently inhuman style and consistency, the young up-and-comers Davison and Casabon are both just as impressive. But with defeat seemingly imminent, Matt Sterbenz pulls out all the stops, hitting the hip straight on with 360s and then pointing it straight in to the boner box, boosting only inches from the top--check out the cover page if you haven't already seen the shot. Luke Van Valin follows Sterbenz over the hip with cork 7s, and Steele Spence and Shadasha Holmstead round out the performance. It's a decision that many are unhappy with, but by the vote of the other teams 4FRNT comes out one point ahead of Armada, 52 to 51. In the judges' booth the only comment is, "Were we watching the same fucking competition as everyone else?"

In the final heat Team K2 drops in against the team with the single most threatening rider on course, Candide Thovex and Rossignol. Candide stomps the run he's been practicing all day, 630 onto the box, an immaculate switch 180 tail over the hip, and heights on the pillar box surpassed only by Sterbenz. K2 has a stacked team but the riders just aren't taking the comp seriously enough, and Rossi is the clear choice to round out the final four.

So now it's Dynastar, Line, 4FRNT and Rossi. Dynastar drops first, and if Rainville and Vanular were off the hook in the first heat, in the finals they're off the charts. Rainville opens the 15-minute jam with back-to-back left and right cork 3s over the hips, eventually gapping both with switch 7s both directions. It seems there isn't a spin onto the box that the two East Coasters can't stomp, and the cheers from the team cribs increase in intensity as time runs out- 270s, 450s, 630s, then the same thing switch. Rainville's switch 630 on, 270 out is the final straw. Dynastar means business, scoring 10s and 9s for the highest score of the day, 74.

Line's up next, but they just can't match Dynastar's onslaught. Same with 4FRNT, who scores only slightly higher. And Rossignol's bid for the win is stifled prematurely when Candide, already hurting after decking out on the top of the pillar box platform, eats shit on the step-up box and decides to call it quits for the day. The hearsay of the evening is indecisive- either he bruised his heels or tweaked his knee. Either way, his replacement JF Houle, though he's the only skier of the day to clean the flat-down-flat, isn't enough to make up for his loss. Nor are Rory Bushfield's antics, an enormous switch backflip on the hip, and even an attempted switch double back.

Oh, one thing that has to be mentioned: pole tricks are now, officially, so hot right now. Bibby worked tirelessly until he stuck a 270-on pole flip on the step-up box, Andreas Hatveit went for the 270-on poles-between-the-legs, and I watched Sammy Carlson, one of the only riders to hit Unbounds's 80-footer later that afternoon, throw a second-hit switch cork 7 while passing both poles behind his back.

So Dynastar's stellar performance captures the crown, but that isn't even the best part of the Masters experience. Last night it snowed eight inches, and today Campbell from Ninthward showed us the best pitches on the lower mountain. Everything up high has been closed all day, but tomorrow the weather is supposed to clear, and it should be bomber. Right now as I'm looking out the window of our room at the Mammoth Mountain Inn, it's still coming down, blizzard style. May in Mammoth can surprise in more ways than one.

Thovex Shines at Orage Masters

- Second Edition, 2004 -

Story By Brian Rosa / FREEZE Magazine
Droves of spectators turned out on Saturday to see Boyd Easley's team take first in the second annual Orage Masters held at the base of Mammoth's Main Lodge. Easley, who was sidelined with and injury, captained a squad consisting of Candide Thovex, Steele Spence, Craig Coker, and Luke Van Valin to victory. Hailed as the "uncompetition", the event consisted of six all-star teams captained by the likes of Easley, Tanner Hall, Phil Belanger, JP Auclair, Iannick B, and Philou Poirier. Teams went head to head with one another in a jam-style format and were given fifteen minutes to impress their peers, who served as the event's judges.

Filled with and assortment of rails, the polished course was capped off by Mammoth's signature wall ride where athletes wowed a sea of fans gathered on the deck of the Main Lodge. Thovex, fresh off the disabled list due to knee surgery, came back with a big European bang leading his Team Easley cohorts over Auclair's squad and into the next round. In the other two rounds Iannick B's team knocked off Poirier's, while Belanger's team knocked off Hall's team after a tiebreaker where Tanner Rainville (Team Belanger) defeated Peter Olenick (Team Hall).

In the three-team final round it was Thovex who carried Team Easley again with ridiculous 630s onto the box and effortless stalls on the wall ride. For his efforts, the French superstar took home a new Yamaha snowmobile. As for the rest of Team Easley, Coker took home a new G4, Van Valin took home a new 197-inch plasma TV, and Spence took home a surfing trip to Costa Rica.

The Masters was part of Mammoth's FREEZE-sponsored West Coast Invitational. In addition to the Masters, the weekend featured live music, an evening rail jam in the village, and tons of free stuff thanks to the event's sponsors.

The Anti-Comp is Born

- First Edition, 2003 -

Story by Mike Nick

No official event write up could be found for Masters 1, and it seems we've erased our old website... So we've taken the liberty to draft up a brief flash back to the past to spark your memory.

The year was 2003, the industry was just beginning to take shape with athlete driven brands who had recently begun to make their way amongst skiing's corporate goliaths.

The names and faces of top athletes were much different than those of today... the age of a top level pro was on average, 4 - 5 years older than the youth who currently dominate our sport.

The competition scene was flourishing in terms of quantity, two of the largest events being The US Freeskiing Open put on by FREEZE Magazine and the ever present Winter X Games. Both being Open format events, which at the time was the dominant format of choice.

However, there stood a company amongst the rest who refused to "fall in line", a company who viewed and continues to view the industry through a different set of eyes, a company that prides itself on shaking things up in a way that truly represents the passion of our sport.

Orage decided that it was tired of seeing Open event after Open event pop up across the globe offering eager Ams. a chance to take one run amongst a field of 400 riders in hopes to stand out just enough to battle the pre selected pros awaiting them in the finals.

But that wasn't Orage's style, we seemed to have a difference of opinion... and the Masters was our chance to do it our way... no helmets, no inexperienced cross over snowboard judges, no bibs, no start lists, no pressure... just a good old fashioned jib style slope event that athletes would be stoked to ride in... at sunny Mammoth Lakes, CA.

At that point the team format had not yet been introduced. the only way in which the Masters resembled any other event is that it was every man or woman for themself... with approximately 25 invited athletes on the roster, competitors were divided into heats where the top riders would move onto the next round. In a jam style format, athletes would lap the course as many times as possible in hopes of making a lasting impression on the judging panel made up of fellow pro athletes, at that time on the injured list.

In the end it was (at that time) Mammoth local Tanner Hall who had just come off his second X Games gold medal that would walk away with the first Orage Masters crown. Following him were Phil Larose and Phil Poirer taking second and third with Sarah Burke taking it home for the ladies. And deserving of an honorable mention was Peter Olenick taking the best trick award... which remembering the tricks of that time was most likely a rodeo 7 or a 270 onto a rail with a possible switch up somewhere along the way.

In the end it was the year 2003 and the inaugural Orage Masters that would prove to change the course (no pun intended) of events to come. The Masters has undergone a few facelifts and change ups over the years but one thing remains constant... the Orage Masters remains the true Anti Comp... an event that goes against the grain and continues to be a celebration of all things newschool.