Airboarding At Hoodoo - Lay Down & Be A Rockstar For A Day

Docta P and I went to Hoodoo to go Airboarding recently. It was a 180 degree difference from the last time I was there 2 years ago (seriously, TWO years? Where'd the time go!).

Let me set the scene:

- Hoodoo is in Oregon, about 2 hours from Portland, where I used to reside and where Face Level started.

- It's the only resort in America, and one of the few in the world, that allows Airboarders to go wherever they want to: all lifts, all runs, all features.

- Hoodoo isn't a huge ski area, but they're very friendly to 'alternative' modes of snow transportation, including SkiBikes, SkiTrikes, and Airboards.

- Hoodoo has been allowing Airboarding for about 4 or 5 years I think. Maybe longer.

Peter and I used to frequent the place to get our face level snow jones cured, but the more we went, the more changes we saw - namely, the number of Airboarders (increasing) and the number of ski patrol yelling at us for what they deemed 'unsafe speeds' (also increasing).

But despite the annoyance of getting chewed out all the time, the place was cool, and it was usually decent snow, and heck, we could go everywhere on the mountain! That alone made Hoodoo special.

So I was very surprised when I called to make sure we could still go Airboarding there - after not seeing it listed on the website or under rentals - to hear the person say "we only allow it on the really slow, slow days...the ski patrol doesn't like it at all...nobody really does it anymore...I think there are 1 or 2 boards in the rental shop still..."

Wait, what? The premiere Airboarding resort in America no longer likes Airboarding, and nobody does it anymore? I mean, last time I was there we were just a couple of people out of probably a dozen who were Airboarding that day!

Well, we took our pick of the very few days it's allowed now, and headed up to the mountain, planning on having fun but also expecting to be treated like crap.

Boy, was I wrong.

No exaggeration here - everybody that said anything to us at all was positive. Snowboarders and skiers wanted to know what it was, and said it looked really fun, was it fun? People wanted to know how to do it. One guy thought we hiked up and came down, incredulous to my explaining that Airboards are allowed on the lift.

All the lift operators treated us like VIP's, smiling and joking and delivering the best liftie service I've ever encountered. The rental shop guys (I had to rent some boots and we needed an extra board) were entertaining and enthusiastic about helping us.

And probably the biggest thing of all (besides never even seeing a ski patrol person, ha ha), toward the end of the day we probably had a dozen people say to us "you guys are rocking it today!" Most of the comments came from Hoodoo employees. They were impressed with our riding and sliding and - wait, seriously?

So why the drastic change? Why were we treated so well, and why did we literally bring so many smiles to people's faces as they watched us?

I think it's simply because from the data we collected, nobody has been Airboarding there in over a year. Meaning, when they were cracking down on us so hard the last time, that was probably close to the end - apparently we weren't the only Airboarders fed up with the crappy treatment.

Now, returning to the mountain, of course the skiers and snowboarders (who have never seen it) think it's unique and looks fun. People always think that, because it is!

But I'm confused on why all the Hoodoo staff suddenly appeared to love Airboarding.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it's awesome! :) We had a great day. The funny thing was, we didn't do anything differently than we ever did in the past. If anything, we went faster at times, because Peter and I were getting some racing in with each other before the upcoming Boardercross at Stoos (Switzerland) and the In Your Face event at Canaan Valley (West Virginia).

And yet we heard only positive things. In fact, some of the lifties were joking around with us that they thought we were going kind of slow. So we said "heck yes!" and went faster, and they seemed to find that more appropriate.

It makes no sense to me why whatever happened to drive the Airboarders away, happened- a new crowd was coming to the mountain, the sport was growing, and then 'someone' (I'm not sure who or why) chased all the Airboarders away for 2 years.

And yet it's still allowed, just basically hidden unless you know about it? The logic of the whole situation is what confuses me - because it's very illogical when you break it down.

But - there's still hope, because it is still allowed, and judging by how we were treated so well today, it's a sport that will be happily received at the resort.

So here's my suggestion: if you are / were an Airboarder, in the Pacific Northwest, go to Hoodoo. Take your Airboard and your smile, and go have some fun. They allow Airboarding on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays. You can go everywhere. They even rent boards, which are worn but in pretty good performance shape (bring your own wax).

When you go to Hoodoo, be courteous of others on the mountain (especially old crotchety skiers), share a laugh with the lift operators, and make sure to make your voice heard with management that you want them to encourage / promote / be more friendly towards Airboarding.

If you're an Airboarder who lives elsewhere, send an email (http://hoodoo.com/contact_us.htm and you'll find the emails) to management, let them know that you would love to see them be more supportive of the sport and that you appreciate the example they have set over the years in the US, but that they could be the example of how to run a profitable Airboarding program if they'd really go for it.

This is a great resort for Airboarding, and it would be a super place to have some fun events. Both Peter and I were really appreciative of the experience we had and how cool everybody was, and of course we'll be back.

But it's also frustrating to see something that has great potential, going to waste. I hope this is the start of something new. I think if Airboarders start returning to the mountain, and getting positive conversations going with the ski patrol and with management, that it can once again become a buzzing hive of airboarders.