JP Walker no longer with Forum.

In a stunning development this week, FSM confirmed that JP Walker, an original member of the venerable Forum 8 has chosen not to renew his contract with Forum Snowboards. As one of the most successful professional riders in history with a style all his own, JP has been a leading cornerstone of the Forum brand for 10 years.

While comments from JP or Forum officials were not immediately available, JP’s next steps will be closely watched not only by the industry at large but his fans as well. What makes this development even more stunning is that it follows closely the departure of Devun Walsh, Ikka Backstrom, and Lauri Heiskari from the Forum team earlier this winter. Devun, Ikka and Lauri have since signed on with DC Snowboards and one has to speculate that DC’s new team could be an option for Mr. Walker.

taken from Future Snowboarding

Hello from the Great Pacific Northwest! Just last week The U.S. Snowboard Team was doing some training up at Mt. Hood. Mt. Hood Meadows was hosting the team for a few days so they could get in some spring training.

Our new addition to the TruSnow family, Mason and I thought it would be a good day to go check out some of the spring training that the team was throwing down. Sounds like a tough assignment huh?? Yeah, hard day at work.

Mason and I pull up into the parking lot to arrive to a nice spring day. The weather was beautiful, clear, and warm. Shred sticks were waxed up so we could actually make it off the park jumps, and the best thing of all, MIDWEEK and NO crowds. Mason and I start lacing up our snowboard boots when a Suburban pulls up next to us. A few girl rippers get out of the truck and we soon notice it’s Gretchen Bleiler, Lindsay Jacobellis, and a few others from the U.S. team.

Mason and I took a few runs through the Cascade Central Park as the Superpark was still being shaped. The 22-foot super pipe was shaped perfectly for the U.S. Team to do some training. Park crew supervisor Mike Paulino said that this was the first ever 22-foot pipe at Meadows set on an 18-degree pitch. As amazing and intimidating the superpipe looked, we still wish we could have taken some runs through it, but I guess the U.S. team might have some precedence over us.

We thought we would post up on the deck of the pipe to see what the U.S. team had in their bag of tricks. The girls were killing it, doing Cab 5’s, huge methods and some pretty sweet air to fakies. After the team ate a few hot dogs (digger dog style) some of the younger crew rolled through. Pretty amazing seeing these guys ride a 22-foot pipe like it’s a normal walk in the park.

Alley Oop 9s to Cab 10s like they were nothing¦ Serious?? Some of these kids are only 16!

Well it’s great to know that this is the future of U.S. snowboarding and an amazing thing to see!!

Here are some photos of the day and a little movie we put together.

Keep shredding that spring slush snow if your local resorts are still open and keep in mind there is always Timberline if you make it out our way.

Make sure and stop by the shop, Portland Boarding Company if you are in the area and say HI.

Take care,

PJ Gaerlan