Summer camps are adjusting their schedules for summer riding this year, but that doesn’t mean brands aren’t flocking up to Mt. Hood to enjoy the classic team week trip. Getting everyone together at the end of the season to ride a bit and enjoy some company company is tradition! Enjoy a quick check-in with Sam Klein from the start of Never Summer’s official/unofficial Team Week up at Mt. Hood. -Clavin
How is the end of the season going?
Haha was honestly pretty beat up. Had a dislocated rib from our last street trip going into the bomb hole cup and The Grind in Quebec. Ended up on the podium at The Grind and didn’t fall at all so that was awesome. Had two weeks off with Emily (O’Connor) and now I get to snowboard Mt. Hood all day today and nothing hurts. I am going to have a blast!
How many years up on Hood is this for you?
Not sure. I know it is twelve out of thirteen straight, though. One year, I tore my ACL, so I couldn’t really come up.
Is this an official team week?
It is now! Haha. Emily and I are getting married later this year and we wanted to come up here for a bit for a pre-honeymoon. Now it has been taken over by NeverSummer hahaha. No, we were planning it with Ethan while we were shooting an upcoming project, and then it spiraled into a full team week. It is a sick squad right now!
Who is all up there?
Ethan Hintermeister, Will Solomon, Kody Sampey, Keahi Potratz, Jason Hindman, me, and Emily. And then Roadrunner is filming. Chase Blackwell was supposed to come up as well, but he is still recovering from the last Snow League event.
But the summer camps haven’t started yet.
Right. With the snow levels and everything, we just bumped it up. We got an Airbnb for ten days and are just going to film for the week plus. Build some jumps, ride the park, jib a log… You know! Hopefully, build a nice step up sometime this week when the weather comes in.
How’s the snow?
The snow is fantastic. It actually snowed a couple of days ago, and I think more is coming. They still have the true top-to-bottom spring park right now. The laps that actually tire you out. Everything’s white and pretty. The snow levels are way better than I thought they would be. The rails are good. The park is good. Considering the winter out here, everything is good!
What is the importance of a team week?
The best! Team Week ushers in a camaraderie that leads to magic later on. It sets the building blocks for true camaraderie. You don’t just go from a bunch of names in a hat to an amazing project or a successful chain of competitions unless you have homies and a crew that you really get to vibe with. Yesterday, dude, we had eight-person laps with four-pack chairs, and we pinned it. Everyone’s going off, and there wasn’t even a filmer out there. We are picking him up today, actually, so now it is really going to kick off. But after these, everybody’s way better friends. We get to check in with everyone and learn about each other. After just one day, you can see how comfortable everyone is around one another… and now we have seven more. That is a long way of just saying it is setting everybody up to be friends.
What boards are you riding up there?
Everyone’s riding aggressive, poppy boards. We’re all riding different camber Never Summers. Jason’s on the Swift DT, which is a directional twin version of the Swift. I’m really impressed with Will, Cody, and Kiahi. I already knew how good Ethan was. But it is awesome to get to ride with everyone who was spread out this winter.
Last question, how’s all the wedding planning coming?
Awesome. It’s coming up so quickly that we’re still almost calling this our honeymoon, haha. We are kind of at the point in our careers where we’re both just grateful to do this together.
