On Saturday, April 6th, 52 of the Mammoth area’s best snowboarders gathered on the backside of Mammoth Mountain to compete in the final stop of the Nike Snowboarding Snake & Hammers Banked Slopestyle.

Unlike the other Snake & Hammers events, where competitors were faced with a jump feature in the middle of the course, the Mammoth Unbound crew decided to have the riders drop hammers right out of the gate with a 40-foot jump that led competitors into a berm’d tree section, followed immediately by a knee-shaking step-down gap.

After surviving the step-down, competitors made their way through a few turns and shot out into a hip where they were judged on their best trick. Although there were many standouts, it was the switch frontside rodeo 540 of Brandon Davis that earned him the Hammer Award and $500 cash.

A standout feature on the course was the giant 30ft tall mega berm. This behemoth of a berm rocketed competitors into a turn that set them up for a massive, wooden A-frame rail. A few more gates and the riders tucked it to the finish line.

The top 18 riders advanced to the Finals and and included the likes of Brandon Davis, Trevor Jacobs, Kyle Lopiccolo, Mitch Richmond and a grip of other talented snowboarders. The judges certainly had their hands full as all competitors rode with style and speed but ultimately there stood only 3.

Brandon Davis and Garrett Warnick battled it out for 2nd and 3rd place respectively separated by less that 0.4 seconds. At the end of the day, it was the consistent speed and trickery of none other than Tyler Flanagan that landed him the 1st place victory, $2,500 in cash, and a free trip to HCSC’s Session 3 to compete in the Drink Water “Rat Race” this July.

The Women’s Final was a heated battle between Spencer O’Brien and Elena Height. Both ladies posted great times and fluid tricks, but ultimately Spencer O’Brien took home yet another 1st place Snake & Hammers award and $1,500 cash.

Danny Kass and Snowboarder’s own Pat Bridges were hosts for the event and entertained everyone throughout the valley with their wit and banter.