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You should read this, especially if you don't snowboard.

The Legendary Banked Slalom is a snowboard event that operates just as it sounds: riders race down a slalom course flanked by banked walls on either side, harking back to the days of skateboarders carving down bone-dry drainage ditches in the 80’s. Held at Mt. Baker, one of the Pacific Northwest’s most rugged and illustrious resorts, the slalom is now in its 24th year, almost concurrent with the birth of the sport itself.

Over the years, the LBS has earned a status as one of the most famous and storied snowboard events in the world. Much of the Banked Slalom’s legacy comes from the legendary riders- past, present, and future- who return to the event time and time again with a Christmas-like consistency, as well as countless Baker locals who contribute the real flavor of the Pacific Northwest snowboard scene. These people are the personalities that give the Banked Slalom the energy, legacy, and integrity it has come to represent in snowboarding.

Despite snowboarding’s recent explosion in mass popularity, and as corporations from Target to Playstation attempt to latch onto the sport with dubious intent, the Banked Slalom remains true to itself and the riders. It’s as accessible, original, lo-fi, and unabashed as snowboarding gets; the three-day event is like going to see a killer rock concert at a house party.

Given this backstory, it was only fitting to profile some of the riders at the event this year: the sport’s forefathers, current rippers, and newjacks- the roots and the future of the snowboarding- with a portrait, an action shot on course, as well as an explanation about what the Banked Slalom means to each of them.