IN 1990 the contest scene was warming up a bit as seen by the number of entrants below. Pipes were still dug by hand and the entire ethos was a lot of D.I.Y. – if the pipe needed some work, grab a shovel. CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT -  send the name of  bib #128 to competition@westbeach.com to win a FREE JACKET.

Devun Walsh recounts his memory of the event in  “Out Westbeach: Snowboarding, Westbeach, and a new Canadian Dream”.

I really remember [Sean] Johnson bonking the announcer stand [and] Jamie Lynn doing late-grab 540s and snowboarding way different than anyone else. The first time I saw him was at Westbeach, and he’s doing those frontside fives in the pipe, and he’d come around late mute and bone ’em out straight—it was just like, “That is sick! He’s so different.” There was just a clear-cut difference. It’s not like he was going that much bigger—it was just solid. And that’s when I was like, ‘That’s who I wanna snowboard like.’  – Devun Walsh

Below – Sean Johnson (founder Stephchild snowboards)  bonking the announcer’s stand.

Below – Westbeach team rider Kevin Young – perfect style.

Below – Kevin Young in the news.

Check out this short video my crew and I made about the history of snowboarding in Whistler. As you may know, we will be releasing some upcoming Westbeach Anniversary videos……more on that later.

The Whistler Film Festival in association with underexposed media group presents a Whistler Stories Film: The First To Go Up, a brief history of snowboarding in Whistler.The First To Go Up documents the story of the first snowboarders allowed to ride on Blackcomb and Whistler Mountains, and the struggles they encountered as this upstart new sport took hold.

Whistler, 2007

The First to Go Up, a brief history of snowboarding in Whistler