In just a little more than a week, the Sammy Carlson Invitational (SCI) will invade Mt. Bachelor, Oregon. For the second straight year, the course setup will feature a big air jump into a wallride. $15,000 is up for grabs—to be awarded throughout the day to the top performers—and with sights set on a bit of cash (and perhaps internet glory, too) the contestants will undoubtedly put on quite a show. The most exciting news regarding the event: an 80-foot-wide wallride will be utilized. That’s 2.2 school buses. Just think about it…

On Wednesday, we caught up with Mr. Carlson himself, who expressed excitement for the upcoming event. “My goal is just to get everyone together, and build the biggest, best features possible for everyone to throw down on and show off their stuff,” Sammy explained. “Sort of like an end of season hurrah.”

Sammy felt confident that the 2013 invitational would be bigger and better than ever, citing lessons learned over time. “Having done this a few times before, we’ve learned so much about the planning process,” he said. “We started much earlier this year, and everything is dialed. It’s no stress. It’s going to be smooth… I’m stoked.”

When asked about what’s in store for the layout this year, Sammy noted, “we’re hosting [SCI] a bit later in the season than we did last year, so we’re not working with quite as much snow. That being said, the jump won’t be super huge. The main focus is going to be the wall ride.” Sammy then described the 80-foot beast, indicating it’s designed to have a left and rightside alley-oop wall, with a mellow bend towards the center. “Like a big horse shoe bowl,” he said. While it may be difficult to envision the monstrosity, rest assured it’s going to inspire riders to go big, and to be creative.

To date, the confirmed list of athletes includes Tanner Hall, Henrik Harlaut, Phil Casabon, Paul Bergeron, Will Berman, Tim Durtschi, Clayton Vila and many others. Sammy, who’s feeling healthy after a long season—the highlight of which was a gold medal performance in the X Games Real Ski Backcountry contest—also expects to ski.

With just nine days until go-time, Sammy expressed thanks to Mt. Bachelor for assisting in making his dream become a reality once again. “These guys have been such a great partner,” he said. Sammy also mentioned how special it is for him to host the contest on his home turf. “It means a lot to bring all these guys out to Bachelor,” he said. “Oregon is where I grew up… it makes it that much sweeter for me. Plus, all my family and friends come, too.”

Additionally, Sammy wishes to thank APO Snow—the presenting sponsor this year—in addition to Rockstar Energy, Nike, Oakley and Dakine.

With two jam sessions on the docket—one forty minutes in length, and the other lasting a full hour—spectators are in for a treat. For those unable to make it out to Mt. Bachelor, we have good news: The live stream will be hosted on freeskier.com/live … the action kicks off at noon PST on Saturday, May 25.

Freeskier will be on-site at SCI bringing you behind the scenes coverage. Stay tuned to the site for updates, and be sure to follow along via social: facebook.com/freeskier | instagram.com/freeskiermagazine | twitter.com/freeskier.