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Quick notes from Thursday, here at Orage Masters IX:

What a day… off-hill activities are raging through the night here, and as such, I’ll do another super quick recap.

Rough morning. 4:00 a.m. bed time didn’t mesh well with 6:45 wake up. In the night: Schuster mistook the room to his dormitory for a toilet. This, of course, comes merely 24 hours after he pooped his pants. Just one of the many great moments from an exciting evening here. The broomball tournament was a big highlight.

After getting up on the hill this morning, we kicked ‘er off with the 818 contest. Five skiers. Two pairs focusing on figure 8s (finger 8s, as we’ve been saying) while another straightlines down the center. Pirates won.

Next, we headed to a zone where three pre-sculpted jumps awaited. Each jump would host a session. The team that wins the most sessions takes the associated flamingo points.

First jump: one athlete calls a trick. A member of the opposing team agrees to also perform said trick. Whoever executes the stunt the best—as judged by a panel that included Luke Van Valin, Mike Nick, Zach Berman and Jeff Schmuck—wins a point for their team. Most points at the end of the session wins. Pirates won. The stuntin’ was amazing. I’ll spare the details—stay tuned for the edits, coming soon (we hope).

Jump two: this thing was a true beaut’. Nice shape, good air and a long, steep landing. There was a tree smack in way; go left, go right, or bonk. This time: skiers would perform whatever trick they wanted to. Again, they’d pair off. E.g. Wiley would jump for the Pirates, and he’d be facing the Superheroes’ Duncan Adams. Judges would determine which stunt was better—for each pair. Most points at the end wins. Superheroes won the second jump session. All even heading into the third and final jump.

Pirates took the win on jump three. Wiley Miller’s switch backflip pretty much sealed the deal. The Pirates winning has become a real theme here this week. I don’t actually know what the current standings are, but the Pirates have pretty much been laying the smack down on the Superheroes. It ain’t over, though. Plenty of action remains.

Ten flamingo points are up for grabs via public voting right now. If you haven’t watched the team edits from the Hollywood Ridge session, be sure to check ’em out here. Your votes determine the winner. A little personal bias here (I’ve been riding in the cat w/ Batman and co.) the Superheroes could really use your help…

For now, the party rages on.

Lastly: See more from the Masters, here. See our photos from the Hollywood Ridge session, here.