The West Coast Session 8 stormed the slopes of Timberline on Sunday, May 4, kicking off a week of park shredding and photo shoots with a deep crew of invited skiers from across the globe.

In accordance with WCS tradition, the event opened with a public jam session. On Sunday, skiers and snowboarders from across the Northwest and beyond converged at the Stormin Norman lift to enjoy Timberline’s prime spring terrain parks alongside the West Coast Session’s invited athletes.

A few clouds and snowflakes in the air didn’t put a damper on the debut of WCS8. Skiers hot-lapped through the park, stopping only at the WCS basecamp in the Paintbrush terrain park to grab a hot dog courtesy of SubStunce Lifestylegoods, a pair of demo skis from ON3P, or a custom neck koozie from Treefort Lifestyles.

Kids snapped selfies with Olympians like Joss Christensen and Torin Yater-Wallace, others chatted up ski movie icons like Dale Talkington and Karl Fostvedt, or tried to capture a bit of personal ski fame by greasing the challenging S-rail to Down-Flat-Down feature.

Meanwhile, Mt. Hood’s Goodtimes Media Crew hosted Gaper Day festivities, complete with a Golden Shotski for the day’s “Most Glorious Gaper,” and Frank the WCS snowman piñata made his annual appearance, getting smashed at the bottom of the S-Rail-DFD by none other than WCS invited athlete and rail ninja, Khai Krepela.

In the afternoon the WCS crew returned to the campus of Windells Camp for an afternoon of skating, trampoline and foam pit in the indoor BOB skatepark as fat raindrops fell outside. With a hugely talented crew, four days of shooting ahead and a giant signature feature nearing completion, it looks like another great West Coast Session is on its way.