If you happen to be cruising past Oregon's Mt. Hood this summer, why not drop by Government Camp to visit the K2 House? You'll probably find an all-star lineup of snow industry specialists lazing out on the front porch, enjoying the afternoon sun, and will be invited to sit down and enjoy a cold beverage with the tribe. It's a motley crew of old and young, skiers and snowboarders, photographers, filmers and athletes. Poking fun is the pastime of choice, so best not to take yourself too seriously if you want to stick around.
The summer Hood House has been a K2 tradition since 2002 when it was rented out to accommodate groups of conscientious ski testers. Times have changed and these days it seems as if the house has been over run by vagrant athletes, whose reasons for being here vary widely.
Andy Mahre, an old time house member, gets his kicks from poaching High Cascade's lap park and shredding Mt. Hood's sidecountry. Then there are the Stept kids, who are out finding pieces of concrete and metal to ski over in order to uphold their street cred. Leanne Pelosi is living up to her nickname 'Party Pelosi' by hosting her High Cascade signature session during the day and throwing the best parties in town at night. Collin Collins is often present, attempting to find refuge from his heavy responsibilities at Windells Camp and Lexi Dupont and myself have also been crashing at the house over the last week, compiling shots for the final K2 Missfits webisode.
Apart from making fun of each other, après ski activities include chair frisbee, camp-fire building and drinking games. There is no discrimination at the house and these activities have been carefully selected so that all house members can participate, no matter their IQ levels.
K2 is based on ideals of the ski bum lifestyle, which is partially why the company concedes to such mayhem. However, business is still business. Much of the content generated throughout the season and over the summer by this unruly group is being transferred in code, bit by bit, through to the K2 headquarters in Seattle.
If your 9 to 5 is holding you back from paying us a visit up here at Government Camp, hopefully our fresh online content -- now available at the new K2Skeeze.com will tide you over until next winter. The new website will be releasing several exclusive webisode series including our new girls project titled 'The Missfits,' which includes myself, Brita Sigourney, Maria Bagge and Lexi DuPont. The webisodes follow our antics throughout the season, meeting up with other athletes, including the Sean Jordan, Clayton Villa, Cam Riley, Andy Mahre, Colllin Collins and more.
