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Boarders treated
to Big Isle snow

Mauna Kea conditions
allow the Snowboard
Championships to occur

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By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

Mauna Kea offers few opportunities for good snowboarding. So when conditions are right, some diehard snowboarders are willing to drop everything at a moment's notice to head up the mountain.

On Sunday, after the recent storm let up and before the sun could melt away the snow, snowboarders took advantage of one of those rare windows when the conditions are perfect -- 2 feet of snow and everything covered. For only the fifth time in 10 years, they were able to hold the Mauna Kea Snowboard Championships.

"It was unreal," said Kim Ball, one of the event's organizers. "It was awesome."

Ball, owner of Hi-Tech Surf Sports in Kahului, said about 55 people participated in the no-fee, no-prize contest. Most were from the Big Island, with others flying over from Maui, Oahu and Kauai.

Mauna Kea may not be the ideal snowboarding spot in the United States, but "it is definitely the best snowboarding in the Pacific," Ball said. "I've been up there skiing or snowboarding maybe 10 times, and that snow (Sunday) is as good as it gets."

Aside from not having a permit for the last-minute event and traffic jams created by Big Islanders wanting to see the snow, the real obstacle at the event was altitude sickness.

"You get a little loopy, you start stuttering, and you can't tie your shoes right," said Keoni Watson, a professional surfer from Makaha who generally goes snowboarding on the West Coast.

Sunday was his first time testing the snow on Mauna Kea, and the novelty of snowboarding in Hawaii surpasses what the mainland resorts have to offer, he said.

"It's amazing being able to surf in the morning in your surf trunks and then go up and snowboard in a couple hours," he said.

Watson, 29, who placed fourth in his age group, said he is ready to go back.

"Whenever I see snow up there, I'll try and put a trip together," he said.

Jon Makaike, 30, of Volcano had been snowboarding Sunday morning without realizing there was going to be a contest. Because he started snowboarding just a year and a half ago, he was not going to enter, "but they said 'free shirt,' so I entered," he said. He placed fourth in the 30-to-39 age group.

Mauna Kea on Sunday was "like Hapuna Beach: Everyone was running around in tank tops and T-shirts and all that," Makaike said.

"You get a lot of people together and you get to meet people, and it's a real good experience up there," he said.

Free-lance photographer Clay Rogers, who shot photos of the contest and participated, took fifth place among 30- to 39-year-olds.

He marveled that so many contestants made the trip on 24 hours' notice.

"It's amazing how many people will show up on such short notice for an oddity," Rogers said. "It's a very unique experience, so people just jump on it."

2001 Mauna Kea Snowboard Championship Winners BOARDER CROSS 19 & under: Casey Walsh, Pukalani, Maui; 20-29: Daniel Fry, Sunset Beach; 30-39: Sarge Barrilleaux, Hilo; 40-49: Scott Trudon, Haiku, Maui GIRLS Victoria Trujillo, Kailua-Kona BIG AIR Forest Murphy, Kailua-Kona

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