For the third year in a row the crew at Salomon Snowboards tempted fate by throwing a rail jam in the middle of downtown Portland during the Rose City’s typically rainy autumn. It didn’t stop Jonah Owen from throwing down hammers in front of the Art Institute of Portland—he pressed and spun his way into first place with Johnnie Paxson in a close second and Austin Sweetin rounding out third.

The vibe was mellow and fun and brought the Pacific Northwest snowboard community together for early season anticipation, proper jibs, frothy beers, free prizes and dance-worthy jams by DJ Wicked.

Krush and Snowboy Productions designed a set up that allowed for more rider creativity than your typical rail jam.  They pushed snow around a down box, mini jump and two wall rides. Johnnie Paxson drew some of the loudest cheers of the day for his front five rodeo melon over the jump.

The finals saw sunny skies and all kinds of action with hard way back 180’s, back 270’s, and every kind of combo onto and off of the smooth down rail that led into the wall rides.

The pool of ladies at the rail jam was small, but they were big on talent.  Art Institute student Celeste Rhodes claimed first place, Megan Middleton took second and Kumara Kelly came in third.

The podium wasn’t the only place for winners. Mt. Hood Meadows gave away two free season passes and Kona Brewing sent a lucky winner on a trip to Hawaii.  By the end of the day the crowd of hundreds that gathered on NW Couch Street were wearing ear-to-ear grins and making plans to attend the Backyard Bang after party on the corner of Northwest 13^th and Kearney at On Deck Sports Bar.

The Backyard Bang is hosted by Salomon Snowboards and the Art Institute of Portland and supported by Bonfire Snowboarding, Skull Candy, Mt Hood Meadows, Exit Real World, US Outdoor Store and Kona Brewing Co.

For information regarding the Backyard Bang Denver, go to www.salomonsnowboard.com .