Photos: Alex Mertz

It hadn't rained in the NW for over a month. So of course when the first stop of The Feeders! went down this past weekend we were greeted with a small monsoon...of radness! 40 snowboarders fell down and threw down during a two hour jam at the Clackamas Town Center while Jesse Burtner emceed and DJ El Chingon kept the energy high. After three heats the finals were set with 15 riders competing for one coveted invite to the upcoming Downtown Throwdown in Seattle on October 8. At the end of the 20 minute finals the judgeMENTAL panel of Austen Sweetin and Jess Kimura crowned Kevin Hanson the winner and hooked him up with the official invite and a new Gnu Snowboard. Stefan Krumm finished a close second and scored a new GoPro for his efforts. Stefan will definitely be a favorite at the next stop in Spokane this weekend. Johnny Syscho took third and prize pack from Arnette, and Jen Minor scored some new Skullcandy headphones for ripping the hardest for the ladies.

After the awards, everyone made their way inside the mall to the Zumiez store for a free screening of Think Thank's Ransack Rebellion video. Vans teamriders Darrell Mathes, Eric Willett and Nick Poohachoff were in attendance and signed autographs for the kids along with Lib Tech's Jesse Burtner and Monster's Jess Kimura.

All in all it was a great kickoff to the shred season and the whole tour of The Feeders! and the Downtown Throwdown events. See you this weekend in Spokane for the next stop of The Feeders!...the forecast is upper 80's and sunny.

Thanks to the companies who make it all possible: GNU Snowboards, Zumiez, Arnette, Vans, GoPro, Skullcandy, Mt Bachelor, Snowboarder Magazine, Diecutstickers.com, Think Thank and Snowboy Productions.

Click here to watch the video.