With the Gerry Lopez Big Wave Challenge at Mount Bachelor, a Hawai‘i surf legend has created an event that melds both his worlds
Text and images by Jeff Hawe
Thirty minutes west of Bend, Oregon is the iconic Mount Bachelor and its namesake ski area. The 9,000-foot volcanic peak offers stunning views of the infamous Three Sisters mountain peaks as well as the Willamette and Deschutes national forests. Its ski area, which has been in operation since 1958, receives an average of more than 450 inches of snowfall each year.
Gerry Lopez, one of Hawai‘i’s most legendary surfers, moved to Oregon more than two decades ago, drawn to its snowy terrain.
Every April, this mountain is home to a snowboard competition known as the Gerry Lopez Big Wave Challenge. The name is a bit of a misnomer. Here, snowboarders clad in aloha shirts arrive from around the country to compete and show their best moves riding a series of large man-made snow berms that look like frozen waves arcing down the mountain in a long, smooth line. Competitors are judged on criteria like flow, style, and power, much like how athletes are judged in a surf competition. But at this contest, the rivalry is lax and the camaraderie is high. The goals are simple, Lopez says: for everyone to have a good time and spread the “aloha spirit,” the Hawaiian way of treating others with love and respect.
At the Gerry Lopez Big Wave Challenge, snowboarders and surfers from around the country ride a series of large man-made snow berms that look like frozen waves arcing down Mount Bachelor.
Born and raised in Hawai‘i, Lopez became known as one of the best surfers in the world after back-to-back wins in 1972 and 1973 at the Pipeline Masters, a prestigious surf contest on O‘ahu’s North Shore. Following decades of a successful surfing career, Lopez moved to Oregon in 1992, lured by the heavy snowfall and the rolling topography of its mountains. “There’s all these terrain features that look just like waves,” Lopez says. “I ended up becoming very familiar with them and naming a lot of them after surf spots.”
In the seven years that the Big Wave Challenge has been running, it has cultivated a broad range of dedicated attendees. Professional snowboarders like Austin Smith compete alongside local youth and professional surfers like Maui’s Ian Walsh. Snowboarding legends like Tom Burt teach riders a thing or two about style in their competition runs. And, of course, you’ll see Lopez on the frozen waves, with his signature smooth style that carries over from his native liquid medium.
“To me, in surfing—and it’s pretty much the same in snowboarding—the best guy is the guy that’s having the most fun,” Lopez says.