Words and photos: Mike Yoshida

On a surprisingly warm June day, I arrived at the venue at the bottom of the Timberline public park at Mt. Hood.  A Snowboy Productions pop-up tent was up top, and I started to see some familiar faces come through.  This was the first event put on by the Soy Sauce Nation, and to see so many Asian snowboarders in one spot together was a special feeling.  I think that too often we are such a minority within snowboarding that each and every one of us has felt like a “token Asian” at some point. This time around, it was different.

We had united, and gathered together to celebrate our heritage while also sharing our common love of snowboarding. The demographic was almost an even 50/50 female-to-male ratio, and attendees traveled from as far as Japan to be here.  We started with a rail island jam on the first day and then finished up the second day with a double-sided hip with a rail on top.  Everyone was ripping, but the standouts to me were Raibu Katayama and Miles Fallon. These guys make it look so easy!













I want to give a special thank you to AK, Nirvana and Krush for making this event a reality.  Snowboarding, to me, has always been about the people you surround yourself with and the community that supports it. I am proud to be a part of the Asian snowboard community and can’t wait for the next Soy Sauce Nation’als!

Thank you to the presenting partners, ROXY and Snowboy Productions, and to the supporting sponsors, Timberline, Crab Grab, Dang Shades, and Die Cut Stickers!