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Chris ‘Topher’ Newett in his element on an abandoned water tower near Mount Hood, OR.
“Chris ‘Topher’ Newett in his element on an abandoned water tower near Mount Hood, OR. Not pictured: the 15-foot-deep death trap on the other side of the concrete and the six empty Polar Seltzers that hydrated Topher for the session.”
Words and Photo: Alex Zimmerman

It was a dreary day at Government Camp, OR. Temperatures hovered around 33 degrees. Humidity was 99.9 percent. Chris “Topher” Newett and I had intended to hit the local rail yard, but something caught his eye just off the main drag: a long VW Bus-sized mound of snow in the middle of the street, begging to become a jump. Topher and I spent the next few hours wiping rain drops out of our eyes as we shaped a clean takeoff and lip into the pile. After we pushed enough slush into the road for the run in, I waddled soaking wet to the Govy General Store for some Morton salt to firm up the snow.

For 10 months of the year, you’ll find the 38-year-old jibber on the hill at Timberline, coaching the Mt. Hood Academy freestyle kids. Even among the hundreds of park riders in similar cotton hoodies and baggy pants, Topher is easy to recognize—he’s always rocking an XL button-up shirt (unbuttoned, to maximize airflow) and oversized pants held up by trademark “Toph” suspenders. He might be body sliding on a propane tank, throwing a base grind 270 butter on a concrete water tower or a tail press on the coping of the pipe. But he’s also the first to pull out his phone and clip up a friend. He never needs to be asked and he never misses.