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MOUNT HOOD, Ore., July 8 — Danny Kass tossed a few snowballs at his competitors and inched his way on his rear end toward the starting line for the quarterpipe at the Abominable Snow Jam, an annual winter sports festival here.

Wearing a basketball jersey that served as his competition bib, Kass was not displaying the same competitiveness he had when he won three United States Open halfpipe titles and silver medals at the Salt Lake and Turin Olympics. But then again, this was Mount Hood the week after July 4.

“This is chill time,” Kass said. A moment later, he decided he needed a hamburger and jumped the line to head down the hill to the picnic area.

Kass and other elite riders have been congregating for summer training in the snowfields on this 11,237-foot volcanic peak for more than a decade. Along with Whistler Mountain in British Columbia, Mount Hood is the only place in North America developed for year-round skiing and riding. Now, with more and more snowboarders making a living from the sport, a summer stop on Mount Hood is also a sort of social retreat — a relaxing respite after spring photo and movie shoots and before trips to Australia and New Zealand for the Southern Hemisphere’s winter sports season.