High School Snowboarders Shred it Up for State Championship Week at Meadows

Oregon’s top high school snowboarders descended on Mt. Hood Meadows March 10-12 for state championships in banked slalom, boarder cross, slopestyle and halfpipe.

For three days the hill and lodge were packed with high school riders shredding, socializing and joking around. In typical Oregon fashion, they got a little of everything weather-wise, most importantly snow.

The past two high school seasons have been a lot of work for riders, parents, coaches and organizers due to lack of snow, but the snow gods cooperated with plenty of coverage this season, enabling the construction and maintenance of a nice, large halfpipe at Meadows and all sorts of park and free riding opportunities from Ashland to Timberline to Bachelor.

Sandy High coach and Oregon Snowboarding Interscholastic Association President Ben Beavon said it’s been a relief to get back into the snow after two challenging seasons:

“It’s been great this year to have a consistent practice schedule and a consistent comp schedule. Last year the camaraderie was great because we had to make do with what we had. This year we had the same camaraderie, plus we also got to put together a nice consistent season for everyone.”

The Sato Cup for overall team excellence went to the girls of Grant High School and the boys of Ashland.

A Clean Sweep for Kiana Christensen

127 high school riders competed in the slopestyle championships on Friday, March 11, 89 boys and 38 girls.

Kiana Christensen of La Salle was the winner for the girls and Parker Busch, also of La Salle took first for the boys.

Busch also took first in the Banked Slalom and third in the Halfpipe. Kiana Christensen pulled off a clean sweep for the girls, finishing first in Slope, Pipe and banked Slalom.

Ethan Anderson of Sandy High took second in the Boarder Cross, second in the Pipe, Second in Slopestyle and third in Banked Slalom.

Oliver Tufte won the halfpipe on Saturday, March 12.

I will paste in some results below showing top individual finishers in slope, pipe and banked slalom. You can find full results at oisa.org.