Team Snowboard Northwest shows out at first competition of season

BIG SKY, Mont. — A slow start to winter conditions didn’t slow down Snowboard Northwest in traveling to Big Sky Resort on Jan. 24 for their first Inland Northwest Series competition of the season. 

Hit with below zero morning temperatures, then rising to single digits, team members fired up the heat amongst flat light and poor visibility and managed to podium. With mixed sunshine arriving late in the competition, many competitors struggled to stick their landings in the icy conditions in the slopestyle event, which consists of a series of jumps, rails and terrain features with scoring based on how well the rider executes and transitions between each phase.

Mark Wofsey went first as the only one in the Menehune 11-12 age division. Rocking a 50/50 to a 360-tail grab, he came away with a first-place finish and an impressive 78 points.  

Up next, Adeo Laboy and Conrad Michael, both competing in the Breaker 13-14 age division, took advantage of their first runs and managed to send some big air and style. The duo walked away with first-and-second-place finishes with scores of 60 and 55 points, respectively.  

Things got serious in the Youth 15-16 age category with six competitors attempting to thrown down their best. Ian MacFarlane earned third with 69 points, Byron Bernd came in fourth with 50 points, and Owen Miller secured first, impressing the judges with a switchback 540 followed by a frontside 720 to earn 86.5 points. 

The Junior 17-18 age division featured Cade Hanson, who hucked some big air and placed second with 50 points, and Zadok Steffen, who shot an impressive cab 720 (switch front side), but was unable to hold a clean landing as he walked away with third and 43.5 points. 

Calvin Schmidt, competing in the Men’s Open Class division, sent it big but came up short on landings, still earning first with 26.5 points. 

“Slopestyle is an exciting event to watch," Kelly Miller, mother of second-year competitor Owen Miller said. "You never really know how the rider will execute their run, often having to adjust last minute based on conditions or how they came off the last trick. You’re just holding your breath and on the edge of your seat to see if the landings go well and how it all comes together.” 

With scoring based on the best out of two runs, the strategy is often to perform one safe run, then attempt one where the rider is really going all out and pushing the limits of their training.  

“That’s when it really gets exciting; when you see a rider pulling it off and landing a difficult trick you know they’ve been practicing a long time, sometimes for years," Owen Miller, who won his age division in the slopestyle competition, said. "You can feel their excitement too. Arms in the air and energy that’s contagious."

The day concluded with the rail jam, an event where each rider has an initial run, then all the competitors go one after another for a set amount of time after hiking back up to the starting point. Snowboarders, often grouped together with skiers, take turns performing tricks on features such as rails, tubes and boxes. Contestants are judged based on their entire performance throughout as opposed to one individual run.

Mark Wofsey (11-12) was first with 1,000 points; Adeo Laboy (13-14) and Conrad Michael (13-14) were first and second, respectively, with 1,001 and 900 points; Owen Miller (15-16) was first with 1,002 points; and Cade Hanson (17-18) and Zadok Steffen (17-18) were second and third, respectively, with 901 and 800 points.

    Owen Miller competes in the slopestyle competition during Jan. 24's Inland Northwest Series event at Big Sky Resort in Big Sky, Mont.

    From left, Owen Miller, Adeo Laboy, Conrad Michael, Calvin Schmidt, Cade Hanson, Zadok Steffen, coach Jack Hottinger, Ian Macfarlane and Byron Bernd of Snowboard Northwest show off the medals they earned while at Jan. 24's Inland Northwest Series event at Big Sky Resort in Big Sky, Mont.