Team Snowboard Northwest heats up Western events amid frigid temperatures
BOYS
BIG SKY, Mont. — Despite below zero temperatures, five Snowboard Northwest team members headed back to the Big Sky Resort this past Saturday — ready to send it at the USASA Inland Northwest Series' second slopestyle and rail jam competitions of the season.
Now with three weeks of training under their belts since their last competition, Snowboard Northwest athletes Calvin Schmidt (Sandpoint), Owen Miller (Sandpoint), Cade Hanson (Sandpoint), Drew Falcone (Spokane) and Zadok Steffen (Bonners Ferry) elevated their performance with refined, new and more challenging tricks. The contest, which has two runs in total, was judged on progression, amplitude, variety, execution and difficulty — also known as the PAVED criteria.
After their first run, Schmidt was in first with 84 points, Miller in third with 74.33 points, and Hanson, Falcone and Steffen landed fourth, seventh and eighth, respectively. However, during the second run, many of the snowboarders weren’t able to put down the run they envisioned. Schmidt was able to hang onto the podium for an impressive second-place finish while Miller placed fifth, Hanson sixth, Falcone seventh and Steffen eighth.
In the rail jam competition, the course featured a down rail, two cannon rails, and a table top. The jam session format and small course required riders to pick one feature per lap, then hike back up for as many turns as they could squeeze into a 30-minute time window. Falcone crushed the rail session with ease, gliding confidently over features and even throwing in a tame dog (front flip) off the table top, which helped him earn a gold medal.
Taylor earns bronze at Kicking Horse
GOLDEN, British Columbia — Max Taylor (Coeur d'Alene), who also competes for team Snowboard Northwest, placed third out of five competitors in the U19 division of the IFSA Jeep Junior 3 freeride competition held Jan. 16 to 19 at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.
GIRLS
KETCHUM — While the majority of the boys were in Big Sky, Mont., the girls headed south and picked up some hardware at the 13th annual Baldy Banked Slalom held this past Saturday at the Sun Valley Resort.
Also battling cold temperatures, that didn’t dampen their spirits or smiles as the sun shined and they held on through tight turns and icy corners all while maintaining speed and minimizing errors. Snowboard Northwest riders and their coach, Sarah Polmounter, represented the panhandle well, with all five riders earning podium positions.
Madison Hall (Sandpoint) had the fastest time of the day among all racers and finished first in the Women's Pro division with a blazing fast time of 55.45 seconds. Legendary Banked Slalom invite for 2026. Because she was the fastest female rider at this competition, she received an invite to compete at the Legendary Banked Slalom, which is held at Mt. Baker Ski Area in Deming, Wash., in 2026.
Also earning gold medals were Nina Tajan (Sandpoint), who won the 12U division with a time of 61.06 seconds and coach Polmounter, who won the 19-35 age division in 60.81 seconds. Picking up bronze were Libby Piehl (Sandpoint), who finished with a time of 74.26 seconds in the 12U Division and Kya Alderman (Bonners Ferry), who who finished with a time of 59.35 seconds in the 13-18 age division.