The University of Oregon club freestyle ski and snowboard team won its first competition at Mt. Bachelor on Sunday. Three riders from UO Snow took home individual awards and the team bested Oregon State to win the overall team category at Battle for Bachelor.
“I’m so happy about it,” said Briggs Chapman, UO Snow coordinator and winner of best male skier. “Our brain child of a competition finally played out, and that was the first competition I’ve been involved in with UO Snow.”
Battle for Bachelor was a jam format and open to all college students, whether affiliated with a team or not. Each rider had an hour and a half to get in as many runs as possible, each of which was scored by judges. The individuals with the highest scores won prizes and the team with the most total points was recognized as the overall team winner.
UO Snow rider Nick Hughes was named best male snowboarder and took home a jacket, beanie, sunglasses and a face mask all provided by various sponsors.
“I was so surprised and pretty humbled — thankful almost,” Hughes said. “I haven’t been able to ride with the UO Snow team a ton, but we had a really nice team bonding time in Sunriver and then to be able to go ride with all them in this competition, it felt good to win like that.”
Also with UO Snow, Austin Gebhard threw down the most creative line and was surprised.
“I was really stoked, though I was honestly really surprised,” Gebhard said. “I had no idea that I was going to win that. It was super exciting, especially doing it against OSU. They were all super cool dudes but there was definitely some good competition and the fact that we came out on top was definitely exciting.”
Being a jam format, riders didn’t have time to stop and watch teammates and competitors complete their runs, making the final results all the more exhilarating.
“I’m not sure what the other people were throwing down,” Hughes said. “As far as understanding where you are in the competition you’re really pretty blind, it was really like another day in the park.”
The event is planned to take place again next year around the same time. Chapman said it wouldn’t have been possible without Stirling Cobb, marketing assistant at Mt. Bachelor, and sponsors BlackStrap (Bend, Ore.), Bosky Optics (Corvallis, Ore.), Tactics Boardshop (Eugene), Homeschool Snowboarding (Portland) and Sandboxland (Whistler, B.C., Canada.)
“We came up with the concept and pitched it to Stirling and he set up the whole competition,” Chapman said.
Along with competing in Battle for Bachelor and spending two nights together as a team in Sunriver, Ore., UO Snow competed in the 10 Barrel Bonk and Small Air Comp, in which UO Snow rider Ellie Bartlett won a $50 gift card to 10 Barrel Brewing.
UO Snow coordinator Rick Lindfors said that overall it couldn’t have gone better, and he hopes to get more competitors at the event next season.
“Great weekend all around,” Lindfors said. “Everyone involved had a great time with it. Everyone rode the course and I came back with all my guys. Overall I couldn’t be happier with it.”
Follow Madison Guernsey on Twitter @guernseymd