Olympic Zone: C.O. halfpipe freestyle skiers fly high

Central Oregon is home to several Olympians who headed to South Korea for the 2018 Winter Games this month, and is also home to some rising stars in winter sports.

Hunter Hess, 19; Jake Mageau, 20; and Anna Gorham, 17, are all members of the U.S. Rookie Ski Team. This season, the athletes competed in qualifiers for the Games, but fell short of making it to the competition this year.

Hess finished 8 th at Mammoth Mountain in January with Mageau finishing 10 th , and Gorham with a 25 th -place finish. The trio also competed at Snowmass in January and Copper Mountain in December.

The halfpipe freestyle skiing event is in its second Olympics, debuting at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

“With the halfpipe, it’s like all up to you and how much you want to make out of it,” Hess said back in December at his parent’s house while sitting down with NewsChannel 21. “(The halfpipe) is just so unique, and you could just do whatever you wanted and just let your mind roam.”

Hess and Mageau began their training with Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation in Bend when they were younger.

“We would just go skiing like every weekend,” Mageau said. “Then I started skiing a couple days and traveling more and more.”

Mageau credits some of his halfpipe skills to the slopestyle freeskiing, “Just feeling your skis and riding transitions definitely help.” According to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard organization’s website, “Mageau entered a local halfpipe competition despite never having dropped into a halfpipe.”

The Central Oregonians spend countless hours on the slopes perfecting their trade, but Hess said it doesn’t feel like work, “Training doesn’t really take a toll, because it’s just a fun sport at the end of the day.”