Sierra, Northstar athletes going for gold at X Games
Look at the podium at Winter X Games Fourteen this weekend for athletes representing Sierra-at-Tahoe and Northstar-at-Tahoe.
Here’s the line-up:
Hannah Teter — the reigning Women’s Halfpipe gold medalist from Torino, Italy, Teter will try for a repeat gold this winter at the 2010 Winter Games. She will also go for the podium at Winter X Games. Teter rides for Sierra and competes in Pipe.
Elena Hight — recovering from injuries sustained last winter, Hight has a shot at the Winter X Games podium with back-to-back 900s in her bag of tricks. Hight is also on the U.S. Women’s Snowboarding Halfpipe team and will be traveling to the 2010 Winter Games after the Winter X Games. She rides for Northstar and will compete in Pipe.
Jamie Anderson — widely considered the best female snowboarder in the world, Anderson has won Slopestyle gold at Winter X Games twice and was the youngest Winter X gold medal winner ever in 2007. She rides for Sierra Resort and will compete in Slopestyle and Pipe.
Eero Ettala — more of a film snowboarder rather than a big competitor, Ettala can nail the switch double backflip and will be pulling one out at Winter X Games if conditions are right. Ettala rides for Northstar Resort and will compete in Slopestyle and Big Air.
Chas Guldemond — having taken the 2008-09 Burton Global Open Series championship and the U.S. Open in ’09, Guldemond is on track to step it up at this year’s Winter X Games. He rides for Northstar and will compete in Slopestyle and Big Air.
Bev Vuilleumier — up-and-coming on the competition circuit, she is making her way toward the podium one 720 at a time. Vuilleumier rides for Northstar and will compete in Slopestyle.
Jussi Oksanen — entering his 11th Winter X Games, Oksanen has medaled four times. Oksanen rides for Northstar and will compete in Slopestyle.
Elijah Teter — widely known as one of the most technical pipe riders competing today, he finished fourth at last winter’s X Games. Teter rides for Sierra and will compete in Halfpipe.
Joanie Anderson — no stranger to Winter X Games gold medals, she has competed six times and medaled twice. Anderson rides for Sierra and will compete in Snowboarder X.
In addition to a strong athlete connection to Winter X Games Fourteen, Sierra and Northstar also have a connection through SPT, the company responsible for designing and building all of the courses at Winter X Games. Sierra and Northstar are SPT resorts — meaning SPT provides training, guidelines, building resources and design ideas throughout the winter season. That same brainpower is now building and maintaining the Snowboarder X, Slopestyle, Big Air and Pipe for Winter X Games.