Women Shredding the Parks

Female skiers and snowboarders are invited to the Women’s Progression Sessions at Mt. Bachelor to learn freeride and freestyle

On Saturday and Sunday, people who identify as female are invited to learn some fresh tips, rip some new tricks and soak up the freestyle fun with two snowboard slopestyle athletes, Jade Thurgood and Zoe Kelapos. The Women’s Progression Sessions multi-day programming at Mt. Bachelor will unite female athletes and create a space for women to show their abilities, strength and skills.

“This woman-centric initiative will bring together a group of like-minded passion ate riding enthusiasts of varying ages and abilities, where skiers and snowboarders alike can work with female progression coaches to grow skill and stoke in a supportive and progressive environment,” said Ala na Watkins, communica tions and PR representative for Mt. Bachelor, in an email.

Participants will be split into two groups—“Up-and-Coming” and “Let’s Rip.” The sessions invite both skiers and snowboarders. For riders who can make it down the mountain but are still working on some fundamentals, the “Up-and-Coming” group will help solidify a strong base and provide an intro to beginner freestyle. For riders who are considered intermediate to advanced, the “Let’s Rip” group will explore more difficult terrain, like Otter Rock and Cannon Beach, two terrain parks at Bachelor.

To register, riders must be 13+ and have a valid pass or ticket. Saturday is the clinic day, starting at 8am. Thur good and Kelapos will help lead the groups, offering advice and one-onone coaching tips.

“[Sunday], the same group of riders

Woodward swag and Gatorade prod uct giveaways and Burton and GoPro prizing based on individual progres sion over the weekend.”

Women’s Progression Sessions Sat. March 25, 8am-2:15pm, Sun., March 26, $20

Crux is opening its first satellite pub in Portland later this summer, as Andre Meunier of The Oregonian reported Feb. 28. I used that breaking news as an excuse to sit down with Crux’s marketing director, Jason Randles, to learn more about one Bend brewery’s—make that three Bend breweries’—obvious response to the Portlandification of Bend by launching a counter-attack.

In announcing Crux is opening a second location, not in its native Bend but the city that’s actually Crux’s largest market (by volume, not per capita!), in the Hosford Abernethy neighborhood of Southeast Portland, Crux will become the next Bend-based brewery to open a pub. Deschutes opened a brewpub in the Pearl district of Northeast Portland in 2008, back when Crux founder Larry Sidor was still brewmaster at Deschutes. And 10 Barrel opened its Portland spot five blocks away in 2015.

I asked Randles if the plan is to export “Bendness” to Portland, whether via the original brewpub’s famous sundowner (because happy hour can rely on our astral orbit rather than quitting time) or some other measure. As for sundowner?

“I don’t see why not,” he shrugged. “It’s unique to us and something that we love.” Beyond that, the brewing concern “will do what we can to make it feel like a Crux space when you walk in, but with a Portland vibe.”

A trend that began across pre-pandemic America and is ramping back up across the craft brewing segment of the industry is a focus on opening