Tagged: Sports

The sport of skijoring sounds like an awesomely bad idea someone cooked up on a long winter's night. Picture this: You navigate an obstacle course, on skis, while being pulled by a galloping horse. Yet equestrian skijoring has taken off as a sport in the snowy climes of Switzerland, Canada, and now, parts of the Northwest. This weekend, teams will go ski-to-ski and hoof-to-hoof at a competition in Sandpoint, Idaho. Jessica Robinson visited one skijoring practice to ask: Why?

The University of Oregon is looking for a new head football coach. Chip Kelly announced Wednesday he’s leaving for the NFL to lead the Philadelphia Eagles. UO Athletic Director Rob Mullens says player recruiting is underway so this is a less than ideal time for Kelly to leave. Mullens describes what they’ll be looking for in a new coach.

The holiday season is upon us. And along with that comes ski season. Snow is falling in the Cascades. Wednesday is opening day at Crystal Mountain and Mount Baker. Tuesday Stevens Pass opened.

But giddy enthusiasm from skiers and snowboarders’ throughout the region is overshadowed by an accident at Stevens Pass last February. It was big.

News Report: “We’re gonna begin with those deadly avalanches. A deadly avalanche near Stevens Pass /We are gonna begin with the breaking news: that deadly avalanche in Washington state.”

Three people were killed that day.

Now, as KUOW’s Sara Lerner reports, ski industry veterans are trying to come up with new ways to keep people safe in the back country.

Washington-born and raised goalkeeper Hope Solo saved the day, quite literally, according to her teammates in the Olympic women’s soccer final Thursday. Team USA held on for a 2-1 victory over Japan to win the gold medal. When the final horn sounded, U.S. goalie Solo was mobbed by her fellow players. Solo says she knew the game was on the line when she made a dramatic lunging save in the waning minutes of the game.

Good news for Northwest track athletes at the London Olympics. U of O grad Galen Rupp made history Saturday in the men's 10,000 meters, winning silver. KLCC’s Jes Burns has the story.

This weekend, sports fans worldwide turn their attention to London and the start of the Summer Olympics. But there's another international athletic competition here in the Northwest that will draw hundreds of immigrants from the tiny island nation of Palau. It's a softball tournament that's become a major event in the lives of Pacific Islanders living in our region and beyond. Journalist Bill Lascher has our story.