Oregon athletes head to Winter Olympics to race new downhill course

Jackie Wiles and Luke Winters spent their free time after school skiing on Mount Hood. Now they’ll both be tackling an even larger mountain in a different country with higher stakes.

Wiles and Winters are just two of several Oregon athletes in Beijing for the Winter Olympics.

They are both alpine skiers who will be facing a downhill course that no skier has faced before.

“It’s really cool we’re going to a venue no one has actually been to,” Wiles said. “It’s fair game for everyone, no one knows what to expect.”

While the track is new to all the skiers, Winters is not worried.

In China all the snow will be man made and will be similar to his training grounds on Copper Mountain. He says skiing in Oregon has also taught him to adapt while heading down slope.

“There’s so many variables with weather and snow conditions you learn to ski it all. I’m lucky to grow up in this part of the U.S.,” he said.

According to Wiles, Oregon is one of the few places in the world where you can ski year-round and the fact that Mount Hood is a volcano is part of what made it special to her growing up.

“There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing Mount Hood flying by from plane,” she said.

While training prepares athletes in their competitions, nothing can fully prevent accidents.

Within the last four years, Wiles has had multiple surgeries, crashes and over a year and a half of physical rehab.

She says it took over 18 months of rehab to allow her to be on the snow again and it was her passion for the sport that kept her going.

“What’s so special about skiing is that there is nothing else like it,” she said. “I wanted to prove it to myself to get back on the hill again.”

Wiles and Winters will begin competing on Sunday.