Winter Olympics hopefuls shine bright

Out of the shadow of the Paris Summer Olympics, locally trained Winter Olympics hopefuls are breaking out as rays of hope vying for a chance to represent Central Oregon on the world stage.

At 19 years old, Bend native Elijah Pyle has made significant strides in the competitive snowboarding world. Specializing in halfpipe, Pyle's journey from local slopes to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team exemplifies our rich regional winter sports talent and culture.

"I first started off skiing when I was 3 years old, then I saw both my parents snowboarding, so I wanted to copy them," he explains. "We were goin...