The Sandy High School Ski Team will be screening a Warren Miller film, “All Time,” and holding a silent auction as part of its annual fundraiser event. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2. The movie starts at 6 p.m. in the school auditorium.

The late Warren Miller was a pioneer in ski documentary filmmaking. His legacy lives on through Warren Miller Entertainment, the production company he founded that shoots high-action ski movies with professional athletes around the world.

Tickets to the Sandy fundraiser cost $20 each and are available at the door or online at https://sandyskiteamwmfilm2023.ludus.com/index.php.

Sandy head ski coach Josh Kanable said that 75 percent of sales go to the Sandy High ski program. The event usually raises $5,000 to $6,000 to help the team buy equipment and offset the cost of Mount Hood Meadows lift tickets on race days.

Skiing is an expensive sport and the cost of chair-lift tickets can be prohibitive to some participants and their families. Kanable wants to break down those financial barriers and make the mountain community more inclusive.

“One of my missions is to remove constraints that limit access to the mountain,” Kanable said.
The Sandy High Ski team has seen participation grow over the years. “Over the past 12 years, we’ve gone from about eight athletes to 38 athletes,” Kanable said.

Last year, the girls team won the Mount Hood League championship. This year, the girls, led by seniors Elle Schreiner and Nia Hamalainen, look to be highly competitive again and have the potential to place in the top three in the state competition at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Kanable said.

The boys team standouts include Henry Rogers and to Sandy, other teams in the league include The Dalles, Hood River, Grant, Cleveland, St. Mary’s and Barlow.

The season runs from mid-November through the first week of March, culminating with the Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association State Championships. Athletes from Portland, Eugene, Central Oregon and Southern Oregon will compete in the slalom and giant slalom.

Sandy athletes call Ski Bowl, where they train, their home hill. But league races take place at Mt. Hood Meadows.

“Ski Bowl is where we prefer to train,” Kanable said. “What do they say on their sign? ‘Closer, steeper and cheaper.’ I love to go there.”

Kanable likes the lifts at Ski Bowl because they force athletes to talk to each other and build relationships with each other.

“One of my goals is to build the mountain community and introduce them not only to skiing but to the people they're going to ski with,” Kanable said. “It makes those friendships really solid.”
Kanable began skiing when he was 3 and was racing at 10. He grew up learning to ski in Parkdale, where his grandfather was in charge of the ski school. When he was a student at Sandy High, he raced for the ski team. After college, he returned to Sandy to teach at Cedar Ridge Middle School and landed the head ski coaching job.