Photo by Hooker courtesy of Carlisle Sports Management

World Cup snowboarder has roots in Sandpoint

What stands more than six feet tall, leaps off high mountains around the world and lands on the back of Sports Illustrated magazine? Answer: Sandpoint native Anton Pogue.

As a member of the United States World Cup Snowboarding Team, Pogue says he’s working hard to make the 2002 Olympic team. Pogue, 30, just finished a five-month World Cup season competing in giant slalom, slalom and boardercross. Back home in Hood River, Ore., where he lives with wife and fellow Sandpoint native Jeanne (Rust), the effervescent Pogue said it was a good season.

“I was pleased because it wasn’t an Olympic year, and it wasn’t so stressful,” he said. “Giant slalom improved a lot this year. It was my weakest alpine event. I was ranked 80th last year and finished 25th.”

In slalom, where he nabbed a third in Japan, Pogue finished 13th worldwide. To pay his way, Pogue courts sponsors like Chevrolet. In fact, he graced full-page ads for Chevy Trucks in national magazines. As he looks forward to Olympic competition, Pogue doesn’t forget his Sandpoint roots. “I realize now how lucky I was to grow up there,” he said. “The mountain and the lake – it was something to have it right in front of your face. At the time I didn’t realize the foundation I was building.”

– Marianne Love